Love Beauty >> Love Beauty >  >> Health and Wellness >> Ingredients and Uses

Maple Syrup: Health Benefits & Delicious Recipes

Maple syrup is the latest super food doing the rounds on the healthy food circles. It is fast replacing other unhealthy fructose and sugar syrup options at the breakfast table. And why not? It is loaded with many health benefits and is a great way to keep the blood glucose level under control. To top it all, it is also packed with anti-inflammatory properties, antioxidants, several nutrients, such as zinc and manganese.

Nutritional Value Of Maple Syrup:

Pure maple syrup is extracted from the maple tree and has much better taste and nutrition than artificially processed sweeteners prepared from corn syrup. Here are some interesting nutritional facts about maple syrup:

  • Based on research conducted by the Canadian Nutrient file, it has been concluded that the nutritional values of maple syrup are much superior to other types of sweeteners in the market, such as brown sugar, sugar and honey.
  • Maple syrup contributes considerably lower calories (50 calories/tablespoon) to any recipe when compared to other sweeteners, such as honey and corn syrup.
  • The manganese present in maple syrup produces energy and antioxidants essential for the normal nerve and brain function. One fourth cup of maple syrup provides the complete daily requirements of manganese.
  • It also provides 37% of the riboflavin of the daily value that improves the metabolic process.
  • Pure maple syrup provides 18% of the daily value of Zinc that promotes healthy immune system.
  • Several other minerals are also present in maple syrup, such as potassium, calcium and magnesium that together reduce the risk of stroke or hypertension.

Health Benefits Of Maple Syrup:

Pure maple syrup is a tasty and nutritious replacement for processed sugar syrups, such as the corn syrup. Here are some of the health advantages of the real maple syrup:

1. Anti-inflammatory Property:

A study conducted by the University of Rhode Island has revealed that drizzling pure maple syrup on your snacks, especially oatmeal, can help prevent serious inflammatory diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, osteoporosis, and cancer.

2. Works As Antioxidant:

This real sweet stuff is packed with a plant-based compound known as polyphenols that are great antioxidants. Adding blueberries and oatmeal to the maple syrup increases the antioxidant power of the recipe.

3. Stalls Premature Aging:

Pure maple syrup acts as a topical antioxidant and repairs the damage caused due to the free radicals and environment. That is why, it is considered as a great natural anti-aging syrup.

4. Nourishes Skin:

A homemade facial scrub prepared by mixing warm milk and maple syrup in equal amount with finely ground oats works effectively to remove fine lines and crow’s feet. Use a good moisturizer after washing the scrub for extra-nourishment.

5. Keeps Digestion Healthy:

Naturally made maple syrup is also great for treating indigestion problems like bloating and gas. Replacing sugar with maple syrup can restrict the problem of gas and bloating, keeping your digestive system in good health.

6. Works As Sugar Replacement:

Replacing sugar with equal amount of maple syrup does the trick and provides lots of health benefits.

7. Strengthens The Immune System:

Wayne State University, Detroit during its study traced the presence of certain essential nutrients, such as manganese and zinc in maple syrup that builds up the immune system and keeps common illnesses, such as cold and fever at bay.

Picking The Right Maple Syrup:

If you want to enjoy all the health benefits of this natural sweetener, you need to pick the right quality. Here are some points you need to keep in mind:

Flavor is the one thing that varies according to the purity of maple syrup. A real and pure maple syrup has a woody smell that goes well with spicy and salty foods and is equally good with coffee, vanilla, butter and all the wonderful cookie mixture.

Preparation is another way to find out whether the maple syrup is pure or not. For this, you need to check the labels that carry the preparation method. Pure maple syrup is prepared in winter when the trees of maple store starch. This starch is then converted into sugar syrup. However, during the spring, the sap of the sweet tree starts flowing and this sweet liquid is collected, boiled for sterilization and then filtered.

On the other hand mixed or duplicate maple syrup is usually prepared from the sap of birch, hickory, butternut or walnut saps, but they do not contain the same nutrition and health qualities as the pure syrup.

The best way to pick up the purest maple syrup is looking at the labels. In America, strict regulation is followed when it comes to labels. Hence, pure maple syrup denotes real syrup, whereas pancake syrup or maple-flavored syrup is the imposters.

PREV POST PAGE 1 2NEXT