Hey! How has your weekend been? Mine has been fabulous! The weather has been beautiful in the pacific northwest. I started off the weekend with a little “Mexican Night” at our place with some family and friends.
Then, I stayed with my parents at the coast Friday night and got to spend lots of time walking on the beach with Layla. It has been such a nice, fun weekend!
Today I wanted to do a little feature on one of my favorite sweeteners: maple syrup. I use 100% all-natural maple syrup in some of my baked goods and on my gluten-free protein pancakes. Other sweeteners that I use include raw honey, stevia, sucanat, evaporated cane juice and occasionally agave nectar. I have taken HFCS (high fructose corn syrup) and refined sugar completely out of my diet because of the health dangers of each of these common sweeteners. Some of the reasons why I choose not to consume HFCS include:
- It contains no enzymes, vitamins or minerals. It actually does the opposite, it robs micro-nutrients from your body. The fructose in HFCS is different from the natural fructose you get when you eat a small piece of whole fruit, which contains the nutrients needed for your body to assimilate sugar.
- It is almost always made from genetically modified corn, which may increase your risk of developing corn food allergies. The problem with corn allergies are that once you have a corn allergy from GMO corn you will have an allergy to even healthy organic corn products.
- It does not stimulate insulin production or enhance, leptin, a hormone involved in appetite regulation. Because insulin and leptin act as key signals in regulating how much food you eat, this suggests that dietary fructose may contribute to increased food consumption and weight gain. (source)
The reason why I choose not to consume regular, white sugar is because I have noticed a strong relationship between my increased sugar intake and my anxiety/bad moods. I LOVE sweets, but over the years have realized that anytime I eat an abundance of white sugar, I get anxious and depressed feeling. Other reasons why you might not want to eat refined sugar include:
- Sugar can suppress the immune system. There is scientific data showing an increase in sugar intake to a decrease in the bodies ability to ward off illness. Think about the cold/flu season – Halloween to Easter. Do you eat more sugar during these holiday months?
- Sugar feeds cancer cells. This is very scary for our growing cancer epidemic. We are all born with some cancerous cells, but the more sugar that we feed our bodies, the more rapidly the cancer cells can grow.
- Sugar increases your chance of having candida. Candida is a naturally occurring yeast in our bodies. If it has the opportunity to overgrow, it can create a leu of health problems and takes a lot of work to get it back down to a normal amount. (source)
(source)
Now that we have talked about some of the reasons why HFCS and refined sugar are bad for our health, let’s focus on a replacement sweetener for the two of them: 100% pure maple syrup. Maple syrup is one of nature’s sweeteners. It is harvested from maple trees primarily in North America. It’s calorie content is similar to refined sugar, but it boasts some nutrition stats that refined sugar lacks:
- The zinc found in maple syrup can help to protect your heart by acting as an antioxidant and decreasing the progression of atherosclerosis – the thickening of artery walls.
- Two teaspoons of maple syrup contain 20% of your recommended daily supply of manganese. This trace mineral is an essential cofactor in a number of enzymes important in energy production and antioxidant defenses.
- Maple syrup is much less refined than regular, white sugar. Our body can easily identify and metabolize it for energy. (source)
(source)
Food-grade maple syrup is broken down into different grades. In general, the lighter the color of maple syrup, the more delicate the flavor. The United States has some basic grading standards based on color and flavor.
US Grade AA Light Amber (Fancy)
A light amber colored syrup with a mild flavor, usually made from the first brief flows of the season. Considered the highest grade.
US Grade A Medium Amber
Medium amber color and pronounced maple flavor. A good general usage syrup delicate enough to be used with subtle flavors but is generally used as a table syrup.
US Grade A Dark Amber
Deep color with a flavor likened to caramel. Some find it a bit too strong in flavor for general usage but it can be used like Medium Amber grade.
US Grade B
Very dark amber, less sweet with a robust, molasses-like flavor recommended primarily for baking. This is the least expensive variety. Also known as Grade C in Vermont.
Individual states also have their own grading standards. Canadian Grades also differ which can add to the confusion. Check the label to find out the manufacturing location. (source)
Almost all pancake syrups (like Aunt Jemima or Mrs. Butterworth’s) are actually corn syrup and/or high fructose corn syrup with artificial maple flavoring. Throw these bottles away and replace them with 100% pure maple syrup!
We have looked at some of the health benefits of using maple syrup instead of HFCS or refined sugar and the different grades of maple syrup. Let’s talk about how to use it in our kitchens.
To replace sugar in a baked good recipe: start out using ¾ cup for every cup of white sugar and decrease the amount of liquid by 3 tablespoons to compensate for its liquid state. Taste how the recipe turns out and alter the amount if needed the next time that you make it.
Use on top of pancakes, waffles, french toast or any other breakfast that you would reach for a bottle of Mrs. Butterworth’s.
I would tell you to use it in place of sugar in your coffee or tea, but I like to use stevia as a non-sugar sweetener for these beverages. I’ll do an “ingredient spotlight” on stevia in the near future.
Some recipes that call for maple syrup that I want to try out:
HEAB’s Maple Nut Oaties
Taste of Home’s Maple Glazed Salmon
I want to remind you that just because maple syrup in an all-natural sweetener, that does not give you the freedom to over-indulge and use gobs of it day in and day out. Try to limit your daily consumption of sugar and sweeteners to less than 100 calories or approximately 2 tablespoons worth of maple syrup. As with everything else in our healthy diet, eat it in moderation.
I hope this helps you better understand maple syrup in contrast to HFCS and refined sugar and inspires you to try it out in a recipe. Let me know if you have any other uses or recipes that call for maple syrup. I’m going to lay low and relax tonight. Have a nice evening!
Today’s Quote: “Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.” – Albert Einstein
Hey! How has your weekend been? Mine has been fabulous! The weather has been beautiful in the pacific northwest. I started off the weekend with a little “Mexican Night” at our place with some family and friends.
Then, I stayed with my parents at the coast Friday night and got to spend lots of time walking on the beach with Layla. It has been such a nice, fun weekend!
Today I wanted to do a little feature on one of my favorite sweeteners: maple syrup. I use 100% all-natural maple syrup in some of my baked goods and on my gluten-free protein pancakes. Other sweeteners that I use include raw honey, stevia, sucanat, evaporated cane juice and occasionally agave nectar. I have taken HFCS (high fructose corn syrup) and refined sugar completely out of my diet because of the health dangers of each of these common sweeteners. Some of the reasons why I choose not to consume HFCS include:
The reason why I choose not to consume regular, white sugar is because I have noticed a strong relationship between my increased sugar intake and my anxiety/bad moods. I LOVE sweets, but over the years have realized that anytime I eat an abundance of white sugar, I get anxious and depressed feeling. Other reasons why you might not want to eat refined sugar include:
(source)
Now that we have talked about some of the reasons why HFCS and refined sugar are bad for our health, let’s focus on a replacement sweetener for the two of them: 100% pure maple syrup. Maple syrup is one of nature’s sweeteners. It is harvested from maple trees primarily in North America. It’s calorie content is similar to refined sugar, but it boasts some nutrition stats that refined sugar lacks:
(source)
Food-grade maple syrup is broken down into different grades. In general, the lighter the color of maple syrup, the more delicate the flavor. The United States has some basic grading standards based on color and flavor.
US Grade AA Light Amber (Fancy)
A light amber colored syrup with a mild flavor, usually made from the first brief flows of the season. Considered the highest grade.
US Grade A Medium Amber
Medium amber color and pronounced maple flavor. A good general usage syrup delicate enough to be used with subtle flavors but is generally used as a table syrup.
US Grade A Dark Amber
Deep color with a flavor likened to caramel. Some find it a bit too strong in flavor for general usage but it can be used like Medium Amber grade.
US Grade B
Very dark amber, less sweet with a robust, molasses-like flavor recommended primarily for baking. This is the least expensive variety. Also known as Grade C in Vermont.
Individual states also have their own grading standards. Canadian Grades also differ which can add to the confusion. Check the label to find out the manufacturing location. (source)
We have looked at some of the health benefits of using maple syrup instead of HFCS or refined sugar and the different grades of maple syrup. Let’s talk about how to use it in our kitchens.
To replace sugar in a baked good recipe: start out using ¾ cup for every cup of white sugar and decrease the amount of liquid by 3 tablespoons to compensate for its liquid state. Taste how the recipe turns out and alter the amount if needed the next time that you make it.
Use on top of pancakes, waffles, french toast or any other breakfast that you would reach for a bottle of Mrs. Butterworth’s.
I would tell you to use it in place of sugar in your coffee or tea, but I like to use stevia as a non-sugar sweetener for these beverages. I’ll do an “ingredient spotlight” on stevia in the near future.
Some recipes that call for maple syrup that I want to try out:
HEAB’s Maple Nut OatiesTaste of Home’s Maple Glazed Salmon
I want to remind you that just because maple syrup in an all-natural sweetener, that does not give you the freedom to over-indulge and use gobs of it day in and day out. Try to limit your daily consumption of sugar and sweeteners to less than 100 calories or approximately 2 tablespoons worth of maple syrup. As with everything else in our healthy diet, eat it in moderation.
I hope this helps you better understand maple syrup in contrast to HFCS and refined sugar and inspires you to try it out in a recipe. Let me know if you have any other uses or recipes that call for maple syrup. I’m going to lay low and relax tonight. Have a nice evening!