Maple Syrup vs. Honey

I did a post a while back about the nutritious sweetener for the lemonade on the Master Cleanse: maple syrup! In fact, for quite some time now it has been my only sweetner (well, that and agave nectar... YUM!). But why maple syrup... isn't honey the magical sweetener?

First, let's consider where both come from. One comes from a tree and the other comes from flowers, but is predigested and then regurgitated by a bee. Can you guess which is which??? hahahaha! Really though, just the idea that an insect's already digested nectar from a flower lends to the idea that the nectar is already devoid of nutrients when it's vomited back up. Isn't that the whole point of digestion? To pull the nutrients from whatever it is you have ingested. So is it safe to say that honey is a bi product? Or even a waste material? I would certainly call MY vomit a waste material... what about you? But beyond the gross visual I now have in my head of honey, I also have a real concern about using honey as a sweetener.

Here is what I understand about honey. Being that honey is already predigested, it enters the blood stream rapidly causing a spike in blood sugar which then causes a spike in insulin. For being something that I hear soooo much about in the health food circles, I'm truly surprised that it seems to be the exact opposite of healthy or balanced to me.

Now, organic maple syrup on the other hand is LOADED with goodness to actually promote health. It is PACKED with vitamins and minerals, is low in calories and is far less easier to digest than honey.... because it hasn't already been digested once! YUCK! What that means is that your body burns calories to digest it... that sounds pretty good to my waistline!

Yah, I think that I would take maple syrup over honey any day for my diet. That's not to say that honey doesn't have it's place though... check out this great blog post with some great beauty ideas using honey!