Happy MORSELICIOUS MONDAY & 1st day of October!
How was your weekend? We survived CARMAGGEDON! Phew!
What did you do? Can you guess where I am in this pix?
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We have a fantastic guest post from a fellow Moreslite and colleague!
Thank you, Jaime for sharing this wonderful post on Agave, a topic close to my heart.
Onto, Jaime’s post:
This month I take a look at the controversy surrounding agave nectar, which has been heating up over the last few years.
Touted as a healthy sugar substitute suitable for diabetics because of its low glycemic index,
the question remains, how healthy is it?
On the topic of desserts, my all-time favorite combination is chocolate and peanut butter.
I used to be obsessed with peanut butter cups, and when I worked at TCBY frozen yogurt as a teenager,
I did more eating of them than serving them as a topping to customers:)
Always in pursuit of healthy treats, I recently created a very simple recipe for a
chocolate peanut butter spread that kicks ‘Nutella’s’ butt. See below for the recipe.
THE AGAVE CONTROVERSY
For many years now, I have happily been using agave nectar as a sugar substitute.
It has a low glycemic index (and therefore doesn’t spike your blood sugar), it tastes delicious,
and it even bakes well. However, in recent years I have watched a controversy brewing
in the health world concerning agave. I have with-held my final judgement
as I waited for a clear consensus amongst the health experts. Just days ago,
Dr. Weil finally weighed in, declaring that he no longer recommends
agave nectar as an alternative sweetener. It breaks my heart a bit,
but after all of the information I’ve gathered on the topic, I feel it’s time to greatly reduce,
if not eliminate, agave nectar from my own diet.
For those of you who don’t know, agave nectar comes from the agave plant,
a cactus like plant from which tequila is made. The way that agave syrup is produced widely
differs amongst agave manufacturers. Many of the bigger, mainstream makers of agave
process agave in much the same way as high fructose corn syrup, with the use of harmful chemicals,
making it highly refined. In fact, there are even claims that some companies in Mexico,
apparently controlled by tequila mafias (I’m not making this up), have been found
to add high fructose corn syrup to their agave product. It seems that common agave
is neither natural nor healthy.
The biggest concern about agave nectar however, is that it has a higher fructose level
than high fructose corn syrup. HFCS is about 55% fructose and 45% glucose,
whereas many agave nectar brands have a fructose level upwards of 70%.
As Dr. Lustig points out in his now infamous lecture about why sugar is toxic (you can watch his lecture here),
concentrated fructose is processed by your liver like a toxin, which makes it a huge health risk
and extra burden on your liver.
Since the fructose doesn’t get absorbed into your bloodstream and converted into energy
like glucose does, it won’t spike your blood sugar, which is why I have loved using agave nectar.
However, it can still be converted to fat by your liver and it inhibits the hormone your body
uses to tell you that you’re full, which is one of the same arguments against high fructose corn syrup,
a large contributor to obesity and Type 2 Diabetes.
Fresh fruit of course also contains fructose, but it is full of fiber, versus agave or HFCS
which are refined sweeteners; you get a relatively low amount of fructose from a piece of fruit.
According to David Wolfe (health and raw food expert), there are agave companies like Ultimate Superfoods
that claim their agave nectar is not processed with harmful chemicals and has a fructose
content of only 50%, the rest being mostly inulin. It does seem that the processing
and the manufacturer is very important here.
As more information on agave has come to the surface, I’ve noticed a major shift in
many of the healthy desserts on the store shelves in Los Angeles. I’ve watched agave nectar
get systematically replaced by coconut nectar or palm sugar, which have a similar glycemic index as agave,
but have a very low fructose content, and are much less processed. In its raw form,
coconut nectar is also high in minerals, nutrients and vitamins like Vitamin C.
It is currently my favorite alternative sweetener. I switched to using raw coconut nectar
in my version of a healthy ‘Nutella’ spread.
The final verdict on agave nectar may still be out, but in the meantime, the
best advice when it comes to any sweetener that you choose to use, is to remember to enjoy it in moderation:)
VARIATION ON ‘NUTELLA’ SPREAD
Vegan, Gluten-free, Sugar-free
Ingredients:
2 Tbsp organic peanut butter (I like MaraNatha brand- creamy with a hint of sea salt, or equiv)
1 1/2 tsp raw coconut nectar
1 tsp raw cacao powder
1/2 tsp vanilla extract (alcohol-free preferred)
Mix all ingredients together in a small bowl with a spoon. It will take a minute to get the ingredients to blend together. You can add a touch more coconut nectar for a sweeter taste.
Yields 1 serving.
Enjoy!
Jaime Saginor is a Board Certified Holistic Health Coach through the American Association of Drugless Practitioners (AADP). She received her training at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, the only nutrition school in the world that integrates all the different dietary theories- combining the knowledge of traditional philosophies such as Yin/Yang and Ayurveda with modern concepts like the glycemic index, the Zone and raw foods. Teachers include top wellness visionaries such as Deepak Chopra and Dr. Andrew Weil.
As an ex-sugar addict, Jaime helps other sugar addicts reduce the amount of sugar in their diet without feeling deprived.
p.s. and thanks for the healthier nutella type spread recipe – been trying to find one of my own……how about with hazelnut butter which would be closer to the real nutella which is also hazelnut……(and i can make the butter in my new vitamix – yahoo!!)
Mmmm..let me know how it turns out and keep us posted on your home made stevia tincture!
it figures that this would get published right after i stocked up on agave that was on sale at my local food coop. i’ve heard the good and the bad about agave. the one i use is made by wholesome sweeteners and it’s the raw organic one. so, please let me know if that is also bad and i’ll stop buying it when i run out.
as for stevia – it’s AMAZING in chai or lemonade. i’m not thrilled with baking with it due to the slight licorice flavor. but if you can get it from an herb shop and use the dried leaves (just a pinch for a cup of tea), it’s best. i’m concerned about the stuff on the market (ie truvia) which contains stevia and other ingredients. i’m not so sure the other stuff is so great AND it’s also processed. i’m no nutrition expert but i too want a sweetener that is “safe” and “healthy” and won’t make my blood sugar spike. i DID find a site that told how to make your own stevia sweetener so it wouldn’t be processed. i wonder if it’d work as a flavoring if the dried leaves were made into a tincture??? anyway, i have it growing in my garden and will have to dig it up soon since it won’t over-winter outdoors.
I read that same article, Amy and would love to hear how it works drying your leaves into a tincture. I love that you have it growing in your garden!
Dr. Greger, for those who do not know, runs the site NutritionFacts.org. You can also follow him on Facebook and receive his latest 2-5 minute video on weekdays. What he does is comb through all the journals and thoroughly reads every study done pertaining to food and diet’s impact on health. His research shows that stevia is safe only if consumed not more than in two beverages per day. I’m pretty sure this research was done on the processed version. http://nutritionfacts.org/video/is-stevia-good-for-you/. He does recommend and uses for himself erythritol. As a result his studies I have too. The taste is good but you need to use a little more than you would for sugar. It has a low glycemic factor, no calories, found naturally in pears, melons & grapes and can be used for diabetics. http://nutritionfacts.org/video/a-harmless-artificial-sweetener/
Thank you for this info, Dar!
Thanks, Susie!
LOL! Not hiding from Doug, but I LOVE your thought! 🙂
This was on a camping trip in Sequoia. GORGEOUS!
Honey still spikes blood sugar, esp. in diabetics, but a better choice than white sugar.
Happy MORSELICIOUS Monday!
It’s Maura hiding from Doug while on a hike!
Loved the article and the recipe for a Nutella alternative. Why not use local honey as a sugar substutite?
Susie
I’ve recently seen some print ads for a new sweetener called Nectresse, derived from monk fruit. What’s the deal with that?
Lee – Since it’s from monk fruit, and it’s new, you might need to ‘say a prayer’ before using it – hoping nothing bad is found out about it too! (sorry . . . couldn’t resist – it’s my Southern Baptist humor coming out)
LOL, Reece!
HI Lee,
this is what I read on their site re: what is in Nectresse, note, made by the creators of Splenda: “NECTRESSE™ Natural No Calorie Sweetener is a combination of deliciously sweet Monk Fruit Extract blended with other natural sweeteners
(erythritol, sugar and molasses) to bring you the rich sweet taste of
sugar without all the calories.”
You would have to decide if you want to consume these ingredients for yourself. Does that help?
Thanks for your question and Happy Morselicious Monday!
It helps somewhat, Mo, but what is monk fruit and what do I need to know about the benefits and implications of consuming it?
Hi Lee,
Monk fruit is a small gourd like fruit from China. It has been said that the juice extracts were used in some traditional Chinese medicine. This is a GREAT post for Nutso-sweet Friday. I will gather more research.
Thanks for the question!
I love making and using date paste, too, Landry!
Have not tried coconut sugar. Thanks for the tip!
🙂
I’ve heard that about agave nectar the last year or two also, so I have switched to organic coconut sugar (which has half the glycenic index of sugar) or maple syrup. The other great natural sweetener with fiber that I now use in baking and on oatmeal is dates. Pureed with some water it makes a yummy “caramel sauce” with fiber, that’s delicious over a raw apple tart 🙂
How considerate of you to create a Nutella substitute!! I haven’t used Agave, but as Reece mentioned, am waiting for some bad news on Stevia to come out…
So far, stevia in it’s pure form seems really good and I use it in moderation. Stay tuned! 🙂 Happy MORSELICIOUS Monday, Karen!
Stevia just tastes fake to me and I can’t stand to eat it:(
Have you tried the pure liquid stevia?
I only use a pinch and really like it. NOT a fan of the granulated form.
I think Mo is “between a rock and a hard place” in that picture!
Thanks for the post. The Nutella Spread looks really great.
I think what is happening to Agave is sad, but pretty typical when talking about the greed of most manufacturers. You want to make more money, so you find less expensive ways of producing it – and adding “crap” to something good. I know the controversy will be out there for some time, but it seems that it might be the manufacturer to watch out for – although, it also seems there is controversy out there about almost EVERY sweetener these days. I say – do your research and try what works best for you. Do your best to read labels (listen to Mo and her health coach guests). What more can you do? I use a lot of Stevia and I’m waiting for someone to drop a bomb on that too!
Thanks, Reece. I agree, it’s up to the manufacturers and the consumer to do their HOMEWORK! 🙂
So far, I love stevia in MODERATION and in its PUREST form.
Happy MORSELICIOUS Monday!