PSA

[ritaxis]

Agave nectar is NOT healthier than sugar. If you don't have any special metabolic issues with sugars in general, they are the same, except that agave nectar production threatens the desert and the livelihoods of the people who traditionally use agave for other things (sugar is also environmentally problematic and generally involves super-exploitation of workers at various places along the production trail, but the two sweeteners are differently problematic).

If you are diabetic, pre-diabetic, or watching carbohydrates because of other metabolic issues like hyperlipidemia, agave nectar is worse.

So all those recipes out there proclaiming they are a "new, healthier" version because they have agave nectar instead of sugar? Lying liars.

edit: this is provoked by me trying to find a carrot cake recipe with garbanzo flour in it because (1) I'm running out of whole wheat flour and (2)I like garbanzo flour and I want to discover everything possible to eat with it. I know, a cake is still a cake, so it is not magically relieved of problems, but it's a cake with some of my favorite things in it and I am making it for an Occasion where other people will be there so I won't be tempted to Eat it All in one evening.

Comments

[redbird]

And if you're a strict vegan, I recommend maple syrup.

(I recommend it for some purposes even to fellow omnivores, but it does have a noticeable flavor, which isn't usually what I want in a cup of tea.)

[ritaxis.livejournal.com]

Maple syrup is just lovely and if it wasn't expensive I might undertake to figure out how to use it as my primary sweetener.

Not that I should be using any kind of sweetener whatever, but I have already conceded that I really truly do, so that's not a defensible notion.

[harvey-rrit.livejournal.com]

It also promotes kidney stones, which my faithful companion Valerie discovered to her protracted agony.

[pantryslut.livejournal.com]

Oh no, really? In that case I need to learn to reverse-engineer the very few recipes I have that use agave nectar, ASAP.

[ritaxis.livejournal.com]

How often and how much agave are you using? If you're using a bit of it here and there and the people you're cooking for are not imminently vulnerable to kidney stones, maybe you don't.

If you do decide you have to, I think a one-to-one switch out for honey or maple syrup or even heavy sugar syrup would produce adequate results.

[pantryslut.livejournal.com]

G., alas, has been battling kidney stones for months now. I only use it once in a while (stuff from one cookbook author that I really like otherwise), but it seems most prudent to ditch the agave entirely. Honey, here I come!

[kiya]

artan_eter is prone to occasionally ranting about someone who thought agave nectar was Totally Healthy and loaded up food with it, including food for their kids, leading to a nine-year-old with severe fatty liver disease.