Agave Nectar - A Sweetener that's Good for You

You’ve heard it all before that you need to cut out sugar – including the white stuff, corn syrup, and sugar alcohols.  But what if I told you there is a naturally occuring sugar that’s not as bad for you?  Yep, I really can do that.  It’s called Agave Nectar.

I’m not the one in our house that has the sugar “issue.”  My husband likes to put enough sugar and half-and-half in his coffee to make it taste like a candy bar.  His family also has a bit of a history with diabetes.  Since he also has a severe aversion to needles, that’s just something that can’t happen to him.  Trust me, the needle thing is REALLY bad.

I won’t get into the whole – how is agave nectar made discussion.  But suffice it to say, it comes from agave plants.  Yes, those same kinds of plants that we make tequila from.  What I will let you in on is why you might want to pick some of this stuff up and do a little cooking with it.

Agave nectar is roughly 90% naturally ocurring fructose with the remaining 10% being sucrose.  This means that the syrup has a low glycemic index.  This can help with the control of diabetes as well as weight loss. (Talk to your dr. about the specifics…we’re not medical people…we’re foodies.)

You’ll find that there are two types of Agave Nectar, light and dark.  The lighter version has been filtered and refined more than the dark.  The light has a flavor similar to honey, but not quite.  The dark, or amber, has a bit heavier flavor reminiscent of maple syrup.  I’ve used the light to make lemonade.  I use the same amount of Agave Nectar as I would refined sugar.  Due to the sweetness of the Agave Nectar, you could actually use less of it than you would of sugar.  My husband has used both the light and dark in his coffee.  He prefers the dark, but doesn’t complain when I only have the light around.  What’s even funnier now, is that he won’t use any sweetener in his coffee if we’ve run out of Agave Nectar.