When you think of maple syrup, you often imagine it flowing gently down piles after piles of pancakes and waffles. You can also use it on bread, which makes an excellent alternative to jams and preserves. Some people even use it to pour over foods that are already sweet by itself like bananas, ice cream, cupcakes, and pies. But is maple syrup all just about its sweetness? Does it have anything else to offer than sugary goodness?
Within its thick and viscous syrup, maple is said to be at least three times more sweeter than sugar cane. Maple syrup is derived from the sap of the maple tree. While most people would normally think that the sap is already the organic Canadian maple syrup itself, however it is not the truth. Only a small percentage of the sap is made of the actual syrup and it takes a long and tedious process before the actual maple syrup can be extracted. This is probably one of the reasons why a jar or bottle of maple syrup is far from being cheap.
So how healthy can maple syrup be? It is rich in vitamins, particularly vitamin B12 which is also known as riboflavin. Aside from its sugar content, it is the vitamin B12 that makes the maple syrup an excellent source of energy. It enhances our body’s metabolism, leading to more efficient and faster burning of energy. Maple syrup also has zinc, which greatly aids in speeding up the healing process especially with wounds. It is also rich in the mineral, manganese, which is a good antioxidant. This makes maple syrup an immunity booster and helps the body fight off the nasty free radicals that can wreck havoc to our cells. These and many more other properties contribute to the fact that maple syrup is a very healthy and natural food. Make it a daily habit to eat maple sugar and to alternate it with using regular sugar every once in a while.