# Maple Syrup



## SHAMALICIOUS (Sep 15, 2006)

How unhealthy is maple syrup? Im quite addicted at the moment, i have about 3 tablespoons of pure maple syrup in a glass of milk every day! lol I wanted to know whether i should cut down, n if i can expect for my clothes to be getting tighter!


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## Alix (Sep 15, 2006)

SHAMALICIOUS said:
			
		

> How unhealthy is maple syrup? Im quite addicted at the moment, i have about 3 tablespoons of pure maple syrup in a glass of milk every day! lol I wanted to know whether i should cut down, n if i can expect for my clothes to be getting tighter!


 
I think 3 tbsps a day is fine (unless you are diabetic) the stuff is basically just sugar. Mmmmmmmmmmm, I LOVE maple syrup.


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## Loprraine (Sep 15, 2006)

I've never thought about it, but I probably only have it once a month.   Love the stuff!!!


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## FryBoy (Sep 15, 2006)

I doubt it's a problem unless you have diabetes or are trying to lose weight -- maple syrup is loaded with sugar and calories. 

A quarter cup (4 tablespoons) of pure maple syrup (60mL) has 53 grams of carbs, which are all sugars, and 200 calories. That translates to 13.25 grams of sugar and 50 calories per tablespoon, or about 40 grams of sugar carbs and 150 calories in your daily dose of 3 tablespoons.

That may not sound like a lot, but 150 extra calories per day will add one pound of fat to your body every three weeks, or about 16 pounds per year, assuming you don't cut back on your intake of other foods. 

BTW, I've been a big fan of Trader Joe's since about 1970. One of my favorite things from TJ's is their Canadian Maple Syrup, about $4 for a 12.5 ounce bottle of Grade A. Beats the heck out of those gawdawful "artificial maple flavor" pancake syrups sold in the supermarket.


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## The Z (Sep 15, 2006)

FryBoy said:
			
		

> ...I've been a big fan of Trader Joe's since about 1970. One of my favorite things from TJ's is their Canadian Maple Syrup, about $4 for a 12.5 ounce bottle of Grade A. Beats the heck out of those gawdawful "artificial maple flavor" pancake syrups sold in the supermarket.



There are a few different flavors of 'Grade A'.  I prefer the Grade A Dark Amber for its richer Maple flavor... Grade B is good for that, too. 

Z


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## ChefJune (Sep 15, 2006)

Oh My!  I _love_ Maple syrup and maple flavored desserts (think pound cake, and mousse!) For years I've refused to order pancakes in any restaurant that doesn't serve real maple syrup because I can't abide that flavored corn syrup.


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## Chef_Jen (Sep 15, 2006)

MMmm mapleeeee syyyrrrupp its the canadian in me what can i say!

But make sure its REAL maple syurp *NOT* Pancake syrup or Aunt Jemima..


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## SHAMALICIOUS (Sep 15, 2006)

Thanks for your replies everyone  

Alix - If the stuff is basically sugar, it cannot be too good for the waistline, lol.   .

Fryboy - I think i shall have to cut down either the amount of tablespoons, or the amount of times i have it! Its going to be difficult, to say the least lol


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## Alix (Sep 15, 2006)

Three tbsps is easy to wear off though. Run up and down some stairs, do a couple loads of laundry...TA DA!!


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## mudbug (Sep 15, 2006)

shamalicious, would using some maple extract and one tablespoon of Splenda help at all?


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## FryBoy (Sep 15, 2006)

Alix said:
			
		

> Three tbsps is easy to wear off though. Run up and down some stairs, do a couple loads of laundry...TA DA!!


Unfortunately, Alix, running up and down the stairs a few times ain't quite enough. 

A 154-pound person burns only about 100 calories for every mile he or she walks or runs. Thus to burn off the 150 calories in three tablespoons of maple syrup consumed daily, a 154-pound person would have to walk 1.5 miles, or about 30 minutes at a decent pace of 3 miles per hour, each day.

The number of calories burned by walking or running varies with a person's weight; a larger person burns more, and a smaller person burns fewer calories, when he or she walks or runs a mile.

Here's a link to the USDA's calorie and exercise chart: http://www.mypyramid.gov/pyramid/calories_used_table.html

Know thine enemy!


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## Alix (Sep 15, 2006)

FryBoy, I was being facetious. Sorry that didn't come across. Dang its tough sometimes to make a joke on here! Need more smileys! 

I'm well aware of how much exercise is required to wear off those calories. (And we Canadians use the Canada Food Guide as our nutrition bible.)

Sorry, also just noticed the 50 calories/tbsp...YIKES! 

We could also get technical and talk about it being easier to burn off simple sugars vs complex ones and do the whole glycemic index thing, but really Shamalicious, a couple tbsps of maple syrup a day isn't going to kill you as long as you don't overdo with everything else in your diet.


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## FryBoy (Sep 15, 2006)

Alix said:
			
		

> FryBoy, I was being facetious. Sorry that didn't come across. Dang its tough sometimes to make a joke on here! Need more smileys!


It is hard to tell sometimes, especially when the joke is about something that so many people don't understand, or chose to ignore.


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## FryBoy (Sep 15, 2006)

Alix said:
			
		

> a couple tbsps of maple syrup a day isn't going to kill you as long as you don't overdo with everything else in your diet.


It isn't a question of not overdoing it with everything else in one's diet, it's the need to eliminate something from that diet to offset the 150 calories per day from the maple syrup. 

If you require 2000 calories a day to maintain your weight, and you add 150 on top of that, you'll gain nearly 1.5 pounds per month! 

Life is about choices. If you chose the daily dose of syrup, you have two options: forego something else or grow a butt the size of the Canadian Province of Alberta.


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## Andy M. (Sep 15, 2006)

FryBoy said:
			
		

> ...grow a butt the size of Alberta.


 
My sister Alberta takes exception to that comment.


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## FryBoy (Sep 15, 2006)

Andy M. said:
			
		

> My sister Alberta takes exception to that comment.


Horrors! Lest I offend your beloved sister, I have edited the comment to read "Canadian Province of Alberta." Which I think is bigger than Texas (not your sister, the state).


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## Andy M. (Sep 15, 2006)

FryBoy said:
			
		

> Horrors! Lest I offend your beloved sister, I have edited the comment to read "Canadian Province of Alberta." Which I think is bigger than Texas (not your sister, the state).


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## mudbug (Sep 15, 2006)

I don't think you are off the hook yet, FryBioy.  Alix lives in Edmonton, which if I am not mistaken is located in the province of Alberta.


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## daisy (Sep 15, 2006)

Well, it's not exactly good for the waist-line, but it has its good points. So for those of us who are addicted to it, and by way of pointing out that there's always an upside as well as a downside. So we can feel virtuous if you use it!!

_Maple: Spring sap syrup is taken as a liver tonic, a kidney cleanser and a cough syrup. A tea of the inner bark is taken for coughs or diarrhoea and is diuretic, expectorant and a blood purifier. A compound infusion of the bark has been used as drops in treating blindness. The sap has been used for treating sore eyes. Maple syrup is used in cough syrups and is also said to be a liver tonic and kidney cleanser.

_


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## Constance (Sep 15, 2006)

Alix said:
			
		

> Sorry, also just noticed the 50 calories/tbsp...YIKES!



YIKES is right!.....Butter is, I believe, 60 calories/tbsp. I usually put a pat or two on top of my 2 pancake stack BEFORE I start pouring on the syrup. 
I don't eat pancakes very often, but thanks to dear friend Kadesma, my husband has learned how to make fantastic French toast.


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## FryBoy (Sep 15, 2006)

Constance said:
			
		

> Butter is, I believe, 60 calories/tbsp.


I WISH! Try 100 calories per tablespoon of butter.


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## suzyQ3 (Sep 15, 2006)

Constance said:
			
		

> YIKES is right!.....Butter is, I believe, 60 calories/tbsp. I usually put a pat or two on top of my 2 pancake stack BEFORE I start pouring on the syrup.
> I don't eat pancakes very often, but thanks to dear friend Kadesma, my husband has learned how to make fantastic French toast.


 
101 calories in a tablespoon of butter. Sorry.


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## SHAMALICIOUS (Sep 16, 2006)

mudbug said:
			
		

> shamalicious, would using some maple extract and one tablespoon of Splenda help at all?


 
I havent tried that.. i dont think it would taste quite the same though would it? 




			
				Alix said:
			
		

> We could also get technical and talk about it being easier to burn off simple sugars vs complex ones and do the whole glycemic index thing, but really Shamalicious, a couple tbsps of maple syrup a day isn't going to kill you as long as you don't overdo with everything else in your diet.


 


			
				daisy said:
			
		

> Well, it's not exactly good for the waist-line, but it has its good points. So for those of us who are addicted to it, and by way of pointing out that there's always an upside as well as a downside. So we can feel virtuous if you use it!!
> 
> _Maple: Spring sap syrup is taken as a liver tonic, a kidney cleanser and a cough syrup. A tea of the inner bark is taken for coughs or diarrhoea and is diuretic, expectorant and a blood purifier. A compound infusion of the bark has been used as drops in treating blindness. The sap has been used for treating sore eyes. Maple syrup is used in cough syrups and is also said to be a liver tonic and kidney cleanser._


 

Thank you alix and daisy! If nothing else, at least i wont feel too guilty! lol


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## Chopstix (Oct 11, 2006)

Our friends, a couple from Vancouver, are here visiting and they gave us among other things, a bottle of CAMP 100% pure maple syrup.  It's from Plessisville, Canada.  I can only assume this maple syrup is the good kind.  (I haven't opened it yet).  I don't ever make pancakes nor french toast so I'm not sure what to use it for aside from substituting it for sugar in some things... 

But if the Canadians here in DC tell me this is the excellent kind of maple syrup, I'd start making pancakes just to consume this product!


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## Andy M. (Oct 11, 2006)

If it's 100% pure, it probably is fine. 

Maple surup is graded and marked on the label. Some of the grades are Grade A Fancy, Grade B Amber, Grade B Dark Amber, and others. The Grade A syrups are lighter in color and taste while the Bs are darker and richer in maple flavor. I prefer the Grade B syrups for their flavor.  The grades ar flavor grades not quality grades.

Actually, I can't recall ever having pure maple syrup that wasn't delicious. Also can't imagine that friends would bring you a crappy gift!


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## Alix (Oct 11, 2006)

Camp's is good. You'll like it.


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## buckytom (Oct 11, 2006)

i would bathe in maple syrup if i could.

we always pick up a bottle or three, of different grades, on our trips to ny and vermont in the fall and winter.

there's nothing better on an off day of a skiing trip than finding a little out of the way sugar shack, and tasting local artisan cheeses and syrups.

you pay the guy in back with the steamy horn-rimmed glasses...


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## Gretchen (Oct 11, 2006)

It's not worth worrying about in my opinion--IF it is real maple syrup.  If it isn't, then it isn't worth your time!!
 Unless you are eating a lot of other sweets and desserts, etc.


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## Alix (Oct 11, 2006)

Chopstix said:
			
		

> Our friends, a couple from Vancouver, are here visiting and they gave us among other things, a bottle of CAMP 100% pure maple syrup. It's from Plessisville, Canada.


 
In Canada you can't SAY it is 100% pure without that actually being the case. You can be sure it is what the label says it is.


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## buckytom (Oct 11, 2006)

do they sell "dove" soap in canada?

they'd need another 56/100th's, i guess.


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## Alix (Oct 11, 2006)

I think thats what it says on the box here Bucky...in English AND in French, shall I go find a box to check?


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## buckytom (Oct 11, 2006)

naw, that's ok alix. 

hey, they should make a soap, "canada spring", like irish spring.

it would smell of maple syrup.


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## Alix (Oct 11, 2006)

You mean you guys don't get that one down yonder? Oh too bad!


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## Chopstix (Oct 11, 2006)

Thanks guys! It says MEDIUM on the label.  No grade.  Come to think of it, I've probably never had real maple syrup, just the maple syrup at pancake restaurants, which most likely can't compare with the real thing, huh.  NOW I'm excited to taste real maple syrup.  Let me go look for Goodweed's pancake recipe first....!


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## Alix (Oct 11, 2006)

Think that Medium means "B" grade in the US. You'll love it Chopstix.


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## Chopstix (Oct 13, 2006)

I made Goodweed's pancakes for the first time today.  Topped it with French butter (salted) and Camp's 100% maple syrup.  It was sooooo gooooooood (Thanks Goodweed).  The maple syrup was very flavorful, far better than any maple syrup I've ever had.  You're right Alix!


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## Andy M. (Oct 13, 2006)

GW's pancakes are good.

Once you've had real maple syrup. you won't want the fake stuff again.


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## Chief Longwind Of The North (Oct 13, 2006)

Using the Splenda/extract version will give you flavor for cooking. But it won't give you the same rich flavor as the real thing. Also, you can't make it work as a syrup. The texture will be like water.

Also, the extract, even if pure maple, isn't quite the same flavor as maple syrup or maple sugar.

Did you know that you have to boil down (concentrate) 40 gallons of sap fro every gallon of syrup? I live in maple country and know a bit about tapping trees. When you make it, you really begin to appreciate the work involved and why this stuff is such a treat.

And Chopstix, that's what cooking is all about, sharing good things with others.  And you are very welcome.

Seeeeeeya; Goodweed of the North


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## Chopstix (Oct 14, 2006)

Andy M. said:
			
		

> Once you've had real maple syrup. you won't want the fake stuff again.


 
You're right about that Andy! 

It was so rich in maple flavor yet with a delicate aroma.  The fake stuff I have has an overpowering maple smell and little maple flavor, just sweet.


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## shpj4 (Oct 14, 2006)

I like authentic Maple Syrup and I use in my pancakes expecially.


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