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Agave, the main ingredient in Tequila, has resurfaced as a health fad in recent years. Sticky and delicious agave nectar, produced from the agave plant, has been touted as a healthier sweetener because it has a slightly lower glycemic index than sugar. However, according to the American Diabetes Association, "It is okay for people with diabetes to use agave nectar as a sweetener, but they should not treat it any differently than regular sugar or corn syrup. It provides just as many calories and carbohydrates as regular sugar, honey, etc."
>Agave, Appetite & Fat TissueAgave, like corn syrup, is high in fructose. Like corn syrup, agave bypasses our natural appetite suppressor mechanisms, which can lead to overconsumption. Additionally, the liver converts agave sugars directly into fat tissue, bypassing the normal conversion of sugars into glucose. For this reason, diabetics can consume agave without raising blood sugar levels. Increased fat production, however, is hardly a solution for diabetics.
Agave is a Highly Processed Food
Using the word nectar to refer to agave sweetener may be misleading, as it is not made entirely from the sap of the plant. A better term would be 'agave syrup.' Instead, starches in the plants bulbous root are extracted, refined and highly processed. These starches are strikingly similar to those in corn and rice used to make high-fructose corn syrup and sucrose syrup.
Nutritional Content
Unlike jaggery and molasses, the nutritional content of agave is negligible. It also lacks the fiber of natural sweeteners such as raisins, dates, and bananas. Unlike honey, agave syrup is cold and Kapha provoking. Honey, the only 'heating' sweetener, remains Ayurveda's sweetener of choice for Kapha dosha.
Want to buy a duck?
If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck. Although promoted by health stores, modern sweeteners like agave syrup may simply sweep under the rug a sugar addiction of epidemic proportions: we consume over 150 times the amount of sugar than our ancestors only a hundred years ago.
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You'll learn your body type, and whether 'Agave Nectar' is a good fit.
Complete the basic quiz in 1 minute, or go deeper with additional quizzes
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AYURVEDA'S GUIDE TO VITALITY & WHOLESOME NOURISHMENT
Your Ayurvedic diet is tailored to your individual body and your specific imbalances.
With an Ayurvedic diet you feel joy and satisfaction because what you are eating truly nourishes and balances you.
Disease results from diets and lifestyles that are incompatible with your nature.
By eating a personalized diet matched to your body, you experience optimal health.
See How it Works.
Ayurveda assesses metabolic imbalances through 20 main biocharacteristics
(gunas).
Aggravating them weakens your body and causes imbalance.
By knowing which biocharacteristics are habitually imbalanced in your body, you will be able to identify and correct metabolic imbalances before you get sick.
Every biocharacteristic has an opposite which balances it (i.e. hot balances cold).
You restore balance by favoring diet and lifestyle choices that increase the opposite biocharacteristic.
Taste is used to sense the most basic properties and effects of food.
Each taste has a specific medicinal effect on your body.
Cravings for food with certain tastes indicate your body is craving specific medicinal results from food.
Taste is experienced on the tongue and represents your body's reaction to foods.
Sweet taste causes physical satisfaction and attraction whereas bitter taste causes discomfort and aversion.
Kapha should use less sweet taste while Vata and Pitta would benefit from using more sweet taste.
One of the first signs of illness is that your taste and appetite for food changes.
The six tastes are sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter, and astringent.
Do you crave foods with any of the tastes below?
Ayurveda is a metabolic theory of medicine that explains individual health, tendencies, and disease patterns through the concept of doshas, which can be understood as your metabolic patterns and tendencies.
Each dosha reflects a distinct metabolic nature and describes strengths & weaknesses in bodily function, and how these affect energy levels, digestion, susceptibility to disease, and many other tendencies.
Your metabolic nature not only affects your physical characteristics, but also influences your mental thought patterns, confidence, and enthusiasm.
Ayurveda balances these metabolic strengths & weaknesses to support your body's vitality and prevent recurrent disease cycles. This support is a critical aid, especially in chronic or incurable disease conditions.
The 3 metabolic body types
(doshas),
are Catabolic (Vata), Metabolic (Pitta), and Anabolic (Kapha).
Through dosha, Ayurveda empowers people to identify metabolic imbalances early, break repetitive patterns of disease, and cultivate habits that support long-term vitality and well-being.
Ultimately, these metabolic patterns also provide a framework for understanding yourself, including body, mind, and spiritual tendencies.
Ayurveda & Greek Medicine were the dominant form of medicine along the Silk Road from England to China and South Asia.
They work by assessing your metabolic type, patterns, and nature.
Greek medicine recognizes 4 metabolic temperaments, Melancholic, Choleric, Sanguine, and Phlegmatic.
Has a hot and dry metabolic nature. Enthusiastic, vibrant and bright. In excess burns up fluids and ojas, irritable. Corresponds to high bilirubin in the blood that irritates and heats up the body and liver.
Cold and dry with a slow, variable or erratic metabolism. Colicky, tense. Withdrawn, pensive, anxious, and hesitant. Analytical, intelligent, detail oriented and creative. Prone to ojas depletion, dehydration, an overactive nervous system, and depression.
Medicinal Benefits, Uses & Herbal Actions of Agave Nectar
Experiences are Personal
Experiences vary according to the person and constitution. Individual results may vary.
The list of herbal-actions below has not be approved by the FDA and should not be used to treat a medical condition.
Eating Ayurvedically makes you feel nourished and energized. Food digests with ease when
right for your body type (dosha). Healthy digestion is seen as the cornerstone of well-being in
Ayurveda. Healthy digestion generally prevents illness. If you do get sick, a strong digestive fire
reduces the severity of illness and increases your resilience. It also improves your mood. Once
you begin eating Ayurvedically, you will feel refreshed, vital and strong.
John Immel, the founder of Joyful Belly, teaches people how to have a
healthy diet and lifestyle with Ayurveda.
His approach to Ayurveda is clinical, yet exudes an ease which many find enjoyable and insightful.
John also directs the Joyful Belly College of Ayurveda,
offering professional clinical training in Ayurveda for over 15 years.
John's hobbies & specialties include advanced digestive disorders, medieval Catholic philosophy,
& botany. He holds a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Harvard University.
His wife and family of 7 kids live in Asheville, NC.
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* These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.
The information and products on this website are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any
disease.
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