I just wrote a very detailed article for Purely Delicious magazine about stress, fatigue and burnout.  It will be published soon.

When you’re burning the candle at both ends, you are much less able to deal with stress.  To compound the problem, when stress levels are high, you have a tendency to sleep less, because stress can cause insomnia or frequent night time awakenings.

And of course, taking time for fun goes out the window in times of stress because of the perception that there just isn’t “enough time”.

My commitment for this month is to incorporate more fun and sleep into my life. Yours may also include eating balanced meals, eating more slowly, becoming more conscious when eating.  These are all VERY important and I support you in your commitment.

So try this.  Before you begin to put food into your mouth, stop.  Take a nice deep breath.  This alone is enough to shift you out of your  sympathetic nervous system – remember–the system that causes your digestion to slow way down. Then take a few seconds to appreciate the food you are about to consume. Think about where it came from, how it was prepared, how it will nourish every cell.  Only then, begin to eat, staying conscious of each forkful.

No kidding, it will take some focused effort to do this!  Yet the time and attention to conscious eating, appreciative eating, is well worth it!

Go ahead and give it a try, and post a comment about how it went for you.

Join me on Wednesday March 10 at 12:30pm CST for my Blog talk Radio Show: Creating a Vibrant Life, during which I’ll reveal 5 strategies for balancing your mood through food.  www.blogtalkradio.com/dr-ritamarie

My Report Card for Monday:

1- Green Smoothie – 2 quarts Done

2- weight training exercise Done

3- bed by 11:30  (how daring of me!) maybe even earlier a little later – 12:20

4- write a chapter in my new book did the research but didn’t complete the chapter

5- quality time with the kids – family conflict rather than quality time…

Commitments for Tuesday:

1- run 3 miles

2- bed by midnight

3- Drink 1 quart of green smoothie

4- drink 1 cup veggie juice

How about you?  What are you committed to today?

Let us know.  Post your comments below.

Love, Health and Joy to you,

Dr. Ritamarie

One of my readers, Joz,  sent me this very interesting article on sleep, that I thought I’d share.

TWO HOURS OF GOOD SLEEP BEFORE TWELVE O’CLOCK IS WORTH MORE THAN FOUR HOURS AFTER TWELVE O’CLOCK. E.G. White 7 Manuscript Release p 224

10 PM to 2 AM .  This is a crucial period of time during which most of the body’s energy is used for CLEANSING, REBUILDING AND REJUVENATING the body. The liver receives most of the energy and conducts an astonishing range of activities. These include the supply of vital nutrients to all parts of the body, breaking down of noxious substances and keeping the blood clean. In addition, the liver cells produce bile at this time, which is needed to digest food, particularly fats, during the following day. Another important function of the liver during this time is to synthesize proteins, which serve as the main building blocks of cells, hormones and blood constituents.

The liver requires all the energy it can get to fulfill these and many other responsibilities. This can only happen sufficiently if you  SLEEP between the hours of 10 and 2.  If you use up the nighttime energy for eating or for mental and physical activities, the liver is left with too little energy to do its extremely vital work. The kidneys also need energy during this time period to filter the blood plasma, and keep the body fluids balanced and blood pressure normal.

Although the brain makes up merely 2 % of our body mass, it normally contains more than 25 % of the body’s entire BLOOD SUPPLY.

However, during this phase, 10PM to 2AM, much of the blood moves from the back of the brain to the liver, to give it what it needs for purification tasks. If you are mentally or physically active at this time, the liver doesn’t receive enough blood to work with, so it can’t cleanse the blood sufficiently.

This results in the accumulation of toxic material in the blood stream. If toxins keep circulating in the blood, they will settle in the interstitial fuild (connective tissues) of organs and systems, thereby rasising acidity and damaging them, including the liver itself. High blood toxicity can and does lead to secretions of stress hormones, brain fog, and injured capillaries, arteries and heart muscles. Most heart disease is the result of a poorly performing liver that is unable to remove all toxic, noxious substances from the blood on a daily basis. If we do not give the liver the energy it needs to conduct the most basic physiological activities, we sow the seeds of illness throught the body.

For adults, the most important process of cleansing and renewal occur during the 2 hours of sleep before midnight.  During this period, you enter a dreamless state of sleep where oxygen consumption decreases considerably, which results in profound rest and relaxation. The benefit to your body of this single hour of deep sleep is approximately equivalent to that derived during the three or four hours after midnight, when the oxygen consumption rises again.

Doctors at the University of California at San Diego have found that losing a few hours of sleep not only makes you feel tired, but also can affect the immune system, possibly impairing the body’s ability to fight infections.

Thanks Joz!

SO My report card for the weekend:

Saturday and Sunday fulfilled my FUN quota.  I ran around the lake, visited for hours with a friend, played games with my 11 year old, had a date with my husband, spent time in the hot-tub with my husband, watched my teenage son’s learn hockey skate lesson and ate delicious raw food.

As for sleep,I made it really close to midnight on Saturday and Sunday. I was a little late Sunday because I felt driven to lie in the far infra red sauna for a half hour.

My commitments for today:

1- Green Smoothie – 2 quarts

2- weight training exercise

3- bed by 11:30  (how daring of me!) maybe even earlier

4- write a chapter in my new book

5- quality time with the kids

How about you?  How was your weekend?  What are you committed to today?

Let us know.  Post your comments below.

Love, Health and Joy to you,

Dr. Ritamarie

After messing up on several of my comittments yesterday, I made up for it today!  Seems FUN was taking the brunt of my unfulfilled commitments all week, but last night and today really made up for it.

After the Balance My Body webinar, I drove my son (or rather he drove me!!!  He has his learner’s permit) to a friend’s house then went downtown to our beautiful hike and bike trail and did a 4 mile run around the lake.

Afterwards, I went to whole foods and bought some lovely vegetables.  I was on my way to pick up my son and his friend frm the movies, when my husband called and let me knw that he could do it.  So I stopped by Borboletta’s, one of Austin’s raw foods cafes, which recently changed management, to check out the changes.  Low and behold, I ran into one of my students who’s become a dear friend.  We sat and chatted, while eating drinking green smoothies and eating delicious raw and living foods, like kale salad, for hours.

I put in a couple of hours of work and now I’m off to hottub with the family and then go to bed.

A successful self care day on all fronts!

Here’s my report card for Friday:

1. Exercise 30 minutes - FLOP – all I did was a few minutes of weights
2. Fun: Quality time with my husband – a date for dinner at Beets Cafe! Yipee.  It was great.  We had a lovely dinner and good conversation.
3. Water – 8 cups Success
4. Get myself signed up to take the Vibrant Health Mindset Course and recommit to my own goals. Didn’t quite makt it and will move this to tomorrow.
5. Bed by midnight – Superflop.  The evening out and a 2 hour excursion with my almost 16 year old son took time from a commitment I had to make.  I taught a webinar class thsi morning for my Balance My Body group, and needed to prepare the case studies, and get everything set up, plus I needed to finish the maintenence Plan for the 6 week detox, as promised.  Thus I got to bed at 2.  I did sleep until 8 so this is still a better night’s sleep than I was getting last week.  Progress not perfection.

Saturday’s Commitments…made this morning but posted in the evening:

1. Fun – 30 minutes
2. Exercise – longer run – 4 miles
3. bed by midnight
4. Hot-tub or Sauna before bed

How did you do yesterday? What are your commitments for today?  Comment below.

Enjoy!

Love, Health and Joy,

Dr. Ritamarie

It’s always amazing to me how much power there is in creating a goal and committing to it.

Earlier this year, I created a product with Jane Hardin, who’ you’ll get to officially meet before too long.  She’s a registered dietitian who has completed training in Living Foods Nutrition and has  a lot of experience working with terminally ill patients in a counseling capacity.  We created a program called Creating the Vibrant Helath Mindset because we both have seen the  mindset in making long lasting changes in your habits.  This is the first of many projects we’ll be doing together.

This week, I’ve reconnected to the value of continuing to revisit my goals and make commitments based on these.

I’m pleased to report greater success on my sleep goal for yesterday!  Yeah!

So here’s my report card for yesterday:

1. 64 ounces smoothie/green soup – DONE
2. Off computer by 11PM – Surpassed. I was off by 10:06PM!
3. Sauna 30 minutes – missed this because I went to bed early!
4. Bed by 11:30 – Surpassed - in Bed by 10:15 – My 11 year old son, Kevin, has recently been worried about the toxic smells at school.  They watched a video about the dangers of marker inhalation, and talked about a 13 year old who died as a result of marker inhalation as a way to get high.  Kevin accidentally got a big wiff of a marker at school the other day and got dizzy and light headed.  Since then he has been reacting to smells, like air fresheners, wipes and cleaning supplies used at school.  He is scared of dying from breathing them.  He asked if he could sleep with me last night so he could feel safe.  So he and I went to bed at 10:15.
5. Fun reading for 15 minutes – missed this because my Kevin slept with me.  Fun was talking to him and cuddling instead.
   
6. Lights out between 11:45 and 12. Surpassed Lights out by 10:15

My commitments for today:

1. Exercise 30 minutes
2. Fun: Quality time with my husband – a date for dinner at Beets Cafe!
3. water – 8 cups
4. Get myself signed up to take the Vibrant Health Mindset Course and recommit to my own goals.
5. Bed by midnight

How did you do yesterday? What are your commitments for today?  Comment below.

Enjoy!

Love, Health and Joy,

Dr. Ritamarie

It’s quite interesting for me…making a public commitment to go to sleep.  It has really been driving my late night behavior.  Last night it was particularly tempting to just ignore the commitment and work late, as I had lot to do.  Yet I would have felt really bad having to post that I went to bed at 3 when I committed to 12.

I did a class on adrenal health last night for my online program, Balance My Body Blueprint.  It was a great reinforcement for me to teach everyone about the importance of breathing, sleep and having fun.  I’ve been focused on breathing and appreciation all day and I love how it feels.  This activity can ease the burden  your adrenals and alleviate fatigue.

So here’s my report card for yesterday:

1. Exercise: 2:30 – 3:30 get out for a run and do a few weights – I did this at 4:30.  It was a beautiful day and i had a great time.
2. Fun break:  9:30 PM – after my Balance My Body Blueprint teleseminar call on Balancing Adrenals – I am afraid this was a flop, unless you count cuddling with my 11 year old…which I think is fun.
3. Off computer by 11:30, in bed by 11:45, lights out before midnight. I was off computer by 11:27.  My 11 year old was troubled by some school events and needed cuddle time with Mom, so I lay with him in his bed, dozing, until I went to my own bed, lights out by 12:15!  Great accomplishment!

And here’s my commitment for today:

1. 64 ounces smoothie/green soup
2. Off computer by 11PM
3. Sauna 30 minutes
4. Bed by 11:30
5. Fun reading for 15 minutes
6. Lights out between 11:45 and 12.

How did you do yesterday? What are your commitments for today?  Comment below.

Enjoy!

Love, Health and Joy,

Dr. Ritamarie

This challenge has brought my habits in need of change to my forefront and that’s what’s  important.  I learned a long time ago, from the teachings of Abraham Maslov,  that all learning comes in 4 stages:

1. Unconscious Incompetence

   This is the “ignorance is bliss” stage. You don’t know what you don’t know, and are not bothered by this lack of knowledge.  For example, most people walk into fast food restaurants, completely unaware f the way that food effects them, without knowledge of or competency in a different way of eating.

2. Conscious Incompetence

   Here’s where you become aware of what you don’t know.  Perhaps you attend a lecture or read a book and realize that your way of eating is making you sick.  You are conscious of a new way of eating, but you have no skill at it;  you are incompetent, yet aware of it every time you put something into your mouth

3. Conscious Competence

   You now understand or know how to do something, ie how to eat healthfully.  However, demonstrating the skill or knowledge requires a great deal of consciousness or concentration.  You need to stop and ponder the choices and consciously make yourself make healthy choices when confronted with a wide array of food.

4. Unconscious Competence

   You have so much practice and skill, that the behavior becomes “second nature” and can be performed easily, without concentration or conscious control.  You can at this point easily follow through without thought or effort.  In our example, you know what foods are helpful, which ones are harmful, and you naturally choose the ones that promote health.  It’s a non issue.

If you would like to know more about the 4 stages of competance, this series of articles goes into great depth.

http://www.drritamarie.com/go/4StagesOfLearning

For me, eating well is stage 4.  For sleep, I am at stage 2.

Given that,  I honor the progress I have made this week.  I am light years ahead of last week.  So here’s my “Report Card” for yesterday, March 2.

1- Shut down the computer no later than 11:30, lights out by midnight - I  got off the computer by 12:05 and lights out by 12:25.

2- Drink 2 quarts of green smoothie.  Yeah!  did this.

3- Exercise for at least 30 minutes FLOP. It was cold in the morning, so I opted out of a 7AM run, then had to drive kids to school, then had a busy day.  Was intending to do the stairmaster (in my bedroom) after my teleconference call, but a neighbor friend had hurt his back so I worked on him at 9:15 PM.   After that I had bits and pieces and follwo-ups to do and never got to the exercise.  Lots of excuses, eh! Lesson:  Look at the calendar in advance and plan a specific time to do exercise.

FOR Fun:   Water color paint for 5 minutes -  FLOP again.  Instead for fun I hung with my 11 year old and talked about his day.

OK.  So I am making progress.

Here’s my comittment for today:

1- Exercise: 2:30 – 3:30 get out for a run and do a few weights

2- Fun break:  9:30 PM – after my Balance My Body Blueprint teleseminar call on Balancing Adrenals

3- Off computer by 11:30, in bed by 11:45, lights out before midnight

How did you do yesterday? What are your commitments for today?  Comment below.

Enjoy!

Love, Health and Joy,

Dr. Ritamarie

P.S. If food is an issue you are working on, check out the recording of a teleconference call I did Tuesday night with Nomi Shannon, the Raw Gourmet

http://www.drritamarie.com/DeliciouslyQuickRawFood-SignUp.php

Last night I made it to the bedroom by midnight and lights were out by 12:15.  My husband came in at 12:30 and said I was sound asleep!  Not 100% there yet close, and I’m excited by it.  Remember, instead of beating yourself up if you came close to a commitment, applaud yourself for getting close and strengthen your commitment to get even closer.  Use it as an opportunity to reflect on what you could do to get even closer.

My commitments for today:

1- Shut down the computer no later than 11:30, lights out by midnight

2- drink 2 quarts of green smoothie.  I have already had 1

3- Exercise for at least 30 minutes

FOR Fun:   Water color paint for 5 minutes (ok, lame, but 5 minutes is easy.  It will likely be longer)

What are you committed to?  Post below.

Love, Health and Joy to you,

Dr. Ritamarie

I spend my days connecting with thousands of people all over the globe, sharing the message of health–vibrant health–through focused actions and nourishing choices.

And for the most part, I totally live all that I teach.

Because I overcame debilitating fatigue in my 20’s through whole fresh plant foods, exercise and focused self care, I’ve dedicated my life to teaching others to do the same.

Lately, I have been falling short on my commitment to self care and I feel I need to own up to it and reaffirm my dedication to my own self care in order to best guide you as you work on your own.

I’ve always been a night owl, but over the past 3 months it has become worse. While I recognize the need for sleep for rejuvenation and detoxification, I just can’t seem to get myself to follow through.

I have several projects that are near an dear to my heart and I’ve been staying up into the wee hours more than I should.

The universe has been giving me subtle signals (and some not so subtle signals).  I wrote a blog post about it a few weeks ago, right after I took a nasty fall and hurt my elbow.  The message I was getting loud and clear was to slow down.  And I did–for a couple of days.

When you’re really healthy and get a couple of extended sleep nights it’s enough to make you feel like you can conquer the world again…so I started back on the late nights a few days after the injury.  I know better than anyone the importance of sleep for recovering from injury, yet I continued to push myself.

The universe has been talking to me again and the message is the same.  Only this time it wasn’t so subtle.  Twice in the past 2 weeks, I got a wave of exhaustion at 3PM on Friday afternoon.  It was so powerful that I did something completely out of character…I took a nap.  I haven’t felt exhausted like that in many years.

This morning during my exercise session, I re-injured my arm.  In fact I completely dislocated it.  Fortunately, I was able to re-locate it myself, but it’s talking to me now.  It’s saying “slow down”.

I’ve had some administrative challenges over the past few weeks, which I believe may be on the way to resolution, and as a result, I got behind on answering emails, creating some bonus materials for my Balance My Body Blueprint program, and completing a few e-books.  In spite of all of that, however, I am committed to lights out before midnight for the rest of the week.

That may not seem like much for some, but for me, it’s big.  Once I get the hang of it, maybe I will push it back to 11pm.

The world is on the verge of a whole new paradigm in health care, and we are the leaders.  We need to teach by example and that’s just what I intend to improve at doing.

I believe that it’s important to keep commitments, and I also feel it’s important to make realistic commitments.  I believe some of my commitments have been realistic only if I am willing to work 16 hour days, so my new commitment is to be realistic and keep in mind the importance of balance whenever I make commitments.

One other commitment I am re-affirming—having fun everyday.  When I was leading my Jumpstart Your Energy class back in October, we did daily goals on the forum, and each of us told what we planned to do for fun.  By publicly declaring it, I made time for fun everyday.

I decided to re-awaken that ritual.  The plan is a blog post every day, in which I declare my bedtime from the night before, and my health goals for the day, including the fun activity I choose each day.

Would you like to join me?  All you need to do is subscribe to the blog so you get notified when I post a new entry, and comment each day with your commitments.  I commit to doing this for 30 days.  Who’s in?  It’s absolutely FREE.
I’ll probably come up with some sort of contest as we go along, so don’t miss a single day…register and make your comment for Day 1 here.  I’m calling it the 30 Day Sleep and Fun Challenge.

Dr. Ritamarie’s  commitments for Tuesday, March 2:

1. Lights out by midnight
2. Exercise 30 minutes or longer
3. Drink at least 2 quarts of green smoothie

What are you committing to?  Comment below.

Wishing you Love, Health and Joy,

Dr. Ritamarie

P. S. And speaking of FUN, there’s still time to sign up for the teleseminar I’m doing with Nomi Shannon, author of the Raw Gourmet.  It’s going to be so much fun.  But don’t take my word for it.  Read all about it here:

http://drritamarie.com/DeliciouslyQuickRawFood-SignUp.php

Join Nomi Shannon, the Raw Gourmet and I for Deliciously Quick Raw Food ~ Tips from the Raw Gourmet ~ on Tuesday March 2 at 7:30 PM Central time as we demystify raw foods meal planning and preparation, tell you how to make a couple of quick and delicious snacks to satisfy even the most discerning taste buds, answer your most pressing questions and offer you a rawking good time as well.

Here’s the link to sign up.

http://drritamarie.com/DeliciouslyQuickRawFood-SignUp.php

We’ll record the call, so if you can’t make it live, sign up anyway and we’ll send you the recording.

I encourage you to please use your weekend to regenerate your energy from the week. 

Get outdoors and replenish your vitamin D stores.  I am discovering lots of vitamin D deficiencies in working with people lately.  And be sure to refrain from washing with soap on the exposed areas for 48 hours after you get your vitamin D sunshine dose, or you may decrease your absorption of what your skin creates fromt he sunshine.  It can take up to 48 hours for the Vitamin D to be fully absorbed.  That explains why iI’ve been seeing deficiencies even in sun worshipers who dont use sunscreen.  

 Also important for your health is having fun.  What will you do that’s fun today?  Comment below.  Please respect the importance of fun and recreation.  They are up there with fresh raw and living foods and exercise.

If you live in or near Austin, join me and my friends for a raw foods potluck tonight.  Go to www.drritamarie.com/potluck  for more information and sign up to be part of the action at www.drritamarie.com/meetup.

Have a wonderful day.

Wishing you Love, Health and Joy,

Dr. Ritamarie

By Craig Gerbore, President of Madhava

Mr. Nagel’s article is based on the view of a sole individual, Russ Bianchi. I suppose we should thank Mr. Bianchi for pointing out some issues that may have contributed to Iidea’s (the initial manufacturer of blue agave nectar) demise from the market, however I want to be clear, this is not about Madhava or our agave nectar. Once a dominant supplier, as of this past summer Iidea is no longer a major supplier in the agave syrup business. The distributors using them as a supplier have quietly switched to newly formed blue agave companies for their supply.

Madhava has always worked exclusively with Nekutli, the producer of agave nectar from the agave salmiana, a very different species of the agave. However, there is no mention of our agave nectar from salmiana in the article, nor of the differences in the plant, the collection and production of our product. So, the author has blurred the line with his all encompassing attack on blue agave nectar, by his failure to present complete information on the subject of agave nectars. For what purpose was this article written? If it were to educate the public, I think it would include all the information available.

With the errors and misstatements and half-truths, I don’t think this article is about education, it is an all out shotgun attack. I believe Mr. Bianchi, presented as the sole authority on agave nectar, was initially introduced to Iidea’s blue agave syrup product on their entry to the market in the late 90’s. At that time, Iidea was promoting a 90% fructose agave syrup. This is what I believe Mr. Bianchi is referring to. Unfortunately, he ignores the fact that this is not the agave sold on the market today, nor is it representative of Madhava’s product. In fact Mr. Bianchi has never even acknowledged the existence of our agave nectar from the salmiana variety. So, all his comments are apparently based on his experience with Iidea’s product, but I find ourselves caught in the blast. In their zestful attack against the blue agave syrup he was introduced to initially, Mr.’s Bianchi and Nagel have also made inaccurate comments which reflect on agave nectar generally.

As such, I take issue with several of their statements and claims and want to clarify some things as regards Madhava’s Agave Nectar from agave salmiana. Their discussion of the processing of agave nectar is in no way reflective of how Madhava’s agave nectar is produced. There are three ways to convert complex sugars into a simple sugar sweetener such as agave syrup. It can be done thermally, chemically, or enzymatically as ours is.

There are no chemicals whatsoever involved in the production of Madhava’s agave nectar from agave salmiana, nor is it cooked. Our agave is subject only to low temperatures during the evaporation of excess water from the juice. The author states “The principal constituent of the agave is starch, such as what is found in corn or rice.” This statement, which is the foundation of much of their argument comparing agave nectar to corn syrup, has no basis in scientific fact, THERE IS NO STARCH IN THE AGAVE.

How can the author and his source be so mistaken on this statement on which he bases his attack? All plants store energy in one of two ways, as starches or fructans. All agave plants create fructans as their energy storing means. So, agave plants have fructans, not starch. From Wikipedia: Inulins are a group of naturally occurring polysaccharides produced by many types of plants. They belong to a class of fibers know as fructans. Inulin is used by some plants as a means of storing energy and it typically found in roots or rhizomes. Most plants which synthesize and store inulin do not store other materials such as starch.

There is no starch in either species of agave, and agave nectar is not from starch as the author and Mr. Bianchi claim. They have tried very hard to propagandize the public with a false fact, either by design, or ignorance, for which there would be no excuse. Such an error of fact certainly casts doubt on the validity of the rest of Nagel’s article, as the lack of depth of his research has to be apparent to all. Really, he is just regurgitating the singular views of Mr. Bianchi. I personally spoke with the author during his “research”, as did at least one other in the industry.

He chose not to include one word of the information given to him by us, which I will repeat below, and failed to make any distinction between Madhava’s Nekutli agave nectar from salmiana and that from the blue agave plant. He only mentions blue agave. The plants differ, the locations differ, the methods and production differ greatly. The information we gave him did not fit his purpose and so was omitted in favor of a generalized attack. Madhava’s source is exclusively agave salmiana. If you haven’t already reviewed our site at www.madhavasagave.com , you will find background information there. Briefly though, the native people supplying the juice collect it from the live plant, by hand, twice daily. There is no heat involved in the removal. The juice is immediately brought to the facility to remove the excess water as it will ferment rapidly if left standing.

It is during the removal of the moisture that the only heat is applied. The juice is evaporated and moisture removed in a vacuum evaporator. The vacuum enables the moisture to be withdrawn at low temperatures. The temp is closely controlled. Subsequently, our agave is handled and packaged at room temperatures. No other heat is applied. And, rather than convert the complex sugars of the juice thermally, we use gentle enzymatic action. Just as a bee introduces an enzyme to flower nectar to make honey, we introduce an natural organic vegan enzyme for the same purpose.

The technical term for the conversion of complex sugars into their simple sugar components is hydrolysis. Inulin is a fructan which is hydrolyzed into the simple sugars composing agave nectar, fructose and glucose. Honey is composed of the same simple sugars.

The blue agave plant is harvested and the blue agave nectar is produced by a completely different method. I will have to leave it to the blue agave nectar sellers to comment on the production themselves. While I know of it, I have not witnessed it as I have Nekutli’s. Unlike the author, I won’t comment publicly on something I cannot verify.

To clarify further on another claim, “Agave Nectar as a final product is mostly chemically refined fructose”. As regards Madhava’s agave nectar, there are no chemicals involved in our production whatsoever. The sugars in our agave nectar come from the breakdown of the inulin molecule through the introduction of the enzyme to break apart that molecule. It is in no way chemically refined, there are no chemicals involved in any part of the production or packaging process.

Our agave nectar is refined only in as much as the excess moisture is removed from the juice of the plant.

“HFCS is made with GM enzymes”. Bianchi’s states “they (agave and corn syrup) are indeed made the same way” This is another false assertion as regards Madhava’s agave nectar at least. Our agave nectar is certainly and clearly not made the same way as corn syrup. There is no starch in our agave. There are no chemicals, no refinement beyond the evaporation of water. And, there are no GMO’s whatsoever. The agave salmiana has never been subject to this and the enzyme is a natural, non GM organic, vegan enzyme.

Other points regarding fructose apply to sugars in general and are a consumption, or overconsumption issue. Certainly consuming large amounts of sweeteners of any kind will be detrimental to one’s health. Suggesting fructose could cause health issues when concentrated amounts are eaten is a statement which should really apply to the overconsumption issue. The information the author links to agave nectar is the result of megadose testing of pure clinical fructose. Not the same thing as normal daily use of agave nectar in the course of our meals. The antisweetener advocates just have to admit that it is the overconsumption of sugars that is the problem. Used in moderation, sugars serve a purpose, to make other foods and beverages more palatable. Imagine a world without sweeteners if you can. Affinity for sweet taste is a human trait that most want to satisfy.

For those who use sweeteners, there are limited choices available and many choose agave for its particular attributes. It is a good choice. Madhava Agave’s neutral flavor suits the purpose. It is in fact low glycemic, organically certified and non allergenic. Many with diabetes and other special diets find it suitable for their use where other sweeteners are not. It’s easy to use and you can use less. And, we guarantee the purity of our product.