For those who suffer from diabetes, agave juice has proved to be an excellent sweetener, because it does not alter the taste of beverages or coffee, and has a very low glycemic index . This means that using it will not increase insulin production and therefore will not alter blood sugar levels
Due to its dietary qualities the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recognized that in appropriate doses Agave juice is a suitable food also for diabetics .
How to make agave juice
The agave juice or syrup is obtained from the blue agave ( Agave tequilana ), belonging to the Agavaceae family, a succulent plant of the desert of Mexico.
It has long and numerous roots, short stem, with a rosette of fleshy leaves with many fibers, if cut they have a gelatinous structure . In the leaves the apical spine is almost always present, sometimes the spines also appear along the margins. It blooms presenting a high inflorescence at 7-8 years of age of the plant, which generally at the maturation of dried fruits.
The area where the best environmental conditions are recorded for agave cultivation is the geographical area of Jalisco, near Tequila . The agave is planted in extensive territories, where the farmers fertilize it and feed it for several years. After the first three years, the tops of the leaves are cut to accelerate the growth and make it mature in 8 - 11 years, in order to obtain the best agave juice.
Agave syrup is produced from the starch of the plant, contained in the bulbous roots similar to pineapple, and called by the local populations " heart ". It is obtained with a totally natural extraction and concentration process. The juice is filtered from the solid parts, then it is heated to transform the carbohydrates (starch) into sugars (fructose) and then concentrated to obtain a syrup, slightly more fluid than honey, but without flavor, able to sweeten 25% more than white sugar .
Agave: contraindications of the natural sweetener
What is the glycemic index
The glycemic index ( GI or GI Glycemic Index ) of a food indicates the speed with which the blood sugar level increases (amount of glucose in the blood) following the intake of a quantity of food containing 50 grams of carbohydrates . In other words, it is an indicator of how quickly the carbohydrate in question is demolished, in the simple sugars of which it is composed (if it is not a monosaccharide); and absorbed and injected into the blood, in the form of glucose, to be available as an energy source for the cells.
So the glycemic index is an important parameter to define the energy availability of a carbohydrate. Therefore foods with low glycemic index release energy in a rather constant way for a prolonged period, allowing to avoid the feeling of hunger a few hours after the meal.
In 1981 the Canadian David Jenkins introduced a standard reference scale, to easily measure the hyperglycaemic power of each saccharide and compare them to each other. He arbitrarily assigned an index 100 to glucose and then measured the glycemic effects for various foods , always comparing them to those of glucose and assigning to each of them a value, that is an index .
From this study it emerged that not only fruit and milk, but even common sugar (sucrose) has a lower glycemic index than some of the most common starchy foods. This knowledge allows those who have to monitor the level of glucose in the blood to include some foods that were not recommended in the diet. Today it is possible to do the same with any food; high index corresponds to high glycemic response and vice versa.
Here is a comparative table of the agave glycemic index with respect to other sugars:
- Agave juice 27
- Fructose 32
- Lactose 65
- Honey 83
- Corn syrup 89
- Sucrose 92
- Glucose 137
Agave juice: properties
Agave juice has a remineralizing action, as it contains a large amount of calcium, magnesium, potassium and iron; and although it is composed of about 90% fructose (whose main carbohydrate is inulin ) it maintains a lower glycemic index than other sugars, as well as honey itself.
This means that the speed with which the agave syrup ingested increases the level of glucose, is the lowest among natural sweeteners after stevia. This means that the production of insulin in people with diabetes will not increase.
Furthermore, due to its low calorie content, it is the natural sweetener, ideal for low-calorie diets, for people who are trying to lose a few pounds and for children, given the amount of valuable nutrients .
Discover also the properties, use and contraindications of stevia
How to use agave juice
Agave syrup can be used as a sugar substitute in many recipes; vegans can use it as a replacement for honey . You can use the agave to sweeten drinks, even cold ones like iced tea, because it melts quickly, as it has a high solubility .
If you want to use it for cooking, because of its high sweetening power and lack of taste, you can use the agave juice in the preparation of desserts, remembering, however, to use less than white sugar, as 75 grams of juice of agave sweeten as about 100 grams of refined sugar.
