Agave Juice-anyone use or recommend it?

[sylvie]

I saw a healthier cookie/bar recipe that uses Agave Juice and Stevia to sweeten.
At my sorta local health food market I found many kinds, like light, amber and flavored Agave which just confused me.
Is this something anyone here recommends? Good idea-bad idea?
DH is diabetic, I am not.
I don't recall a discussion on it.

 

[freemotion]

I used to recommend it in my LGI groups, but I have since read some stuff on it that makes me no longer do so. It seems that it is another version of HFCS in a way.....spikes your blood sugar. It may have been better originally, but you know what happens when the big guys get ahold of a trend....they ruin it.

Like stevia....have you seen Truvia in the stores? Most people think it is stevia. It is mostly sugar alcohols made from corn, with a fairy dusting of stevia thrown in. Sugar alcohols are a great option for some people, but not those with cranky bowels. I hate deception.

I use a lot of stevia. My preferred form is the drops of pure stevia extract. 365 brand has a fairly cheap 8 oz bottle that I use to refill my dropper bottle with. It lasts me a LOOOOONG time, even with the lemon and lime-ade I make in the summer.

 

[Wifezilla]

IT'S POIIISSSSOOOOOONNNNN!!!!!

Ok...not actually, but close enough.

Fructose may not spike your blood sugar but it overloads the liver. A high fructose diet is the leading cause of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and high serum triglyceride levels.

 

[sufficientforme]

I am sure I will get ripped for commenting as usual, but I use this and love the flavor of it. I use the raw organic agave nectar. It takes a whole lot less than sugar in tea, baked goods etc (I use less than what the recipe recommends as a personal preference because to me is seems so much sweeter than sugar). So I figure I am actually eating less sugar by using it. I tried using pure stevia and I hated it, so I don't use the agave nectar everyday, but I do use it.

 

[Wifezilla]

Nobody is going to rip you. If your blood trigylcerides are fine, you're not over weight, and your liver is healthy, you have nothing to worry about. If you begin having health issues, then you might want to see if cutting out agave makes a difference.

The ability to process certain foods is very individual. For me, this stuff is poison.

 

[freemotion]

Most people who look into things like agave are people who are careful with their diet anyways and are not eating the typical American diet. I have a bottle of agave syrup in my cupboard. I have crystallized fructose in a jar. I have honey, maple syrup (pure), and white sugar, and Splenda and stevia.

I got the agave when I'd read that it had a lower glycemic index, but then I read in several other places that it was a product prone to fraud. Remember a year or two ago when maple syrup was being cut with HFCS fraudulantly and also EVOO was being cut with canola or soybean oil? Yikes. So my bottle still sits on my shelf. The jury is out here in my house, for now.

Any sweetener in large amounts will cause even healthy people to have health concerns. For some, the silent damage has become loud and insistant, for others, it is still silent.

I use stevia drops mostly, but I also find that if you mix sweeteners, you can get the taste you are looking for and still reduce your total sugar consumption. I would choose a major brand of agave rather than something imported. That might help a bit.

 

[Wifezilla]

I use stevia drops mostly, but I also find that if you mix sweeteners, you can get the taste you are looking for and still reduce your total sugar consumption.

Exactly. A little Splenda mixed with erythritol tastes awesome and goes pretty far.

 

[sylvie]

I am sure I will get ripped for commenting as usual, but I use this and love the flavor of it. I use the raw organic agave nectar. It takes a whole lot less than sugar in tea, baked goods etc (I use less than what the recipe recommends as a personal preference because to me is seems so much sweeter than sugar). So I figure I am actually eating less sugar by using it. I tried using pure stevia and I hated it, so I don't use the agave nectar everyday, but I do use it.

Yes. nectar! I don't know why I typed juice but fortunately everyone seemed to know what I meant!
Do you use the product that is not labeled light?
I looked only at raw organic because that was all they carried.

Agave seems to be a wonder plant with all the products made from it: tequila, survival needle and thread, fiber(I have two Mexican blankets made from agave) and sweetener.

 

[davaroo]

I saw a healthier cookie/bar recipe that uses Agave Juice and Stevia to sweeten.
At my sorta local health food market I found many kinds, like light, amber and flavored Agave which just confused me.
Is this something anyone here recommends? Good idea-bad idea?
DH is diabetic, I am not.
I don't recall a discussion on it.

I personally enjoy distilled agave juice....

 

[Wifezilla]