Agave – A healthy alternative to table sugar
Agave nectar is a natural sweet syrup, similar to honey and is commonly produced in Mexico from the Agave Americana plant, also known as Century Plant.
Pretty much all agave nectar that can be purchased is natural; which means it isn’t over processed and doesn’t contain added ingredients such as sugar and colours. It’s the natural state of agave nectar which has been associated with medicinal properties including; fighting bad bacteria including pyogenic (a pus producing bacteria on the skin) and feeding good bacteria.
Agave is probably mostly well known for being the ingredient which makes Tequila; the same species of agave (blue agave) which high quality Tequila is made from is also used to make high quality agave nectar; however the nectar doesn’t go through an alcoholic fermentation process, so it doesn’t consist of any alcoholic properties.
The sweetness of agave can be up to four times sweeter than refined sugar, which means when cooking with agave you only need to use around 1/3 cup agave to every 1cup of refined sugar in an original recipe. In addition, the carbohydrate content in agave nectar consists of 90% fructose and has a low glycemic index within a range of 28-32; honey has a glycemic index of 58. This places agave nectar as a healthier option over refined table sugar which has a glycemic index of 65.
The reason why high glycemic index foods should be eliminated/reduced within our diet, is that almost every disease known to man can be linked back to a diet too high in carbohydrates and sugar. Some health declining effects listed in scientific publications which are associated with excess sugar in the diet include;
- Lowered immune system strength
- Increased inflammation
- Cause of acne
- Inhibited absorption of certain minerals
- Decreased tissue elasticity and function
- Feeds cancer cells
- Weakens eyesight
- Causes many problems within the gastrointestinal tract
- Causes Candida
- Increased tooth decay
- Can cause autoimmune diseases
- Contributes to obesity
- Increases rate of aging
- That’ll do! But trust me, there are many more health risks associated with excess sugar
Consider trying agave nectar next time you bake or want to sweeten your coffee or tea. Some brands that make agave nectar include Spiral Foods, Maretai and Wholesome Sweeteners.
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Hey There,
I have used Agave to pretty much replace sugar in all my recipes, like my Acai Smoothie recipe. I think more people definitely need to know about it! One good sign is that I’ve seen Agave show up in chain retailers like Trader Joe’s. As more information gets out there about the tastily sweet, low glycemic qualities of agave, hopefully people will reach for it instead of table sugar and instead of horrible, high glycemic, chemically manufactured synthetics! Like Equal, Sweet ‘n Low, and Splenda.