Maple syrup is delicious, especially the real stuff coming from maple trees, not that disgusting brown corn syrup labeled as maple — it isn’t the real thing. Either way, maple syrup has its downsides, and it can take a toll on your health and looks.
Sure, waffles, pancakes and even fried chicken taste better when drizzled with syrup, but that doesn’t mean you should eat it every morning. In fact, that’s one of the worse things you can do for your health. Here’s all you need to know. What can happen to your body if you add maple syrup to your breakfast every morning? You won’t like the answer.
What’s Wrong with Maple Syrup?
If you get the real stuff, sap from maple trees boiled down to syrupy consistency, maple syrup is an all-natural product with no additives, flavorings or preservatives, so maple syrup is relatively healthy.
The problem is there are 50 calories in a tablespoon of maple syrup. That might not sound like much, but it adds up. Most people overeat sugar, which is why most of us have some extra pounds.
Eating maple syrup every morning is definitely not starting your day with the right foot. All that sugar turns into energy, and if you don’t use it, your body will store it as fat. Unless you go to the gym every day after your syrupy breakfast, you’ll probably gain some weight.
Despite being loaded with simple sugars, maple syrup is not the unhealthiest sweetener. It has some minerals and antioxidants — something you won’t find in granulated sugar.
Maple syrup is also an all-natural product, often of the highest quality, and it doesn’t contain colorants, artificial flavors or other additives. Maple syrup is far better than most syrups in supermarkets, often based on corn syrup and artificially flavored.
Maple Syrup Might Take Care of Your Skin and Heart
Maple syrup’s antioxidants are a benefit to consider, and the sweet stuff has twenty-four of them! Antioxidants bind with scavenging free radicals in your bloodstream, responsible for oxidative stress and chronic inflammation.
Antioxidants are also good for your skin and can prevent signs of premature aging. The compounds work at a cellular level protecting the cells from deterioration — this applies to all the cells in your body, even neurons, so antioxidants can also reduce the risk of cognitive decline.
It comes without saying many other foods have equal or greater amounts of antioxidants than maple syrup, including most leafy greens and berries, which have less sugar. Forget about maple syrup and eat blueberries instead!
Maple Syrup Is Great for You, Is It?
Yes, maple syrup is delicious and an authentic agricultural product to enjoy, and it might be better than most sugar alternatives out there. Still, you’ll want to limit your maple syrup intake unless you don’t mind gaining a few extra pounds.
Of course, this isn’t a black-and-white situation. Should you eat maple syrup every morning? Probably not. Should you avoid it altogether? Of course not! All in moderation, people, that’s how you should enjoy the sweetest things in life — a little at a time! Make maple syrup part of your life but don’t overdo it. That’s the key here.