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Since my family has been making some new food choices in hopes of living a longer/healthier life we have adopted a few “food rules.” Make no mistake, we ENJOY eating, we eat meat, AND we live on a budget – but we are not deprived. This may or may not be similar to your lifestyle… and that is okay. But, here I will share a rule that we have adopted. You can adopt this rule too, or not. Either way, it will be okay with me. =)

Trade Maple Syrup for Pancake Syrup

I’ve been talking a lot about sweeteners: artificial ones, natural ones, and even high fructose corn syrup.  I’m trying to eliminate as much high fructose corn syrup from our diets as I can so I made the switch from pancake syrup to maple syrup several months ago.  But, I’ve learned there are many other benefits to switching to Maple syrup!

Unlike pancake syrup, which is just a man-made sugary thick liquid (high fructose corn syrup), maple syrup is an excellent source of manganese and a good source of zinc which is good for your health!   Zinc and manganese are important allies to your immune system, and zinc is important for heart health and acts as an antioxidant.

Maybe you haven’t made the switch because you think maple syrup is too expensive.   Well, it is true that maple syrup is a lot more expensive than pancake syrup BUT, what I have found is a little goes a long way with maple syrup.  It has such a deep, rich flavor you actually need a lot less of it than you would pancake syrup.  We treat this stuff like gold in our household (and rightly so – it IS expensive) and are very aware at how much we use.  You can always add more, but you can’t take it back!  We are always surprised at how little it takes in comparison to the way we used to slather our pancakes, waffles, and french toast in pancake syrup!

Here’s another trick: Grade B actually has more maple flavor than Grade A syrup and it is much less expensive too!  So, save some of that cold cash and go for Grade B.

If you are a new reader you might want to read some of my older “My Whole Food Journey” posts HERE.

Have you got any questions? Are you on your own quest to eat wholesome and/or organic? If you’ve been shopping a little differently as well and the labels have got your brain in a fog… email me or drop me a comment here and I’ll be happy to help you find the answers you’re looking for! Sometimes shopping in a whole foods store can be overwhelming and leave you with more questions than when you came in!
*Thanks to Michael Pollan and Sustainable Echo for some of the research here.