Maple syrup vs. sugar: Navigating healthy breakfast choices
It’s best to drizzle maple syrup on lots of pancakes and waffles, but does it have any nutritional benefits?
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There was no waffle plate, stack of pancakes It can also be completed without maple syrup. Almost all of us enjoy the taste and sweetness of syrup, whether it’s drizzled over oatmeal or French toast or sprinkled like a Christmas elf over a bowl of spaghetti. “Maple syrup has a rich, caramel-like flavor with subtle notes of vanilla and butterscotch,” says Jen Messer, RD, a nutritional consultant and registered dietitian. Jenn Messer’s Nutrition.
Besides its unique taste, many people wonder if maple syrup has nutritional benefits that make it a good sweetener instead of using sugar alone.
What is maple syrup?
Maple syrup, as the name suggests, is a syrup made from maple tree sap. “Maple trees store starch before winter, and the starch is converted into sugars that rise into the sap,” he explains. lisa young, RDN, adjunct professor of nutrition at New York University and author of “Finally Full, Finally Slim.” The extracted sap is about 98% water, so it must be boiled to remove the water, leaving behind a sugar content that can be turned into maple syrup. 1 report Note Due to the amount of water that evaporates during boiling, it takes approximately 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of maple syrup.
In addition to pure maple syrup collected and processed in this way, there are also many artificially flavored maple syrup brands. “When choosing maple syrup, prioritize high-quality, minimally processed versions to preserve potential health benefits, and artificial maple-flavored sugar syrups masquerading as real maple syrup.” “We recommend that you be careful,” Messer said.
Is maple syrup good for you?
Artificially flavored maple syrup has no health benefits, but even pure maple syrup contains high amounts of sugar, which is a concern. One tablespoon contains about 12 grams of sugar. Consuming too much sugar can lead to health problems such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease. US Food and Drug Administration recommends limiting added sugar to less than 50 grams per day. That can be difficult to do, since if you drizzle three or four tablespoons of maple syrup on a stack of short pancakes, you’ll almost hit your daily carb limit before you even get up from the breakfast table.
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Maple syrup also has the disadvantage of being high in calories, with 52 calories per tablespoon. (In contrast, 1 tablespoon of pure sugar contains 48 calories.) Maple syrup also contains a lot of “bad” forms of carbohydrates that can cause elevated blood sugar levels.
However, it’s not all bad news for syrup lovers. “Maple syrup is a good source of manganese, which is important for bone health and metabolism. It also contains small amounts of other minerals such as iron, potassium, and zinc,” says Messer.
Kate Zeratsky, a registered dietitian at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., says that the nutrient-rich sap of maple trees retains several plant compounds, so pure maple syrup is free from damaging ingredients. It added that it contains antioxidants that help protect cells from radicals. “Maple syrup stands out from other sweeteners in this respect,” she says. Another benefit of the product being plant-based is that “maple syrup becomes a preferred option for vegans,” Messer notes.
Young added that the calcium in maple syrup “strengthens overall immunity and muscle function.”
Is maple syrup as unhealthy as sugar?
Because of these health benefits, some nutritionists consider maple syrup to be slightly better than refined sugar when used as an alternative sweetener, but it’s important to note that maple syrup is an overall “healthier” option. Few people think there is.
Messer says that when choosing to use maple syrup instead of sugar in your cooking, you should consider “your personal preferences, your dietary needs, and, of course, the recipe you’re using.” Masu. It’s also wise to remember that maple syrup’s unique flavor usually changes the taste of foods and drinks more than sugar alone.
“Although maple syrup has some nutritional benefits, it is still a sweetener and should be consumed in moderation as part of a balanced diet,” Messer says.
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