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Agave Nectar This natural liquid sweetener made from the extract of the wild agave, is now on the shelves at many local groceries and natural food stores. Agave Nectar is suitable for any sweetening use. And, it has both organic and kosher certification. While honey has no equal, agave nectar is a wonderful addition as an alternative sweetener with different characteristics than honey. This new sweetener is slightly less viscous than honey, lending to its ease of use. The light variety has a wonderfully pleasant flavor that will enhance anything it sweetens. The amber variety has a natural flavor best described as maple-like. Agave nectar is a newly created sweetener, having been developed during the 1990's. Originally, the blue agave variety was used. This is the same plant used in the manufacture of tequila. The introduction of this new sweetener is timely as it has a relatively low glycemic index due to its higher proportion of fructose and lower levels of glucose. This fact should prove attractive to those with special diet considerations or who monitor glucose intake. Agave Nectar has many other fine qualities as well. Foremost among them are the certified purity, both organic and kosher. Usage tips: On fruit salad. Add dash to vinegar + oil salad dressing. In coffee or tea. Cereal Sweeten Lemonade Add to BBQ sauce. Suitable for any sweetening use. Use in any recipe. To substitute use ¾ cup agave nectar per 1 cup other sweetener. Agave Nectar has the following characteristics: Because Agave Nectar is high in fructose, it enjoys all the benefits which continue to make fructose a preferred sweetening agent. It is sweeter than refined sugar (approximately 1.4 times sweeter); in fact, fructose offers an equivalent sweetness for nearly half the amount of carbohydrate calories. Fructose does not stimulate digestive insulin secretion as do other sugars. It is less disturbing to the glycemic index. In common parlance, it does not create a “sugar rush.” Agave Nectar is produced in different grades varying in flavor and color. The lighter grades of Agave Nectar are flavor neutral, enhancing the natural flavors of coffee, tea, fruit beverages, baked goods, fresh fruits, fruit smoothies, salad dressings, jams and jellies, ice cream, yoghurts, and various prepared foods, without altering their flavor. This is in marked contrast with bee honey, malt barley syrup, and certain other natural sugar substitutes that do alter the flavor of the products which they sweeten. The amber and dark grades offer the delicate flavor of Agave with increasing intensity. The amber grade is much like honey and delicious in tea, suitable to sweeten a wide variety of foods, dry and hot cereals, pancakes, waffles, baked goods, protein drinks, and sauces. Heavier sauces such as BBQ, spaghetti, stews and meat glazes may be enhanced by the darker grades of this sweetener which deliver the rich and complex flavors distinctive to Agave. Agave Nectar will not crystallize. It is high in purity and stable in composition. It is easy to store as it has a very long shelf life, approximately three years. Agave Nectar is easy to handle. Because of its light viscosity, Agave Nectar is easy to handle in an industrial setting and pours easily as a table-top sweetener. It will never harden in the bottle. Agave Nectar is highly soluble and dissolves readily even in cold beverages such as lemonade or iced teas. Its light viscosity and solubility also make it ideal to sweeten cold cereals. Agave Nectar is certified organic. Calories per Serving: A serving (1 tablespoon) contains 60 calories. Which honey has the same calorie count. Glycemic Index: This is a relatively new concept which can be important from a metabolic standpoint, especially to diabetics, along with athletes and grossly overweight individuals. The index is an indicator as to how much your blood sugar increases in 2-3 hours after specific food consumption. Most if not all carbohydrates are normally metabolized into the simple carbohydrate glucose, which in the glycemic index concept is arbitrarily assigned a value of 100. As a result, the higher a glycemic index food number is, the faster it raises your blood sugar level. Foods or ingredients with glycemic index numbers close to or above 100 present some significant health issues to diabetics, and in general, sweeteners of all kinds should be avoided by diabetics. Nonetheless, for those diabetics who choose to consume certain amounts of carbohydrates, Agave Nectar, it should be noted has a lower glycemic index than honey. Agave Nectar was found to have a glycemic index of 32. In contrast, honey has a reported glycemic index of 58, due to its higher ratio of glucose to fructose, as compared to the ratio of glucose to fructose in Agave Nectar. Please note: these values are based on using glucose as the reference point, which is the currently accepted approach relative to reporting glycemic index. Earlier, white bread was the reference point, but white bread composition can vary widely, and thus glucose is now the preferred base product. (Info was recieved from Madhava Honey) I found this because I can't use artificial sweetners because it gives me migranes and I was trying to get away from sugars. It tastes great...I use it in everything. You can get it from Akins or some groceries stores have it. They also have it on line. I am not selling this I just wanted to get the info out for other people that need a different sweetner since people with FM have issues with Hypoglycemia. I highly recomend it!! 
Post edited by: BLB, at: 04/30/2008 18:35 |
