Maple syrup: It's sweet, it's calorific, and -- this just in -- it contains antioxidants and anti-inflammatories and stuff. Which must mean -- reasoning leap alert! -- that it is a superfood that can help ward off myriad health problems, like cancer and diabetes.
In a study just reported at a meeting of the American Chemical Society, researchers analyzed the various compounds in maple syrup. They found 54 antioxidants, including five new ones. (One they've dubbed Quebecol, after the region where much maple syrup is produced.) And they found polyphenols that appear to interfere with the conversion of carbohydrates to sugar, which leads them to think that this might be a better sweetener for diabetics to put on a pancake than regular old corn syrup (though it strikes me, as it may you, that maple syrup contains an awful lot of sugar).
