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Maple Syrup: Health Benefits and Recipes
Maple syrup is a natural sweetener that can be good for you. Native Americans have used maple syrup for centuries as a sweetener for their food. Some of the vitamins and minerals are: manganese, iron, calcium, copper, vitamin B2, selenium, potassium and carbohydrates. The vitamins and minerals are known for these health benefits: reproductive health, antioxidant activity, strengthening immunity and heart health.
Zinc and other minerals that are found in maple syrup are important in maintaining a healthy prostate in males.
Native Americans found, by accident, that cooking their meat in maple syrup tenderized the meat, and the syrup formed a sweet glaze.That worked well for cooking venison as it took hours of cooking time.
Sugar was not used by the natives because sugar plantations used black slaves for the process of making sugar. Their belief was, Everyone is born free. No person; male, female or child should be subject to slave labor.
The Native Americans never adapted a taste for the white man’s salt. Maple syrup was their choice of flavoring. The Native Americans drank sap water that came from the maple trees. Sap was known to ward off starvation during a famine because of the vitamins and minerals.
