Well that here is genuinely a tough question to answer. With the evolution of knowledges that has developed so fast, I feel like you could say something that is pertinent today and become irrelevant in the future. I feel like it is true, especially with nutrition. Diets and recommendations are changing so fast. You see, it’s neither black or white here, we have to stay in a more neutral position and base our arguments on the studies that are currently relevant. Truthfully, there are so much studies on the subject and I am no scientific, therefore I am going to try and nuanced the whole thing, but from what I gathered, maple syrup seems to be healthy for you.
Firstly, lots of people say that maple syrup can’t be considered to be healthy because it is a form of sugar. You should not consume a crazy amount of sugar in a day to day basis, but between transformed sugar and maple sugar, the choice is pretty easy. Pure maple sugar only contains natural sugars and doesn’t have any additives unlike refined sugar. For instance, a great first change would be to use maple syrup instead of white sugar in your coffee, it is a small transition, but it is daily therefore, it will make a big difference in the long term. Yes, you still have to be balanced in your sugar consumption, although, if you have to choose between refined sugar and maple sugar, pure maple sugar is definitely healthier for your body and most of all it is natural. You are eating closer to what your body really needs. Maple syrup can give you the amount of sugar you need, but in a healthier way.
The thing is, we never really have the habit to stop and ask ourselves what are the ingredients in the common sweeteners that we eat. For instance, with corn syrup, we figure that it is pretty straightforward, when actually, there are a lot of additives. On the other hand, maple syrup is only put through a transformation of texture, with what nature has given. But be careful, this only applies to 100% pure maple syrup, the other ones might contain some additives or artificial flavors.
Pure maple syrup contains vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. In fact, the nutritional value of maple syrup is really superior to other sugary products such as white sugar or corn syrup that barely contain minerals or vitamins. ¼ cup of maple syrup fills 72% of our daily need of manganese, 27% of riboflavin, 17% of zinc and 6% of calcium with less calories than other sweeteners. Effectively, in the same portion, maple syrup has 216 calories. The only fact that maple syrup contains nutriments such as those makes it way healthier than other sugar products. Therefore, if you want to consume sugar, maple syrup is better for your body, because it doesn’t just provide you with the energy, it also gives your body the nutriments that it needs and all of that without any kind of unnatural additives. Also, researchers discovered that a lot of polyphenols are present in maple syrup. To summarize, this molecule has great properties for your long term health and this avenue inspires a lot of studies to see exactly what are the benefits of this molecule in maple syrup. Moreover, the antioxidants contained in maple syrup would be comparable to the ones that are found in berries. Concretely, this means that it could prevent us from developing heart illnesses or even cancer. Most of the studies conclude that maple syrup is good for you, however, I feel like we have much more things to discover. Still, let’s remember that it comes directly from the tree, it doesn’t get purer than that.
Many nutritionists recommend maple related products to athletes, since it is a natural source of energy. The special characteristics of maple enable many great uses. It is used before a sport performance to have the necessary energy and then after, to recover the muscles and be able to train the next day. Again, maple syrup is a great substitute for energy drinks.
Although, we still have to be nuanced. Even if it is healthier than other sugars, you still need to consume it intelligently because it still is a sugar. In your routine or recipes though, it would be really interesting to substitute the other transformed sugars with maple syrup. Therefore, according to my research, I do think that maple syrup is healthy and good for you, but you need to consume it in a reasonable quantity. Make sure you stay aware of the new studies because many health benefits are being studied currently.
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