Maple Syrup is a Canadian speciality, more famous for smothering pancakes that as a health food, but guess what? This delicious sweet syrup has made it into our top sweeteners list!

So - why should we start opting for maple syrup rather than honey?

On first look, it might seem taht there is little difference between maple syrup and a normal syrup like honey, with only 12kcal per tablespoon between the two. However, when you ram up the quantities, for example when you are baking it can start to make a big difference. If you need a full cup of sweetener, honey would equate to 1013kcal. Maple syrup cuts this down to 819kcal.

However, the big difference comes when you look in more detail and the nutritional breakdown. Where are these kcal coming from? A tablespoon of maple syrup contains 12.4g sugars from sucrose which is a complex sugar. Complex sugars are harder for the body to break down and as such are not absorbed as readily - meaning your body consumes less. Compare this with a tablespoon of honey which contains 17.3g of sugars mainly from fructose and little from glucose and sucrose. Not only is the quantity considerably higher, these are less complex sugars and as such will be absorbed into your body more easily.

So, in short - as the festive season approaches with all the cakes and biscuits that will be on offer to tempt you, we recommend baking your own cakes, biscuits and puds with a halthy dose of delicious maple syrup! Why not start with this fantastic Maple*Fit smoothie!

Nutritional Information

Prep Time :10 minutes
Cooking Time :10 minutes
Difficulty :Simple
Serves :1
Calories :261 per serving
Nutrition :Anti-Oxidant, Dietary Fibre, Vegetarian, Vitamin A, Vitamin B, Vitamin C

Tip: Leave the agave nectar away if you would like to cut down in sugar.

Ingredients

100g of butternut squash
1 small banana
1/2 apple
1/4 lemon
1 tbsp. of maple syrup
1 tbsp. of agave nectar
1/4 tsp. of cinnamon

Directions

  1. Peel the butternut squash and cut it in small cubes. Bring some water to the boil and cook the butternut for 10min.
  2. Peel banana and apple. Cut them in smaller units.
  3. Add all ingredients to the blender and poor your smoothie in a glass.
  4. Finish your smoothie off with some cinnamon powder.