Dr. McDougall's Online Discussion Board

For the Perfect No Oil Balsamic Salad Dressing, could one use Agave nectar instead of maple syrup? I assume the maple syrup is being used more for sweetness than the maple flavor or am I mistaken? Agave nectar is more blood sugar friendly..

dianeb1944,

As far as taste goes, agave nectr should not make a whole lot of difference. However, if you are concerned about blood sugar, you might want to look at some of what Jeff Novick has said about it, including in this forum. Agave may not be what we hope for when we see its low glycemic index.

Following is a link to an article entitled "Agave: Health Food, Health Fad or Health Fraud?" written by Jeff N where he concludes "... limit your consumption of all refined and/or concentrated sweeteners and if heart disease, elevated triglycerides, insulin resistance, diabetes and/or weight are concerns of yours, avoid the ones higher in fructose, especially agave."

http://jacknorrisrd.com/?page_id=904

A single serving of the salad dressing probably includes only a small quantity of maple syrup/agave, but I would imagine a lot depends on how much sweetener you are eating overall.

Interesting. I didn't know agave was one of those sweeteners that effected blood sugar. I have always read that the rise is very gradual, if at all from agave which is not the case with most other sweeteners including maple syrup.

I love the caraway idea. My M-in-L in another live
Made a hot sauerkraut with caroway. She also added corn starch or something and a load of sugar. Not sure I even want to try to do it again.
But caraway tossed in a fresh slaw , with some grated apple really appeals.