• Nutritionist News and Views

    Why all the Buzz about Agave?

    By Deborah Enos, CN, author of Weight a Minute!, is known as “The One-Minute Wellness Coach”™
    With all the “buzz” about agave these days, you’d think agave was honey.  Though honey has been a faithful natural sweetener over the years, I’ve come upon a more healthful and versatile sweetener in Ohgave! premium blue weber agave.  And many people still do not know of the natural health benefits of this product.

    Agave nectar is a low glycemic sweetener made from the agave plant, which is cultivated in high altitudes in the sate of Jalisco, Mexico. While there are many types of agave, the one used in Ohgave! is called “blue weber agave.” It is the highest quality agave available and also certified organic.

    Agave is used in beverages, food, and cooking as a sweetener, specifically, as an alternative to other types of sugar. This remarkable plant is the same one that tequila is made from but I’m happy to report that agave nectar is alcohol free! Importantly, the agave plant is highly regulated in Mexico, which ensures product quality and quantity.

    Comparing Agave to Other Sweeteners

    Agave is sweeter than other sweeteners so you can use less, which helps to lower your daily caloric intake.   Agave is a low glycemic index sweetener while other sweeteners are considerably higher on the scale—making it a healthy and delicious option to various other sweeteners.

    glycemic_index2

    This means that using sweeteners like sugar, maple syrup, or honey will “spike” your blood sugar levels, while using agave can actually keep your blood sugars at a much lower level. When your blood sugars are at a lower level, you have higher levels of health, a more even mood (a really good thing!), and your energy levels will be more stable.

    One other note of comparison: because honey is not vegan, many vegans enjoy agave as a delicious replacement for honey. For this reason, agave nectar has become quite a popular sweetener in the vegan community.

    Agave is a delicious and mild tasting sweetener that comes from the agave plant. It won’t raise blood sugar levels like other sweeteners (table sugar or honey) and most physicians consider it to be safe for diabetics.

    About the Glycemic Index

    The Glycemic Index (GI) is a scale that ranks carbohydrates based on their rate of glycemic response (i.e. how quickly the food converts to glucose/energy in your body). GI uses a scale of 0 to 100, with the higher numbers given to foods that create a rapid rise in blood sugar. The GI uses pure glucose as a reference point and it has a GI of 100.

    When foods convert quickly to sugar in your body (for example, sugar has a GI of 68), you will get a stress response from your body. Your heart rate and energy will rise as your blood sugar levels go up. Now, while that may sound great from an energy standpoint, keep in mind that what goes up, must come down!

    Your body doesn’t like to have high levels of blood sugar; in fact, it considers high levels of blood sugar as a stressful situation. Your body will work hard to bring your blood sugar levels back to normal. It does this by alerting your pancreas to make insulin. Think about insulin in this way; insulin is your swat team, running through your blood stream grabbing as much sugar as it can in an attempt to lower your blood sugar levels. So while your body can “handle” high levels of sugar, it doesn’t like to do it and it can set you up for some negative health problems in the process.

    One of those negative health problems is diabetes or pre-diabetes. When you consume a high GI diet (foods that are high in sugar) your body can become insulin resistant. What this means is that your body doesn’t process high blood sugar as effectively as it once did. This can move your body into a pre-diabetic state. This is the time to act! By choosing foods that are lower on the glycemic scale (along with other lifestyle changes, such as exercise) you may be able to move your body out of its pre-diabetic state and back into balance.

    Another health problem associated with foods that are high on the GI scale is obesity. When you eat foods that are high in sugars or rapidly convert to sugar, it can increase your body fat stores. Here’s how it works, when you eat a food high on the GI (for example; white bread toast with honey) your body will quickly make insulin in an attempt to bring your blood sugar levels back to normal. The only problem is that the quick sugar “spike” followed by the quick sugar “drop” can stimulate your hunger and craving for more sugary and high GI foods. This pattern of eating high GI foods can set your body up to overeat, all day long.

    But let’s say your have decided to switch to foods that are lower on the GI. So instead of choosing white bread toast and honey for breakfast, you have switched to high fiber bread with a drizzle of agave syrup (a low glycemic sweetener). This meal is low on the glycemic scale because of the fiber in the bread and because agave doesn’t raise blood sugar levels like honey does. The end result? This meal won’t cause the same type of blood sugar “spike” as the white bread with honey. What this also means, is that you won’t experience the sugar “drop,” so you will be less likely to crave more sugary carbs later in the day.

    Making small dietary changes (switching from high to low GI foods) can help to prevent food cravings, may help prevent pre-diabetes and in general, increase your energy and health!

    Side Effects of Too Much Sugar
    We are a culture obsessed with sugar. Most of us have been trained from an early age to have a “sweet tooth.” The more sugar we consume, the less it satisfies. So every year most of us eat more sugar than we did the previous year. In fact, one hundred years ago people consumed five pounds of sugar per person. According to the USDA that number has now risen to an astounding one hundred and fifty six pounds of sugar per person!

    Many people mistakenly think that the only side effects of consuming too much sugar is a little tooth decay and a few extra pounds. But the effects of too much sugar are wide ranging. When you consume too much sugar it can affect your immune system and make it more difficult to fight off bugs and viruses. Too much sugar can increase your risk of diabetes, cancer and heart disease. Sugar is also implicated in depression, anxiety and hyperactivity.

    Get in the habit of reading food labels and cut back on processed sugars in the everyday products you have in your pantry and refrigerator. Also, try using agave in any instance where you might reach for the sugar bowl. Because it’s sweeter than honey and table sugar, you will use less and it’s a low glycemic sweetener, so it won’t spike your blood sugar like other sweeteners would.

    Is Agave a Good Choice for Pre-diabetic?
    Absolutely! Your body likes to keep your blood sugar level stable. When you eat high GI foods, your body can begin to rapidly convert the food into glucose and then dump it in your blood stream. This creates a state of stress in your body and your body will work very hard to get your blood sugar levels back down to a reasonable level.

    When you are pre-diabetic, you want to keep your blood sugars as level as possible. Using a sweetener like agave, which carries a GI of approximately 17 compared to sugar with a GI of approximately 68, will help to prevent your blood sugar level from “spiking.” And since most diabetics are also concerned about weight management, agave is a good alternative to sugar. It is sweeter than other sugars and sweeteners, so you use less.

    When you use agave instead of sugar, you will consume fewer calories, which will help you maintain a healthy weight.