Agave Nectar: It’s sweeter than you think! (and not in a good way!)

I read this article earlier today, and it got my wheels turning.  As parents, my husband and I are constantly looking for ways to cut sugar and CRAP out of our family’s diet.  I was actually thinking that agave nectar might be a better alternative to sugar.  Now I’m convinced it’s just more hype.  WebMD has a similar article here, and Jonny Bowden doesn't buy into the hype, either (I noticed some info from his article cut and pasted into the first article I cited.).   

Turns out, agave nectar is just like high fructose corn syrup, and in some cases it can even be worse.  The article I cited above (while a bit disorganized) offered quite a bit of explanation around sucrose, fructose, and glucose.  Sucrose is more of the natural state of sugar… pure cane sugar, if you will, and it’s better for you than fructose.  Fructose occurs naturally in fruit and is fine in moderation (about 25 grams a day), but in higher amounts, it is processed through the liver and whatever isn't absorbed (which is most of it), is turned into fat.  Glucose is good.  Our body uses it for everything.  I found these little tidbits of information to be quite enlightening.  It also reconfirmed some points I made in another blog post citing blood vessel inflammation as the leading cause of heart disease (not cholesterol).  I love it when I can connect the dots.

 

Let me be clear.  Agave itself is not the problem.  It’s how it’s processed. 

ANYTHING processed needs to be axed from our diet.  I've known this for a long time, and while we've done a lot to get most of the processed foods out of our cupboards and our fridge, we still have a long way to go.  I think an overhaul is in order, and I need to take that overhaul with me everywhere I go. 

At work, I try to use raw sugar in my tea every morning, and I have an occasional Coke.  I succumb to sugary treats at work far more often than I’d like to admit.  However, it is obvious now that my love of sugar has translated into that flat tire that encircles my waist. 

I need to cut the crap and just live with it.  This needs to be done for me… and for my family.    

Put the Sponge in the Dishwasher? REALLY?

Yes!  You can put sponges in the dishwasher!  Thanks, Frugal Girls, for this awesome tip!  This cuts the crap out of germs in kitchen sponges!

According to WebMD, the kitchen is the germiest room in the house.  An article in The Daily Mail declared, "The kitchen sponge is 200,000 times dirtier than a toilet seat - and could even lead to PARALYSIS"... so YES.  We should either toss those germ factories into the trash or clean them somehow.  In the past, I simply sprayed them with a bleach solution, but that tended to break down the sponge pretty quickly.  Recently, I resorted to spraying my kitchen sponges with Sol-u-mel from Melaleuca.  It's organic and is proven to kill even e coli.  

I have to say, I really like the idea of just tossing sponges in the dishwasher, though.  The combination of heat and cleaner should be GREAT to get rid of the nastiness!  I'm going to try this!