How Sweet it...Isn't.

Once upon a time, or maybe just a few months ago I picked up my jar of organic raw blue agave nectar.  It is not truly raw nor is it all natural. With all the hype about this and that new natural sweetener, it was a total impulse purchase.  I can't say I really liked it - I still prefer plain old honey.  After doing some reading I can't say I will finish what I have.  Words like "organic" and "raw" and "all natural" should mean something, right?  Agave nectar: good, bad or indifferent?

Let's go over the scientifical stuff.  Even though agave nectar doesn't cause the raise and crash in blood sugar levels, it gets packaged into a more dangerous option: blood fats.  The liver digests fructose, and then it is immediately turned into triglycerides - which is stored body fat.  You know, the kind that increases heart disease risk.  Our liver is grand central for fat metabolizing, and it gets rid of toxins.  When there is a lot of junk like fructose coming in, the liver will build up fat deposits and everything will get backed up worse than rush hour traffic after an accident.

Agave nectar consists of 70 to 90 percent fructose.  That's crazy: high fructose corn syrup weighs in at 55 percent fructose, a virtual lightweight in comparison!  (And I am NOT a HFCS fan).  These high fructose levels can contribute to insulin resistance (yup, that would be the diabetes risk factor) as well as nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.  Fructose also causes your body to stop telling you that you're full...so you eat more.  Besides contributing to weight gain, this will also help to gain BAD FATS (the aforementioned triglycerides that we all associate with super-sized junk meals). 

Because I hate just throwing stuff away, it will sit in the cupboard to use more sparingly than the leftover white sugar that has been sitting forever.  Using a teaspoon here or there seems reasonable, but I will be avoiding adding it into any beverages or foods as a regular sweetener.