Hey everyone!

Due to the overwhelmingly wonderful response received for the last live Q+A Dr. Aziz did on Facebook, we'll be doing another one this Thursday at 5pm EST.

To participate, just head over to the Perfect 10 Diet Facebook page at 5pm EST on Thursday (March 11). Post your Perfect 10 Diet-related questions on the wall, and Dr. Aziz will be there to answer them from 5 - 6pm EST.

The Perfect 10 Diet FaceBook discussions have yielded a lot of great information, along with a lot of great questions. To lend more detail to those topics that seem to be of a great deal of interest to P10'ers, we'll be posting information from Dr. Aziz on those topics regularly here on the blog.

One such issue that has been raised again and again over on the Perfect 10 Diet Facebook page is that of the safety of agave nectar. What is agave nectar? Agave nectar is a honey-colored liquid that is considerably sweeter than sugar. It is gluten-free and low in the glycemic index so it is marketed as diabetic-friendly sweetner. However, there is some controversy that agave can be dangerous, and that it acts as a high-fructose corn syrup.
We asked Dr. Aziz to shed some light on agave nectar for us, and he did!

"I'll explain the controversy. Agave nectar has a low-glycemic index for one reason only: It's largely made of fructose, so it has minimal impact on insulin-the fat-storing hormone," says Dr. Aziz. "In large quantities, fructose is a very damaging form of sugar. Agave nectar has the highest fructose content of any commercial sweetener. All sugars (table sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, honey, maple syrup) contain some mixture of fructose and glucose. Table sugar is 50/50, HFCS is 55/45. Agave nectar is a at 90 percent fructose."

Is fructose bad? "No," says Dr. Aziz, "Fructose, the sugar found naturally in fruits -- is perfectly fine when you get it from natural sources. But when it's commercially extracted from fruits, it is in a concentrated form. Fructose can be damaging in excess as it can cause insulin resistance and has a negative effect on cholesterol. The controversy is: fructose found in the agave plant is natural, but when extracted, the fructose becomes concentrated, and therefore can be very damaging."

So, what is Dr. Aziz's advice when it comes to using commercially-extracted agave nectar? "If you need a sweetener for use at high temperatures, a small amount of agave nectar once in a while isn't going to harm you or kill you. You can also use plain sugar, honey, or maple syrup but all of these types of sugar will have a negative impact on insulin and should be used moderately ,and in small amounts. Stevia is a perfectly acceptable sweetener on the Perfect 10 Diet, and is recommended for use when high temperature cooking will not be involved."

If you have a question for Dr. Aziz, please leave it here in the comments, or post to the Perfect 10 Diet FaceBook page, or on Twitter. We'll be posting answers to your Perfect 10 Diet questions both here and over at FaceBook, so check back regularly!

I've been unusually stressed about work and life lately.  Work is busy - which is good - but sometimes it's really hard to stay on top of everything, and today in particular has been a series of technical difficulties.

I write this from the gate at Tucson International Airport. My flight has been delayed. I am stuck here, waiting. I was up late working on a project for work. I screwed up my itinerary and had to buy a new ticket, the flight is delayed, I'm going to just barely make it in time for my workshop, and I've been on the phone with airlines and hotel reservation people for better part of the afternoon.

I'm this close to turning around and just going home. Giving up on the whole thing. But, I'm not going to.