What is Agave Nectar? (October 2009)

I hear clients share with me how they add Agave Nectar to their tea, cereal, and fruit or use it in baking, but is it any better than sugar?

Agave Nectar is somewhat sweeter than sugar, so use between a quarter and an eighth less agave nectar than if you were cooking with regular sugar. The lighter, golden version tastes syrupy while the darker, amber variety has a more intense has a more intense honey flavor.

Agave nectar is not carbohydrate or calorie free; it has the same amount of calories and carbs as sugar. But since it’s a food with a low glycemic index the syrup won’t raise your blood glucose levels as much as sugar or honey does. Plus, it’s sweeter than sugar, so you’ll use less.

Sweetening with agave nectar is easy to do is you’re adding it to a hot beverage. When you are baking it becomes more complicated when you start baking with the syrup. To adjust a recipe, replace each cup of sugar with two-thirds to three-quarters cups of agave nectar, and then reduce all other liquids in the recipe by a quarter. Lower your oven temperature by 25 degrees to prevent burning, and shorten the cooking time on cookies by 3 to 5 minutes and cakes 7 to 10 minutes.

Agave can still elevate one’s blood sugar if you have diabetes, so it may not be any better than sugar, as the various sweeteners (honey, sugar, agave, high fructose corn syrup, cane sugar) are still glucose in the end (aka: sugar).