Health Benefits of Drinking Maple Water

Nature provides up a fairly tasty sports activities drink that can assist you rehydrate after a exercise — and the product comes straight from a faucet.

Nutrient-rich “maple water” is quick turning into a pre- and post-exercise drink choice to spice up efficiency and restoration. And whereas it’s a comparatively new addition to retailer cabinets, its use dates again centuries.

Numerous web sites inform of North American explorers declaring maple water the “wholesomest drink in the world” after sipping the beverage borne from timber. It’s not precisely a verified quote, however who desires to query well being meals folklore?

To discover out whether or not these thirsty voyagers had been onto one thing, let’s head out on a discovery expedition with registered dietitian Beth Czerwony, RD.

What is maple water?

Maple water could also be an unfamiliar product to you, however right here’s one which in all probability rings a breakfast bell: maple syrup. (We’re speaking actual maple syrup right here, too, not these high-fructose corn syrup imitators.)

The similar supply — pure maple tree sap — serves as the inspiration for each maple water and maple syrup, says Czerwony. Maple water is a pasteurized model of sap. Maple syrup, then again, is the sap that has been boiled down and condensed.

The composition of maple sap is roughly 98% water and a couple of% sugar. That’s why maple syrup producers usually boil down 40 gallons of sap to make a single gallon of sugary-sweet syrup. (Producers gather the sap by faucets inserted in maple timber in late winter or early spring.)

So what precisely is maple sap? Basically, it’s a nourishing fluid that serves as a maple tree’s lifeblood, offering power to gasoline development and keep well being.

As it seems, what’s good for a maple tree might be good for you, too.

Health advantages of maple water

The largest perk supplied by maple water? That’s straightforward, says Czerwony: It’s loaded with electrolytes, essential minerals to your physique that provide the needed “charge” to energy by the day.

Your physique loses electrolytes by sweat, which is why sports activities drinks tout their skill to revive that vital useful resource to correct ranges after a exercise.

Consider maple water a “natural” model of these replenishing merchandise: “The benefits are very similar,” says Czerwony. “Maple water is going to help you rehydrate and replace those lost electrolytes.”

In addition, researchers have found that consuming maple water doesn’t totally quench your thirst. Why is that good? Basically, as a result of that “thirsty feeling” is your physique’s manner of creating certain it absolutely rehydrates.

Other potential advantages of maple water embody:

• Reduced muscle irritation because of antioxidants equivalent to manganese, which might result in quicker post-workout restoration.
• Stabilized blood sugar ranges on account of abscisic acid (ABA), a plant hormone within the fluid. ABA will help you handle and management diabetes.
• Cancer-fighting properties by micronutrients referred to as polyphenols.

There’s even a declare that maple water will help fight hangovers, although that idea grew from analysis involving rats. “It’s a nice thought,” says Czerwony, “but I wouldn’t count on maple water as a hangover cure.”

Maple water vs. coconut water

So how does maple water examine to coconut water, its tropical counterpart within the realm of pure hydration options?

Each presents a resume with totally different and related dietary strengths. Maple water is off the charts in manganese, as an example, whereas coconut water is chock stuffed with potassium. Both are filled with electrolytes.

If you’re counting energy and grams of sugar, maple water is available in about 50% decrease than coconut water on each counts.

But is one higher than the opposite? “Really, it comes down to taste preference,” says Czerwony. Maple water brings a refined maple sweetness from the north woods, whereas coconut water provides a sweeter and barely nutty island taste.

Should you seize a bottle?

Are there potential advantages to consuming maple water, notably after a troublesome exercise? Absolutely, says Czerwony. But she cautioned towards pondering it’s a whole game-changer given the identical 2019 study with the thirst discovering.

“In reality,” says Czerwony, “it seems that you can drink plain old water and pretty much get the same hydration results.”