Blackstrap Molasses Health Benefits

Blackstrap molasses health benefits were not a concern to our grand parents and great grandparents.  Much of the United States 150 years ago did not have access to sugar, at least not very often.  They learned to love the sweeteners that they had available locally; honey, maple syrup, other syrups, and blackstrap molasses.

Molassed did have to be shipped in but it was cheap and it did not go bad on long journeys.  Even the most remote mountain cabin generally had a supply of blackstrap ‘lasses.

Blackstrap has a good amount of iron in it.  Two teaspoons of iron provides a little over 13 percent of your daily iron requirement.  Other nutritional needs that just two teaspoons will take care of are:

• Nearly 12 percent of your calcium
• 14 percent of your copper needs
• 18 percent of manganese
• Nearly 10 percent of calcium
• 7.3 percent of Magnesium

An odd bit of trivia I found out about molasses as I was researching this.  In 1919 the Great Molasses Flood  occurred when a molasses storage tank that held  two million gallons of molasses broke in Boston.  The molasses tsunami poured through the street in Boston at 35 miles an hour and creating a 30 foot tidal wave of molasses.  Twenty one people were killed.

So, stay away from molassesstorage tanks but try to find ways to add blackstrap molasses to your diet.  It does have a strong taste so start slow, and do so experimenting to find what you like best.

image: Wikipedia, used iwth permission.