Replacing some of the refined sugar found in our daily diet with maple syrup could mitigate certain negative effects of a diet rich in fat and sugar, suggests a study led by a team from Laval University.
Experiments carried out on mice have demonstrated that maple syrup appears to reduce the digestion of refined sugar, the intestinal absorption of glucose and the accumulation of fat in the liver.
“Maple syrup, even if it also contains sucrose, certainly has molecules that protect against the harmful effects of overconsumption of sugar,” the author of the study explained to The Canadian Press. , Professor André Marette, from the Faculty of Medicine of Laval University.
“And indeed, we know that maple syrup is rich in polyphenols, that it also contains certain minerals, certain vitamins and even dietary fibers such as inulin. »
Professor Marette and his colleagues compared two groups of mice fed a diet high in fat and sugar. About 25% of one group’s refined sugar intake was replaced with maple syrup, accounting for 10% of the total calories consumed daily.
This percentage, explained Professor Marette, “corresponds to what is possible as a dietary modification in humans”, for example by using maple syrup in coffee or in recipes.
The researchers found that glucose metabolism was “less impaired in mice that consumed maple syrup” and that “the livers of these mice had triglyceride concentrations almost half as high as those of mice that had not did not consume maple syrup,” it was indicated in a press release.
A drop in the activity of an intestinal enzyme would be responsible for this reduced accumulation of triglycerides. Fewer carbohydrates would be absorbed and enter the bloodstream, which would then be responsible for more modest hyperglycemia and a lower amount of carbohydrates converted to triglycerides in the liver.
The increase in blood sugar that inevitably occurs when we eat is less when we replace white sugar with maple syrup, summarized Professor Marette. And what’s more, the livers of the mice who had received maple syrup were “in better health, because we prevent these sugars from accumulating excessively in the livers of the animals.”
“We are starting to understand how it works at the mechanistic level,” said the researcher.
Those who want (or need) to monitor fluctuations in their blood sugar, such as diabetics, might therefore consider substituting refined sugars in their diet with maple syrup, he added.
In the new study, the researchers also noted an association between the consumption of maple syrup and the abundance of three species of bacteria which have groups of genes which are involved in the metabolism of sugars. This discovery will now be studied in more depth to try to elucidate the role that these bacteria could play in the positive metabolic effects observed in mice that consumed maple syrup instead of sucrose.
At the moment, Professor Marette said, the data shows that maple syrup mitigates some of the negative effects of refined sugar consumption and so it might be beneficial to replace some of the sucrose in our diet with maple syrup. ‘maple. The hypothesis has also been tested in humans, and the results – which are “fairly conclusive”, according to the researcher – could be revealed this year.
In fact, he continues, any substitution of white sugar for a natural sugar, like honey or molasses, “is a good move, but maple syrup stands out all the time.”
The study on mice was made possible thanks to the financial support of the Maple Syrup Producers of Quebec, and it is “the maple syrup producers who take the risk,” assured Professor Marette.
“You never know what you’re going to find, but I publish what I find,” he said. I don’t have a maple grove and we bring back what we find. Maple syrup producers have no influence on the results we publish, it is very important for my credibility. »
Professor Marette, who is also a researcher at the University Institute of Cardiology and Pneumology of Quebec, has been closely interested in the health benefits of maple syrup for several years. He published another study last year which demonstrates that replacing 5% of the total daily energy provided by added sugars with an equivalent quantity of maple syrup leads to an improvement in certain cardiometabolic risk factors.
The conclusions of this study were published by the scientific journal American Journal of Physiology-Endocrinology and Metabolism.