A new study published in The Journal of Nutrition found that replacing refined sugar with pure maple syrup can reduce major cardiometabolic risk factors in patients with mild metabolic changes, and the potential health benefits of maple syrup for humans have been effectively verified.
1. Maple syrup can improve cardiometabolic risk factors
A total of 42 overweight volunteers with mild cardiometabolic risk participated in this study. They were aged between 18 and 75 years old and had a body mass index (BMI) of 23-40. The volunteers replaced 5% of their daily calorie intake (equivalent to two tablespoons) with Canadian maple syrup or artificially flavored sucrose syrup for 8 weeks.The study aims to evaluate the effects of replacing refined sugar with an equal amount of maple syrup on glucose homeostasis (primary outcome); changes in cardiometabolic risk factors, including lipid profiles, blood pressure, and body fat composition (measured by DEXA scans) (secondary outcomes); and changes in intestinal flora (exploratory outcomes).
Common metabolic risk factors include abdominal obesity, abnormal glucose metabolism, dyslipidemia, and hypertension, which increase the risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. The results of the study found that replacing refined sugar with maple syrup reduced blood sugar excursions during the oral glucose tolerance test (OCTT) and significantly reduced the area under the curve (AUC) for glucose, while replacing refined sugar with sucrose syrup increased the AUC. Replacing refined sugar with maple syrup reduced fat mass and systolic blood pressure in men, while replacing refined sugar with sucrose syrup increased these parameters. Systolic blood pressure decreased significantly in the maple syrup group (-2.72 mmHg), while systolic blood pressure increased slightly in the sucrose syrup group (+0.87 mmHg).
Male volunteers in the maple syrup group had a significant decrease in fat mass (-7.83 g), while volunteers in the sucrose syrup group had a significant increase in fat mass (abdominal fat) (+ 67.61 g).
An unexpected finding was that participants who consumed maple syrup had increased levels of potentially beneficial gut bacteria and decreased levels of potentially harmful gut bacteria. The study showed that participants who consumed maple syrup had significantly fewer Klebsiella and Bacteroides pectinophilus, which are associated with inflammation and metabolic disorders, than those who consumed sucrose syrup. In addition, the consumption of maple syrup significantly increased the growth of beneficial bacteria such as Lactobacillus casei and Clostridium beijerinckii.
2. Natural sweetener - maple syrup
Maple syrup is made by boiling and concentrating maple sap collected from sugar maple trees (Acer saccharum) in late winter or early spring. Syrup made from maple sap collected early in the maple season is lighter in color, while syrup made after the weather warms up is darker in color. Lighter maple syrup is usually sweet and has no other prominent flavors, while darker maple syrup has a caramel flavor and is suitable for mixing with light-colored syrup to get a more classic "maple flavor." Maple syrup is a natural sweetener, slightly sweeter than honey, with a sugar content of about 66% (honey contains about 79%-81%).
Currently, Canada and the United States are the top two maple syrup producers, respectively. In North America, people usually add maple syrup to breakfast foods, such as waffles, cakes, pancakes, cereals, etc. On December 7, DSM-Firmenich announced its "Flavor of the Year" for 2025 - Milky Maple, which is a flavor that combines milk and rich maple syrup. This innovative taste combination will attract more support from consumers who love food in 2025.
Fortune market data shows that the maple syrup market size in 2023 is US$1.44 billion, and it is expected to grow from US$1.54 billion in 2024 to US$2.62 billion by 2032, with a compound annual growth rate of 6.91% during the forecast period. The maple syrup market size is expected to grow significantly due to the increasing demand for low-sugar and healthy sweeteners.
3. Other benefits of maple syrup
Whether natural or artificial, excessive consumption of sweeteners can lead to obesity. However, some studies have shown that consuming maple syrup as an alternative sweetener in the diet is beneficial to human health.
The main components of maple syrup include sucrose, phenolic substances (Quebec phenol, etc.), minerals (potassium, calcium, sodium, magnesium, iron, manganese, zinc, aluminum, etc.), organic acids (malic acid, fumaric acid, etc.), amino acids (arginine, threonine, proline, etc.), plant hormones (safflower and abscisic acid and its metabolites) and vitamins (niacin, thiamine, riboflavin, etc.). In addition to improving a variety of cardiometabolic risk factors, these ingredients give maple syrup more health benefits: such as anti-aging, anti-Alzheimer's disease, anti-inflammatory, anti-mutagenic properties.
Anti-aging: Aaron et al. evaluated the effect of maple syrup on TDP-43 protein toxicity in Caenorhabditis elegans amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). ALS is a neurodegenerative disease that can lead to the death of motor neurons. Studies have shown that maple syrup reduces many age-related phenotypes by attenuating TDP-43 in C. elegans motor neurons, which maintain neuronal integrity during aging.
Anti-inflammatory: Quebecol, a polyphenolic compound isolated from maple syrup, has a significant inhibitory effect on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) activation at a concentration of 100 mM. Quebecol prevents LPS-catalyzed macrophage excretion of proinflammatory factors interleukin 6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α). In addition, a study evaluated the effect of maple syrup extract (MSX) on liver gene expression in mice fed a high-fat diet (HFD). The results showed that MSX improved the expression of genes related to lipid metabolism and immune response in fed mice, and the intake of MSX alleviated HFD-induced liver inflammation.
Anti-Alzheimer's disease: Rose et al. orally administered 100 and 200 mg/kg MSX daily to mice with Alzheimer's disease (AD) for 30 days. The results showed that MSX reduced the expression of several inflammatory proteins, including the stimulation of the interferon gene TMEM173 and the inhibition of cytokine signaling-6 (SOCS6). In addition, MSX reduced the tremors of beta-amyloid peptides in a concentration-dependent manner. If the cellular proteins are not properly covered, condensed with each other, accumulated and evolved into plaques, they will cause Alzheimer's disease. Beta-amyloid is the main component of amyloid plaques in the brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease.
References:
[1]https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022316624004656?via%3Dihub
[2]https://www.nutritioninsight.com/news/is-maple-the-smarter-sweetener-study-finds-it-improves-multiple-cardiometabolic-risk- factors.html
[3]https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10469071/#sec3[4]https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/art icles/PMC9603788/#sec3-ijerph-19-13684
[5]https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/maple-syrup-market-103831
