Shortly after I was diagnosed with cancer, I came across an article written by Dr. Scott Olson in which he explained how he feels that many of our health issues are directly related to our consumption of sugar. Upon further investigation, I found a facebook page of his in which he proposed a "30 Days Sugar Free Challenge".
http://olsonnd.com/think-you-can-go-30-days-without-any-sugar/
I was interested, but I wasn't sure that I could commit to 30 consecutive days without sugar. The reality was, I had lived a rather satisfying 30 years with a daily dose of sugar. I was sure that cutting out sugar "cold turkey" would end up worse than someone stopping a smoking, drinking or drug addiction. I wasn't interested in completely detoxing from my sugar addiction. Not yet.
However, after reading about all the damaging effects that sugar has on our bodies, I was very interested in learning more. I continued reading and during my next trip to the local health food store, I visited the section that contained alternative sweeteners. I had read about them, but I had never seen this kind of variety before. As I stared at all of the options, I was in shock. Before this moment I really believed that my only trusted 'sweetener' options were: sugar (obviously), honey, sweet & low, equal, & splenda...and out of those options I knew that the last three were loaded with chemicals.
That day at the health food store I decided to get stevia extract. I had read about it previously and since it was the only option that sounded familiar to me, I went with it. I bought a box that contained 100 individual packets. I looked in the box today and I'm pretty sure there's about 96 packets left. I didn't really like it.
During a recent visit to my local Shop Rite, I discovered organic blue agave. I love this stuff! It has the same look & feel as honey, but it's not as thick....and I can add it to
everything! Even my coffee. I'm sure it sounds crazy, but any sweetener that tastes good in my coffee gets an automatic approval rating from me. I'm starting to wonder if it's possible to overdose on this Mexican goodness. I guess it's time for me to find out.
So I came home and did some research. Just because the label indicates that it is "organic" doesn't mean that it's good for me....and since I've been adding agave to
everything, I wanted to read more about it.
Here's what I found:
- Agave nectar comes from the agave cactus that grows in Mexico, and it is becoming increasingly popular because of its lower glycemic index.
- It has the same number of calories as sugar, 4 calories per gram. That works out to 16 calories per teaspoon.
- Agave nectar is about one and a half times sweeter than table sugar, which means you need to use less to reach the same sweet point. That works out to slightly less calories for the same level of sweet.
- The taste of agave nectar is comparable, though not identical, to honey. Many people who do not like the taste of honey find agave a more palatable choice. It also has none of the bitter aftertaste associated with artificial sweeteners.
- In many regards agave nectar bridges the gap between real and artificial sweeteners. While it has all the useful properties of real sugars, its lower glycemic index helps protect against health risks associated with higher glycemic sweeteners.
- Since the FDA makes no effort to enforce food-labeling laws, consumers cannot be certain that what they are eating is what the label says it is. New sweeteners like agave syrup were introduced into the market to make a profit, not to make consumers healthy. Clever marketing has led many consumers to believe that the high level of fructose in agave syrup makes it a safe and a natural sweetener. Agave syrup labels do not conform to FDA labeling requirements, thus deepening the illusion of an unprocessed product. If a sweetener contains manufactured fructose, it is neither safe nor natural, especially at levels up to 70 percent.
I had no idea! All this time I believed that Agave nectar was a great choice to use as an alternative to sugar. I guess it's not as great as I thought. Although it is low on the glycemic index, it has the same amount of calories as sugar...and not many other health benefits. The good news: it's extra sweet. So we can consume 1/2 the amount of calories for the same amount of sweetness. I guess I have no other option than to start using it more sparingly.
....tomorrow.
