Preview

personal worldview essay

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
511 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
personal worldview essay
Agave may be one of the most popular natural sweeteners today, but its rise in popularity in the U.S. didn’t begin until around 2003. Now it’s commonly used as an alternative to sugar, honey, or maple syrup for cooking, baking, and sweetening everything from coffee to oatmeal.
Agave nectar (or syrup) is produced from the agave plant – the same plant used to make tequila. It tastes similar to honey with a hint of molasses and is manufactured by extracting the juice from the plant’s core, which is then filtered, heated or treated with enzymes and concentrated until it becomes a syrupy liquid.
Proponents of this natural sweetener claim that it’s a healthy alternative to sugar, honey, and other sweeteners because of its low glycemic index. It’s advertised as ideal for people who are watching their weight or folks with diabetes who are working to lower their blood sugar levels. But before you add agave nectar to your grocery list, here’s what the heck you need to know.
Agave nectar contains up to 90 percent fructose. That’s significantly more than table sugar, which is 50 percent fructose (and 50 percent glucose) once it’s broken down by your body. Agave’s high fructose content gives it advantages and disadvantages. The good part first: Because fructose has a low glycemic index, agave doesn’t cause your blood sugars to spike as rapidly after eating it, which means it can temper the sugar rush that occurs after eating something sweet. And even though agave and white sugar contain approximately the same number of calories, agave is markedly sweeter. That means you can get away with using less to flavor your coffee, morning oatmeal, or baked goods and potentially save yourself a few calories.
Now for the bad part. The high fructose content in agave can have some undesirable health effects. Studies have shown that large amounts of fructose can increase blood-triglyceride levels, and high triglycerides are a known risk factor for heart disease. In addition, some

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Both high fructose corn syrup and any other sweetener gives food a more pleasurable taste and they contain about the same amount of calories. High fructose corn syrup and sugar are metabolically similar and both cause negative effects on the body when not eaten in moderation (Hyman). Vast amounts of HFCS promotes teeth decay and it raises triglyceride levels in the blood which increases the risk of heart disease. It makes the liver fatty which increases the risk of diabetes and fructose affects hormone levels like insulin which results in obesity (Food Additives – CSPI’s). High fructose corn syrup punches holes within the intestinal lining allowing bacteria from toxic gut byproducts and partially ingested food proteins to infiltrate into the blood stream which provokes obesity, diabetes, and cancer…

    • 732 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Week 2 Ilab Nutrition

    • 442 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Explore the history of the sweetener (when it was developed, its composition). Sucrose, according to our text, is composed of one glucose (the most common sugar molecule) molecule and one fructose (the sweetest natural sugar) molecule. The bond is called glycosidic linkage. Because of this mixture, Sucrose is known to be sweeter than lactose or maltose (the other 2 out of the 3 most common disaccharides, which is a carbohydrate compound consisting of 2 or more molecules joined together). The history of sucrose dates back to thousands and thousands of years ago when the sugar cane was discovered in the South Pacific, rumored specifically to have been found in New Guinea. Its molecular formula is C12H22O11. (taken from Wikipedia)…

    • 442 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    We spend more than a trillion dollars each year fighting the damaging health effects of sugar. This, combined with the massive waste, fraud, and inefficiency of our healthcare system, make it completely unsustainable over time.…

    • 1707 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Personal Worldview Essay

    • 1000 Words
    • 4 Pages

    My worldview has been shaped and expanded over the course of my lifetime by many different influences. My family, friends, coworkers, teachers, and even strangers have made impacts on my life that have in one way or another changed how I view society and the world around me. The three main components that help to form my worldview are Ethics, Human Nature, and God, because they molded my thoughts, experiences, education and life decisions.…

    • 1000 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    This article informs the readers of the negative effects that added sugar in the diet has on a person and what the differences between natural sugars and added sugars are. The healthy amount of added sugar daily is recommended, and the statistics on the average amount of added sugar consumed per capita annually is examined. The addictive qualities of sugar are also touched upon. The author of this article, Kris Gunnars, is the CEO and founder of the article’s website; Authority Nutrition, and possesses a bachelor degree in medicine…

    • 841 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    High Fructose Corn Syrup

    • 1562 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Abstract: What is high fructose corn syrup? Is it some kind of disease making machine? High fructose corn syrup is causing many problems in the United States and two of the main problems are obesity and type two diabetes. There are also many other diseases that branch off from these two main diseases, like liver and heart disease. In this paper, the reason why high fructose corn syrup is becoming such a huge problem in the United States will be explored.…

    • 1562 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Essay On Sucrose

    • 574 Words
    • 3 Pages

    It is used immediately to raise blood sugar levels. Without it cells are starved. Glucose is the fastest metabolized carbohydrate. It will initiate the production of insulin. The average American diet is 15.8% sugar. Fruits like apples, pears, raisins, and honey contain more fructose than glucose. It would take 20 apples to get 500 calories from fructose (25% of the 2000 calorie diet) Fructose is slightly worse for you than glucose. It takes a lot of fruit to create a dangerous level of fructose intake.…

    • 574 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Corn Syrup Research Paper

    • 661 Words
    • 3 Pages

    One of the most controversial ingredients in processed foods, and unfortunately one of the most popular ingredients, is high fructose corn syrup. High fructose corn syrup is produced from corn starch; it also includes predominately fructose and glucose. It has higher proportions of fructose than regular corn syrup, usually forty-two or fifty-five percent more, with the remaining sugars being glucose and other sugars. High fructose corn syrup is a sweetener that can be found in thousands of food and beverages throughout the United States. However, it contains many harmful effects on the human body and leads to many severe health issues.…

    • 661 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is one of the major caloric sweeteners used in the food industry today. It is a sweetener that contain fructose and all provide 4 kcal per gram (Suzan, 620). It is relatively inexpensive to produce, so the food industry sees HFCS an easy way to make products less expensive. HFCS is a kind of corn sugar; it is nearly identical to sucrose (table sugar), which is made up of 50 percent glucose and 50 percent fructose (“What”). Sucrose and HFCS contain the same amount of calories and are of equal sweetness. High fructose corn syrup is commonly used in the food supply in the United States and other countries.…

    • 2660 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Threats To Antarctica

    • 1751 Words
    • 12 Pages

    became a popular dish at restaurants. To make it sound appealing to customers, it was…

    • 1751 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Drinks high in sugar need to be limited in portion sizes because the rate of consumption is exceeding the amount one’s body can healthfully handle. The sugar found in soft drinks, juices, and most processed food is fructose. A high rate of fructose consumption is a metabolic disaster for one’s body. Unlike glucose (blood sugar), which is used in every…

    • 3360 Words
    • 14 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Why Sugar Is Bad

    • 606 Words
    • 3 Pages

    No matter what, humans need sugar in their daily diets. To be healthy your cells require sugar as a nutrient. “Our cell health is critical to overall health. If the cells are nourished we have the right foundation for a nourished body” (Konie Pg. 2B). For some reason when humans over consume a product such as sugar, we as a society automatically see it as bad and take no accountability for our own actions and or choices. On page 2A from the article “Is sugar bad? Why I say NO!” by Robin Konie we are reminded of the natural sugars that are essential to our daily diets, like sugars found in fruits, dairy, vegetables, and other essential foods we need to consume daily.…

    • 606 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    When writing up reports and projects, one would normally use the method of finding sources and resource from other places and people; but the method of autoethnography is to use your own thoughts and experiences as a form of resource. Writer Joan Didion states simply that “we tell ourselves stories in order to live” and stories allow us to be more reflective and enable us to live better.…

    • 553 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Best Essays

    Vegetarianism and Agar

    • 2585 Words
    • 11 Pages

    Throughout history into modern times, agar has been chiefly used as an ingredient in desserts throughout Asia and also as a solid substrate to contain culture medium for microbiological work. Agar (agar-agar) can be used as a laxative, an appetite suppressant, vegetarian gelatin substitute, a thickener for soups, in fruit preserves, ice cream, and other desserts, as a clarifying agent in brewing, and for sizing paper and fabrics.[4]…

    • 2585 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Coconut Sugar Production

    • 1799 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Coconut sap sugar is an emerging high-value product that gained popularity because of its health benefits. It has a very low Glycemic Index making it a great natural sweetener for diabetics and those with family history of diabetes.…

    • 1799 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays