Posted on 06/11/2014 9:25:10 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Popular media are full of claims that sugar is toxic. And there’s intense disagreement about recommendations to replace table sugar and high-fructose corn syrup with “natural” sweeteners like agave nectar or fruit juice. What to make of it all?
r the past few months, I’ve become increasingly concerned about a sweetener that I’ve recommended on my show in the past,” Mehmet Oz lamented in an apology earlier this year. Oz, the practicing cardiac surgeon and professor at Columbia University who hosts an eponymous daytime-television extravaganza, is given to emphatic food recommendations. Either run and buy something, or throw it away. Throw it as far from you as possible. “After careful consideration of the available research, today I’m asking you to eliminate agave from your kitchen and your diet.”
That’s a stark difference from 2011, when fans of Oz’s show listed their “all-time favorite tips” from Doctor Oz, and number one was “Agave Nectar as a Sugar Substitute.” Number one. Agave flooded “natural” food aisles. By 2012, agave nectar sales were projected to double within the decade, as they had the decade prior. America’s Doctor was at the helm.
“What I like is agave,” Oz said in one of his first-ever appearances on Oprah in 2004.
“Agave? I don’t know what that is, agave.” Winfrey looked to the audience with a puzzled brow, to comedic effect.
“Agave is a natural sugar, but it’s really, really powerful. It’s very sweet to the palate,” Oz explained, recommending it specifically as a substitute for high-fructose corn syrup. “It’s actually a natural product, it’s really, really sweet. You just put a little bit in your tea or whatever you’re eating, so you don’t get many calories.”
(Excerpt) Read more at theatlantic.com ...
I’ve always had problems understanding the “glycemic index”.
Me, too. I’d love short, sweet explanation, if possible.
Eat what you want. You are going to die eventually anyway.
/johnny
Simple.
Get a bunch of volunteers.
Measure each person’s blood sugar.
Have each one eat a measured amount of food. (i.e. Bread or Rice etc).
Retest their blood sugar an hour later. Average the results
The higher the blood sugar rise the higher the glycemic index. Both Rice an Bread have a high glycemic index, but they are different.
There a published books on the different values for 100’s of different foods.
Really pretty simple.
Hoped that helped.
pssst...
Stevia.
Nomsayn?
I think what you mention is more like the glycemic load, not glycemic index.
I’m much better since ditching sugar and sugar substitutes, which are probably worse than sugar anyway. I’ll enjoy an occasional bar of very dark chocolate, or use small amounts of local honey or local maple syrup to sweeten hot cocoa.
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