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The agave plant is getting lots of attention lately. It has a very interesting history and is as tasty as honey if used as a sweetener in teas and baked goods. There is no difference in carbohydrate between Agave, honey, or table sugar – they all contain 16 grams of per tablespoon. The difference is in the breakdown of type of sugar. Each sugar source breaks down into different amounts of fructose through metabolism. Below is a comparison of the average amount that each sugar breaks down into fructose:

• Table sugar 50%
• Agave 68%
• Honey 35%

The amount of fructose in the sweetener determines its sweetness. The more fructose a sweetener contains, the less of it is needed to get the desired sweetness. This suggests that agave would be the sweetest sugar (outside of fructose which isn’t a good choice to use) and therefore you would use less, getting less calories and having a lower glycemic index than the others listed. Glycemic index refers to how high a food raises blood sugar (glucose). Pure glucose raises it 100%. The lower the glycemic index, the lower the rise of blood sugar and therefore insulin, which is a good thing. Below are the averages of glycemic index for each food. They are averages as different studies yield varying numbers due to the way a person metabolizes to the quality of the food being looked at.

• Sugar 80%
• Agave 16%
• Honey 60%

As much as we all need to be very mindful of how much sugar we are eating (as it is inflammatory, acidifying and is a huge stress on the body when too much is consumed), it is important to know that too much fructose intake turns into fat through the liver. So, although the glycemic index of fructose is lower than that of other sugars, eating a lot of high fructose sweeteners (more than a tablespoon daily) puts extra burden on the liver, on your triglycerides and on your fat cells.

Agave, therefore is a good choice for a sweetener, as long as it is not overused. The darker the syrup, the sweeter and the more whole (meaning less heat was used to create it). Agave nectar or syrup originated in Mexico and is most noted as the plant that tequila is made from for the past 400 years, in particular the Blue Agave. Agaves are succulents like aloe vera, although they are more spiky plants. The Blue Agave is organically grown and from Mexican farmers and is known as the premier nectar.

The nectar is harvested when the plant is about 8 years old and is derived from the core of the plant that, when the leaves are cut off looks like a pineapple and can weigh on average 100 pounds. The plant is harvested one by one. The sap that is extracted from the core is heated at low temperatures or with enzymes (raw variety) to break the carbohydrate into sugar. I hear that vegetarians prefer agave over honey since bees aren’t exploited in the production process.

Compared to natural sugars, Stevia, which is extracted from the species rebaudiana, is widely grown for its sweet leaves. The reason I personally prefer stevia for sweetening coffee and tea, sauces and dressings is because is not synthetic, adds zero calories which means the glycemic index of foods is unchanged when adding to recipes. It takes awhile to adjust to stevia as it can have a bitter taste if you use too much. It is also difficult to bake with stevia as a sole sweetener in the recipe.

The reason that I haven’t mentioned Splenda, NutraSweet or Sweet-n-low is because these are artificial sweeteners and I see absolutely no place in our diet for these chemicals.