Sorry about this, but when I received my new cookbook today and saw that Elana was using agave as a sweetener in most "sweet" recipes, I decided I needed to come here to give you all some info about it. :( I've decided to substitute maple syrup.
Here's the link:
Shocking! This 'Tequila' Sweetener is Far Worse than High Fructose Corn Syrup:
Sad, but true. The Glycemic Research Institute has delisted and banned agave nectar because of the results of a five year in vivo study on diabetics.
http://www.glycemic.com/AgaveReport.htm
I'm going to try coconut sugar and coconut nectar instead.
Dear jkvmi,
Thanks for the link. I got slammed on this topic under another subject.....
Seems there's a lot of disinfo out there. Whom to believe? argh.
jkvmi,
i found the truth, finally. A great explanation.
Mike Adams (naturalnews.com) contacted the manufacturer, who wrote a loooong rebuttal, explaining the 2 different processes being used by 2 differenet manufacturers, the first of which is out of business and which is the one the negative report is based on, even thouugh the good guy was contacted. Not one word of his explanation was contained in the negative report.
it appears to me that agave is very successful and is probably competition for the toxins aspartame and Splenda (?), making this an attack by TPTW (The Powers That Were).
Here's the full article: http://www.naturalnews.com/025060_agave_nectar_sugar_sugars.html
I took a read on that article about Agave-- it was good! worth 5 minutes
I also read both articles and as well as a few others. It appears that it is not the "quality" of the agave syrup that makes it a questionable food choice, but the basic essence of it is (a high fructose content) that is the problem. Independent research has now been released that indicates that it is the chemical/metabolic pathways of fructose that is detrimental to our bodies, versus that of sucrose and some other sugars. This is huge because it impacts not only agave syrup, but many of our "healthful" habits, such as smoothies, juicing, etc.
On a personal note, I spent years eating high quality organic foods, multi-whole grains, etc that were not good for my body and which were quite frankly killing me. My body did not care about the quality, just the essence of what I was eating. Persistent ill-health eventually forced me to examine how my body responded to these foods and decide if quality, taste, tradition and convenience was worth sacrificing my health. The finest organic whole wheat will kill me....
For me, heated or raw, slightly processed or highly processed, the decision is clear... agave syrup is OUT!! I need to use sweeteners that require some processing INSIDE my body, such as coconut sap, and even just plain "old" evaporated cane juice sugar...and even then, with great moderation.
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