healthy laps

I have seen a lot of articles lately on agave nectar, and how some people believe that it is just a glorified high fructose corn syrup.  I’m not sure that I agree with it to that extent, but it is still sugar, and sugar is not good for us!

Agave nectar has the highest amount of fructose of all sweeteners and is much much sweeter than most as well.  It has become very popular in the diet world becuase it is marketed as a lower calorie sweetener that will not raise your blood sugar as much as other sweeteners.  It is used in many low calorie recipes nowadays as well.

Numerous articles and blog posts have been written about the agave nectar over the past few months.  Check some of them out if your interested:

The Truth about Agave Nectar

Eight Facts about Agave Nectar

 All About Agave

Debunking the Agave Myth

I’m really not sure what to believe at this point.  I am sure that it is a battle that will be going back and forth between health guru’s for months to come.  I am torn on the subject, and will continue to use agave (and other honey and natural sugar products) as I do because I honestly do not use them a lot.  You will never see me using artificial sweeteners though, due to the chemicals.  What I do know, is that no form of sugar is good for you, but eaten sparingly, it is not going to kill you!  (And, be careful – forms of sugar are in so many things that you do not realize!)

Anyways, on to breakfast!

I skipped the gym this morning, due to my late workout last night.  I have a lot of trouble working out one night and then the next morning.  Does anyone else have this problem?  I think my body needs more than 9 hours in between a workout!

So, I started my day with some cleaning and a fruit smoothie!  I was craving berries and bananas this morning, so I whipped up this:

Berry Banana Smoothie

• 1 banana
• 1/2 cup frozen berries (I used the Berry Cherry Mix from Trader Joes)
• 1/2 cup frozen pineapple (you can’t really taste it, but it makes the smoothie sweeter!)
• 2 tbsp ground flax seed
• 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk

Mixed up to perfection!

A little while later, I toasted up a Banana Nut Vitatop that I was sent to sample.

Vitatops are 100 calorie muffin tops that contain about 5 grams of fiber.  They have a few more ingredients than I would like, but they tasted good!  According to their website, Vitalicious is the inventor of the 100-calorie snacks.  Now, normally I would stay very far away from 100-calorie snacks because they are often loaded with crap!  Even though the bag of oreos is only 100 calories, they are still oreos!  However, I had read a lot about Vitatops on other blogs, so I figured I would give them a try.

Just because something is labelled as low-fat or 100-calories, does not mean that it is good for you.  Many of the 100-calorie packs out there are purely used as marketing.  Oreos are popular, so obviously if they come out with oreo packs that only contain 100 calories, consumers are going to buy them.  At least Vitatops are made with more natural ingredients.  They do not contain anything artificial or any preservatives, which means that they need to be kept in the freezer.

Overall, I liked my Vitatop.  It was fairly moist and definitely tasted like a banana nut muffin.  I did feel better about eating this than another bakery or store bought muffin!  I will not eat them all the time because I prefer a more natural breakfast or snack (such as oatmeal or a piece of fruit), but I will try the other types I got when I am running out the door or in need of a healthier muffin (the top is the best part, anyways!).

I toasted mine and spread some Almond-Hazelnut butter on the top for more staying power, but I guess I forgot to snap a picture!  I really enjoyed my treat this morning.

Almond – Hazelnut butter is the best!  No, seriously, best nut butter purchase I have ever made.  And, the ingredient list: Almonds and Hazelnuts! 🙂

Time for leftover Pad Thai for lunch!

Filed under: Eating Laps, Product Reviews | Tagged: agave, articles, Eating Laps, nut butter, smoothie, vitatop |