Maple syrup: one trial of daily use, and it is still sugar

Maple syrup has exactly one randomised trial of daily use in people behind it. The trial's authors note that before it, the effects of maple syrup on metabolism had been tested only in animals. In that trial, 42 overweight adults with mild metabolic problems replaced 5 percent of their daily calories from refined sugar with maple syrup for 8 weeks, and with a flavoured sugar syrup for another 8. On maple syrup, systolic blood pressure fell by 2.72 mm Hg while it rose by 0.87 mm Hg on the sugar syrup. Blood sugar during a glucose tolerance test came out lower. Fat around the middle stayed almost flat on maple syrup (about 8 g less) while it rose by about 68 g on the sugar syrup. Blood fats did not change at all. The authors put their conclusion carefully: maple syrup did not worsen heart and metabolic risk markers compared with the sugar syrup. That is the whole case, and it is thin. The trial compared one sugar with another, and never tested maple syrup against simply eating less sugar. The authors still call maple syrup a significant source of added sugar, and they say their results must be repeated in larger, longer studies in more varied people. Until that happens, read these numbers as one promising result and nothing firmer.

How much is actually in it

• Across 35 commercial maple syrups, many properties varied more than tenfold between bottles. — 35 commercial maple syrups from 12 producers in Southern Ontario (n = 35) Evidence D source
  Variability often more than one order of magnitude
• Darker maple syrups among 35 tested had more total phenols, antioxidant potential, phosphorus, calcium and total minerals than lighter ones. — 35 commercial maple syrups from 12 producers in Southern Ontario (n = 35) Evidence D source
  Darker grade higher phenols and minerals
• Sugar content (glucose, fructose, total soluble solids) did not differ between amber, dark and very dark grades across 35 syrups. — 35 commercial maple syrups from 12 producers in Southern Ontario (n = 35) Evidence D source
  No difference in sugars by grade

What a real portion looks like

• The metabolic results of the 8 week trial apply to about 20 to 40 mL of maple syrup a day, which the authors still call a significant source of added sugar. — 42 overweight adults with mild cardiometabolic alterations, 8 weeks per arm (n = 42) Evidence B source
  Dose context: 20-40 mL/d
• Across 5744 Australian packaged foods, maple syrup was among the five most common added sugar ingredients. — 5744 Australian packaged foods, FoodSwitch database (n = 5744) Evidence C source
  Ranked among top five sugar ingredients

What your body absorbs

• In 85 active men drinking 1 L of a 6% carbohydrate drink during exercise, maple syrup or sap raised blood glucose less than a glucose drink did. — 85 active men doing high-intensity intermittent cycling, 1 L of 6% carbohydrate drink (n = 85) Evidence B source
  Smaller glycaemia rise vs glucose, no size given in abstract

What cooking and storage change

• Maple syrup is made by boiling maple sap down until it reaches 66 to 67 degrees Brix of sugar. — background description in a trial report, no study population Evidence E source
  Processing description

What it does to your health

• Swapping 5% of daily calories from refined sugar for maple syrup for 8 weeks lowered the glucose area under the curve in an oral glucose test compared with sucrose syrup (change -50.59 vs +29.93). — 42 overweight adults with mild cardiometabolic alterations, 8 weeks per arm (n = 42) Evidence B source
  Glucose AUC change -50.59 +/- 201.92 vs 29.93 +/- 154.90, P < 0.047
• In the same 8 week trial, maple syrup instead of refined sugar lowered systolic blood pressure by 2.72 mm Hg versus a 0.87 mm Hg rise on sucrose syrup, and android fat mass stayed almost flat on maple syrup (-7.83 g) while it rose by 67.61 g on sucrose syrup. — 42 overweight adults with mild cardiometabolic alterations, 8 weeks per arm (n = 42) Evidence B source
  SBP -2.72 vs +0.87 mm Hg (P = 0.03), android fat -7.83 vs +67.61 g (P = 0.02)

What is still unknown

• Blood lipids did not change when 42 adults replaced refined sugar with maple syrup for 8 weeks. — 42 overweight adults with mild cardiometabolic alterations, 8 weeks per arm (n = 42) Evidence B source
  No change in lipid profile
• The authors of this 2024 trial of 42 adults note that before it, the metabolic effects of maple syrup had been studied only in animal models, and no randomised trial had tested its metabolic effects in people. — 42 overweight adults with mild cardiometabolic alterations, 8 weeks per arm (n = 42) Evidence B source
  Evidence gap statement
• The authors of the only trial of daily maple syrup use in people (42 adults, 8 weeks) say its results must be replicated in larger, longer and more diverse studies. — 42 overweight adults with mild cardiometabolic alterations, 8 weeks per arm (n = 42) Evidence B source
  Limitation

The bottom line

If you already use sugar and prefer the taste of maple, the one trial we have says the swap did not worsen heart and metabolic risk markers compared with an ordinary sugar syrup, at 20 to 40 mL a day for 8 weeks, in adults with mild metabolic problems. It gives no reason to add maple syrup to a diet that has no sweetener in it now. Colour is the other thing people read into. Across 35 commercial syrups from Southern Ontario, darker grades carried more phenols, antioxidant potential, phosphorus, calcium and total minerals than lighter ones, and the same sugars: glucose, fructose and total dissolved solids did not differ between amber, dark and very dark. Those were lab measurements of the bottles. Nobody has tested whether the extra phenols in a dark syrup do anything once you eat it. The same 35 bottles also differed from each other, many of their properties by more than tenfold, so any single figure for what maple syrup contains is a rough guide. This page does not yet carry a USDA nutrient table. The syrup is made by boiling sap down to 66 to 67 degrees Brix, the scale producers use for sugar content. In 85 active men drinking it in a single session of hard cycling, it raised blood glucose less than a plain glucose drink did, and the study gave no size for that difference. You will also meet it in packaged food. Among 5744 Australian products it was one of the five most common added sugars on ingredient lists. Who should be careful with maple syrup is a gap on our side. We found no study on allergy, drug interactions, pregnancy or children that we could quote, so this page has no safety section. An empty section here means nobody gave us evidence to stand on, and it is no promise of safety. If you manage diabetes, count maple syrup as the added sugar it is, and talk to the person treating you before leaning on a single 8 week trial.

Sources

1. mpl-b1-10 · lab analysis
   A high degree of variability was found in many characteristics, often exceeding an order of magnitude.
   Plant Foods Hum Nutr, 2014 · checked 2026-09-23
2. mpl-b1-11 · lab analysis
   Darker syrups showed significantly higher autofluorescence, total phenol content, antioxidant potential, phosphorous, calcium and total mineral content.
   Plant Foods Hum Nutr, 2014 · checked 2026-09-23
3. mpl-b1-12 · lab analysis
   No statistical differences were found among grades of syrup for density, pH, TSS, glucose, fructose, total reducing sugars, glucose:fructose ratio, magnesium, manganese or potassium.
   Plant Foods Hum Nutr, 2014 · checked 2026-09-23
4. mpl-b1-05 · RCT
   Despite remaining a significant source of added sugar, which should be consumed in moderation, these results indicate that maple syrup does not exacerbate cardiometabolic risk factors compared with sucrose syrup when consumed in moderate amounts (e.g., between 20 and 40 mL/d in this study) for 8 wk in participants with mild metabolic alterations.
   J Nutr, 2024 · checked 2026-09-23
5. mpl-b1-09 · cross-sectional
   Forty-six added sugars and eight non-nutritive sweetener types were extracted from the ingredient lists of 5744 foods across seventeen food categories... Sugar (as an ingredient), glucose syrup, maple syrup, maltodextrin and glucose/dextrose were the most common sugar ingredient types identified.
   Public Health Nutr, 2017 · checked 2026-09-23
6. mpl-b1-08 · RCT
   Eighty-five active men completed six 3-min bouts at 95% of their maximal aerobic power on a stationary bike... drinking a total of 1 L of the same solution throughout the experimentation... The ingestion of maple products and the commercial sports drink led to a lesser increase in glycemia than glucose ingestion.
   Nutrients, 2019 · checked 2026-09-23
7. mpl-b1-07 · background statement
   Maple syrup is a minimally transformed product obtained by thermal evaporation of maple sap until a sugar content of 66°–67° Brix is obtained, yielding a thick, sweet syrup.
   J Nutr, 2024 · checked 2026-09-23
8. mpl-b1-01 · RCT
   participants were instructed to substitute 5% of their total caloric intake from added sugars with either maple syrup or an artificially flavored sucrose syrup for 8 wk... Replacing refined sugars with maple syrup over 8 wk decreased the glucose area under the curve when compared with substituting refined sugars with sucrose syrup, as determined during the oral glucose tolerance test, leading to a significant difference between the intervention arms (-50.59 ± 201.92 compared with 29.93 ± 154.90; P < 0.047).
   J Nutr, 2024 · checked 2026-09-23
9. mpl-b1-02 · RCT
   Substituting refined sugar with maple syrup also significantly decreased android fat mass (-7.83 ± 175.05 g compared with 67.61 ± 206.71 g; P = 0.02) and systolic blood pressure (-2.72 ± 8.73 mm Hg compared with 0.87 ± 8.99 mm Hg; P = 0.03).
   J Nutr, 2024 · checked 2026-09-23
10. mpl-b1-03 · RCT
    No changes in the blood lipid profile were observed.
    J Nutr, 2024 · checked 2026-09-23
11. mpl-b1-04 · RCT
    Maple syrup, a minimally transformed sweetener rich in polyphenols, can exert a action and improve metabolic parameters in animal models. However, no randomized clinical trial has investigated this.
    J Nutr, 2024 · checked 2026-09-23
12. mpl-b1-06 · RCT
    Nevertheless, these results must be replicated in larger and longer clinical interventions and confirmed in more diverse populations.
    J Nutr, 2024 · checked 2026-09-23