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Maple Syrup: How Healthy is the Sugar Substitute?

What would American pancakes be without maple syrup?

How is maple syrup made?

Maple syrup is a popular sugar alternative that is essential as a topping for pancakes, especially in North America. The popular syrup originally comes from Canada, where it is particularly valued as a cultural asset.

Maple syrup is the sweet sap of the maple tree. It is boiled down to make it durable. Typically, maple syrup has about 60 percent sugar content, so it has about a third fewer calories than pure sugar for the same amount.

Based on its color and aroma, maple syrup can be divided into different quality levels ranging from AA to D. Syrup of the best quality level AA has a very light color and a pleasantly mild aroma. The poorer the quality, the darker the color and the stronger the aroma.

The high quality levels are particularly suitable for raw consumption, for example as a topping for pancakes or fruit. The cheaper variants, on the other hand, can be used well for baking or as a sweetener for sauces.

Is Maple Syrup Really Healthy?

Unlike refined white sugar, maple syrup also contains vitamins and minerals. Maple syrup is particularly rich in zinc and manganese. In addition, Canadian scientists found 24 different antioxidants in maple syrup in a study. Antioxidants protect our body from free radicals from the environment and can thus prevent the development of civilization diseases. Thus, maple syrup is healthier than regular white sugar.

However, you should note that maple syrup is still a sugar. You should therefore always enjoy it in moderation. Excessive sugar consumption promotes the development of:
overweight and obesity
diabetes
cardiovascular diseases
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that you should consume no more than six teaspoons of sugar per day.

How sustainable is maple syrup?

Almost all of the maple syrup produced worldwide comes from the Canadian province of Québec. The syrup therefore usually has a long transport route behind it before it reaches our supermarket. You should therefore only use maple syrup if you absolutely need it for a dish because of its aroma.

If you only want to use the syrup as a sweetener anyway, it is better to use a more sustainable alternative such as honey or sugar beet syrup. Unlike agave syrup, rice syrup and maple syrup, these can be produced locally.

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Food

Date Syrup: A Vegan Recipe For The Honey Alternative

Date syrup is the ideal way to leave the valuable honey with the bees and still give your desserts and hot drinks a delicious sweetness.

Date syrup is very easy to prepare yourself with a little patience. Just as sweet and tasty as honey, you can smear it on rolls, bake it, refine waffles or pancakes and, of course, sweeten teas and smoothies.

Potassium (good for heart and muscles)
Magnesium (for muscles, heart and brain)
Calcium (important for your bones)
Amino acid tryptophan (important for the formation of the sleep hormone melatonin)

Unfortunately, although dates are famous for their high fiber content, these are lost when the syrup is pressed. Since approx. 100 grams of dates contain approx. 50 to 70 grams of sugar, you do not need any additional sugar to prepare the syrup.

Date syrup: the recipe

To prepare the date syrup, you need a hand blender and a straining cloth as special utensils to squeeze out the syrup.

Ingredients for the date syrup:
200 g pitted dates
1 vanilla bean
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp lemon juice
370 ml water

How to prepare the date syrup:
Pit the dates.
Take half of the dates and let them bake in the oven for about 40 minutes at 120 degrees.
Cut the other half of the dates into small pieces and place them in a saucepan of water.
Cut the vanilla pod lengthwise. Scrape the vanilla seeds out of the pod and put everything in your pot. If you just want a light vanilla flavor, just scrape it once or twice with the teaspoon and store the rest of the pod in an airtight container in the fridge.
Now add cinnamon and lemon juice.
Bring the whole thing to a boil and then let it simmer on low heat for 30 minutes, stirring constantly.
Now put the finished dates from the oven into the date-water mixture and let it simmer for another 15 minutes.
So that the taste can develop properly, leave the pot covered in the kitchen for two hours.
Now take the hand blender and puree the whole thing.
Now place the straining cloth over a bowl. Place the pureed date mixture in the cloth and squeeze as much liquid as possible through.
Now you can fill your finished date syrup into jars and seal them airtight.
The date syrup can now be stored in the refrigerator for about two weeks.

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Healthy Agave Syrup?

Agave syrup is considered a healthy alternative to white sugar. However, the impression that the syrup is a problem-free sugar substitute is misleading. Because agave syrup has two disadvantages.

Agave syrup is a popular sugar substitute and has long been available in many supermarkets. The juice is obtained from agaves, mainly in Mexico, boiled into a syrup and then bottled. The agave syrup is considered healthier than regular white sugar. But is that true? At least it is clear that with its caramel-like taste it is particularly suitable for sweetening desserts. You also don’t need as much agave syrup as sugar when cooking: 70 grams of agave syrup corresponds to about 100 grams of sugar in the recipe.

However, you should use the sweetener sparingly. Because agave syrup has two disadvantages.

Agave syrup really is that healthy

Anyone who bakes and cooks with agave syrup must know: agave syrup is not healthy. Depending on the supplier, the sugar content is 75 to 80 percent (see picture). It is a mixture of fructose (“fruit sugar”) and glucose (“grape sugar”).

The fructose content is particularly high, and that is a problem. Because fructose ensures that fats are stored in the body and can lead to fatty liver. Too much fructose also promotes obesity and high cholesterol levels – and thus the risk of diabetes, a heart attack or a stroke, according to the Apotheken-Umschau. In addition, not all people tolerate fructose (fructose intolerance).

Agave syrup is not healthier than simple household sugar: “However, these sugar alternatives do not offer any health benefits compared to refined sugar because they are metabolized in the same way,” explains Prof. Dr. Hans Hauner at the German Society for Nutrition (DGE).

The minerals and trace elements in agave syrup also do not make the sweetener healthier. The consumer center explains: “The slightly higher content of vitamins or minerals compared to sugar is not relevant”.

How sustainable is agave nectar?

The second downside is: agave nectar is very bad for the environment. There are several reasons for this:

Agaves for agave syrup grow in monocultures on large plantations. Biodiversity and the soil suffer as a result. You can read more about this problem in our article on monocultures.
The agave syrup has to be brought from Mexico to us in Germany. This long transport route causes a lot of CO2 emissions.
Agave syrup is therefore also not recommended from an ecological point of view.

Isn’t there anything positive about agave nectar?

However, there is something else that is positive about agave nectar: ​​it has a low glycemic index. This means that the syrup does not cause blood sugar levels to rise as much. That’s why it fills you up for longer and you don’t get hungry again so quickly. However, this effect also depends on the other ingredients that you use besides agave nectar.

Bottom Line: Overall, agave nectar is no healthier or better than regular sugar. If you absolutely want to use it, pay attention to organic quality. Chemical-synthetic pesticides are not allowed in organic farming. A good regional alternative is sugar beet syrup. It’s not healthier either, but it comes from the region and is also available in organic quality. But you can also make apple syrup yourself – also a regional sugar alternative. Basically, you should try to eat as little added sugar as possible. Because there is already a lot of sugar in many foods.

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