The Sweet Superfood
The Chosen Ones
The chosen ones, foods that have been deemed as a "superfood," are called that for good reason - they truly are super. The most popular among the superfood club includes açaí, blueberries, kale, salmon, goji berries, and chia seeds. All have incredible properties that aid your body from the inside out, providing a high amount of nutrients that vary amongst each type of superfood.
Surprisingly, a study done by the University of Rhode Island found that maple syrup, yes maple syrup, has many antioxidants and minerals that deem this syrup a superfood - some compounds never found in nature ever before.
There isn't a superfood that exists that has the sweetness or ability to replace sugar like maple syrup does.
Let's jump into it -
All Natural & Plant Based
Most superfoods are plant based - maple syrup is no exception. Sap (which is 98% water) from maple trees is boiled down to a delicious carmely amber syrup. That's it - that's how you make maple syrup. Straight from nature.
High Nutritional Value
In comparison to other sweeteners, real maple is higher in Magnesium, Calcium, Zinc, Manganese and Potassium than Honey, Brown Sugar, and White Sugar.
As the charts below show, a 1/4 cup serving of Real Maple Syrup supplies us with 95% of our daily intake of manganese, 37% of riboflavin, 7% of magnesium, 6% of zinc, 5% of calcium and 5% of potassium.
In comparison, Honey, Brown Sugar, and White Sugar show absolutely no comparison in the amount of minerals and antioxidants found in this straight-from-nature superfood.
Beneficial Compounds
Maple Syrup holds 54 beneficial compounds - 5 never found in nature before. Several of these compounds hold anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties similar to what can be found in green tea, açaí, and other superfoods which have been shown to fight yucky things like bacterial illnesses, cancer, and diabetes.
Antioxidants
Maple Syrup is higher in antioxidants than cabbage, tomatoes, and cantaloupe. Antioxidants help your body fight against both outside oxidants that your body interacts with during the day and self-produced oxidants that could be harmful to the cells in your body.
Glycemic Index
Sugar is commonly charged with causing a "sugar crash," or spiking your glycemic index followed by a hard crash after the rush wears off. Real maple scores a much lower glycemic index that cane sugar, offering a better solution for your sugar fix.
Real maple is also vegan, unlike honey, & fat free.
Antibiotic Strength
In April 2017, The American Chemical Society even came out with a study explaining their recent findings of a maple syrup extract that dramatically enhances the power of antibiotics in fighting disease.
"There are other products out there that boost antibiotic strength, but this may be the only one that comes from nature," said Nathalie Tufenkji, Ph.D, the lead Dr. on this study.
Amazing, right?
The good news is this sweet superfood can be used for more than just pancakes. Maple Syrup can be used as an easy replacement for sugar in coffee, tea, and lemonade, as a homemade salad dressing, in baking, in marinades, and on roasted vegetables. To see yummy recipe ideas, click here.
So the next time you think about reaching for a sweetener, it better be Real Maple Syrup!
Read more here:
https://draxe.com/maple-syrup-nutrition/
https://www.news-medical.net/health/What-are-Antioxidants.aspx
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