Maple Syrup

When I was a kid, my father went through some serious health challenges and wound up on a pretty strict diet. I remember him grumbling on a frequent basis that anything that tastes good is bad for you! In time, he came to find that wasn’t entirely true, and in this article, I’m going to discuss one notable exception to the “what tastes good is bad for you” rule.

Assuming you read the title of this article, you have probably already figured out that I’m talking about maple syrup. Now, to be clear, I’m talking about real maple syrup that is dehydrated sap from maple trees, not Mrs. Butterworth’s and other “pancake syrups,” which are harvested from chemistry labs, not maple groves.

Although maple syrup is mostly sugar, the body responds very differently to it (in metabolically healthy individuals) than it does to refined sugar – and can even help the body handle refined sugar better (more on this later).

There’s several aspects to maple syrup that makes its consumption beneficial. It is a good source of several minerals, especially zinc and manganese, both of which are important in immune function and wound healing. They’re also important in blood sugar control, which is part of why maple syrup doesn’t impact the body like refined sugar.

Probably more important to blood sugar control though is the wide array of antioxidants in maple syrup, which are known to improve glucose tolerance and enhance insulin response. Although maple syrup is not especially high in any one antioxidant, it does contain a wide variety of these compounds, and it is thought that they may have a synergistic effect.

Other compounds in maple syrup appear to slow the breakdown and absorption of sugar in the gut, leading to certain microbes converting the sugar to less digestible forms, reducing the amount of sugar entering the blood stream. One study showed that switching just 10% of one’s calorie intake from refined sugar to maple syrup actually changed the gut microbiome enough to improved sugar metabolism overall – not just when consuming maple syrup.

Maple syrup is also effective in reducing inflammation through multiple mechanisms. Among other things, it reduces prostaglandin E2 – the same pro-inflammatory compound that Omega-3 fatty acids help control (through different chemical pathways).

Now, despite the health benefits of maple syrup, I’m not suggesting that you start drinking it by the bottle. While the body handles the sugar in it quite well, it is still calorie-dense (not great if you’re trying to lose weight) and my guess is that at some quantity, the detrimental effects of the sugar probably begin to overcome the benefits of the mineral and antioxidant content.

In addition, those with diabetes and other metabolic issues may not be able to tolerate the sugar in maple syrup nearly as well as someone who is metabolically healthy. But maple syrup may be preferable to other sweeteners even for some metabolically-challenged individuals and is worth trying, at least in less severe cases, for potentially improved blood sugar control.

Maple syrup comes in different “darknesses” and when it comes to mineral and antioxidant content, the darker the better. Syrup obtained later in the harvest is also better in this regard, but for those of us who don’t live anywhere near a maple syrup producer, the option of late harvest versus early harvest is probably not going to be readily available. Organic syrup is preferable to avoid chemical residues from pesticides and fertilizers.

While there’s not any substantial research when it comes to the health effects of what you combine your maple syrup with – pancakes, waffles, French toast, bacon, sausage, etc., most likely there will be some differences with different syrup “carriers.” Generally, protein will help with blood sugar control when consuming carbohydrates, and in addition to things like breakfast meats, there are protein-fortified pancake and waffle mixes that are pretty similar in taste and texture to products without the added protein. But consumed in moderation, maple syrup can make a relatively high-carb breakfast a lot easier for your body to handle, and may even help you manage your blood sugar better overall.

Until next time…

George Best, D.C.