It is highly certain that maple syrup is one of the most popular sweeteners. Serving as a full natural sweetener, maple syrup receives love from many people. This article will give detailed information about nutrition facts and health benefits of maple syrup which may prompt you to add it more into diet.
Nutrition Facts
In fact, sugary circulating fluid from maple tree is the main ingredient to make maple syrup. Back to the past, maple syrup first appeared in North America. Nowadays, it is Canada that is the biggest maple syrup supplier all around the world.
Maple syrup production goes through 2 steps. In short, sugary circulating fluid from maple trees will be evaporated, creating a thick syrup.
Generally, there are 2 main grades of maple syrup including grade A and grade B. By looking into maple syrup’s color, people can easily classify it. While grade A contains 3 small groups, grade B indicates the darkest color.
The list of nutrients in maple syrup can leave people a good impression. Maple syrup has a trace amount of essential minerals. Zinc and manganese are 2 telling examples of minerals in maple syrup.
However, it is quite high in sugar. In terms of glycemic index, maple syrup scores 54, which is lower than that of sugar. More importantly, maple syrup consists of approximately 24 types of antioxidants. These components are mainly responsible for many outstanding benefits of maple syrup.
Bottom line: Benefits of maple syrup are mainly attributed to an abundant source of vitamins and minerals in it.
Health Benefits of Maple Syrup
Following are top typical benefits of maple syrup which you may not know:
1. Antioxidants
As mentioned before, maple syrup has a huge amount of antioxidants. In fact, powerful antioxidant substances can effectively work against free radicals – a dangerous factor for many health ailments.
Also, free radicals may do harm to mitochondria which plays a key role in energy production.
Luckily, manganese in maple syrup can release an enzyme called superoxide dismutase to neutralize free radicals’ activities.
2. Heart Health
Benefits of maple syrup also include its ability to improve heart health. Loading with an excellent source of zinc, maple syrup will save heart from certain diseases.
Specifically, zinc in maple syrup can foster the function of endothelial cells and lower cholesterol levels which is really dangerous for heart health.
3. Male Health
When it comes to benefits of maple syrup, people usually mention its ability to improve male health. By increasing maple syrup consumption, male can effectively improve their reproductive health.
In reality, zinc is an essential mineral which is really beneficial for reproductive system, especially prostate gland. Therefore, it is necessary that men consume foods including maple syrup which is high in zinc.
4. Immunity
One of mechanisms behind benefits of maple syrup is lies in its ability to support immune system. By far, the most useful application of maple syrup is in ones with poorly functioned immunity.
Many researches have concluded the importance of zinc and manganese for immunity’s health. Specifically, the lack of these components will seriously lead to lower production of white blood cells inside the body, which may negatively affect immune system.
Therefore, providing the body system with these elements is the only way to recover proper function of immunity. Luckily, maple syrup is a powerhouse of zinc and manganese.
Take Home Message
In addition to above benefits of maple syrups, there are also various potential effects which this sweetener can bring about. For example, quebecol – an active compound in maple syrup shows a great effect on cancer prevention. Also, quebecol can slow down carbohydrates’ breakdown in digestive system.
Generally, almost all people can well tolerate maple syrup. Therefore, people can feel totally safe when consuming it. Maple syrup is also claimed as better choice in comparison with sugar. Nowadays, maple syrup is available all round the world.
Regarding the use of maple syrup, it is necessary to keep it in cool place. After opening maple syrup, people should keep it in fridge.
What’s more, let’s throw away maple syrup if you find any mold in it. There are numerous ways to use maple syrup. Commonly, people are familiar with using it to sweeten tea or coffee. Also, maple syrup can be spread into bread with some fruits and cinnamon powder to enjoy.
Via: OrganicFacts | HealthBenefitsTimes
