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Making your life greener - one bite at a time.

This cocktail is rich with vitamins, is very thick and dark and some-what bitter. Health food followers describe all sorts of benefits to a diet rich in blackstrap molasses.

Organic Molasses 

There are three major types of sugar cane molasses: unsulphured, sulphured and blackstrap. There are also three major grades of cane molasses: first molasses, second molasses, and blackstrap molasses.

Molasses

When sugar cane is harvested, the leaves are stripped, the juice extracted by crushing or mashing, and then boiled and processed to extract the sugar. The results of the first boiling and processing is first molasses – this has the highest sugar content. The results of the second boiling is second molasses. Second molasses is darker in colour and has a slightly bitter taste. Black strap molasses is from the third boiling.

Unsulphured molasses is the finest quality first molasses and is made from the juice of sun-ripened cane and the juice is clarified and concentrated. Sulphured molasses is made from green sugar cane that has not matured long enough and is treated with sulphur fumes during the sugar extracting process.

There are a number of different types and sources of molasses and some have already had the maximum amount of sugar removed and will therefore not be sweet. There are two main types of organic molasses: HTM (High Test Mollases) and Black Strap Molasses.

HTM is a sweet syrup with a high brix content of 80-84 percent. (Brix is a term originally used for pure sucrose solutions to indicate the percentage of sucrose in the solution on a weight basis. Molasses contains, glucose, fructose, raffinose and numerous non-sugar organic materials, as well as sucrose. Therefore the Brix value for molasses will often differ dramatically from actual sugar or total solid content. It really represents specific gravity.) The high-test molasses is a heavy, partially inverted cane syrup (no sugar removed), however molasses is a term generally used to designate material from which sugar has been removed.

Sugar Cane

Organic Blackstrap molasses has a rich, full bodied flavour that adds natural colour to food. It is the end product, or by-product, of the production of sugar and contains vitamins, minerals and trace elements naturally found in the sugar cane plant and is a good source of iron, vitamin B6, potassium, calcium and magnesium. Because it is an end-product all the ingredients, residues, and toxins in the plant can be concentrated in the molasses. For this reason it is important to purchase organic molasses.

For use as a sweetener, HTM molasses is recommended - blackstrap has a bitter taste.

Did you know: Molasses is an excellent chelating agent. An object with iron rust placed for two weeks in a mixture of one part molasses to nine parts water will lose its rust due to the chelating action of the molasses.

Thanks to the wonderful feedback we have received from Ecobites forum, blackstrap molasses appears to be making headlines as one of the best home remedies around! We have forum posts from ecobiters about blackstrap molasses helping tumors, fibroid tumors, anxiety, constipation, edema, heart palpitations, anemia, arthritic pain, joint pain, period pain and acne, just to name a few. It has also been reported that molasses turns gray hair back to its original colour and is a wonderful skin softener and nail hardener!

Recipe

1 Tablespoon of Blackstrap Molasses, first thing in the morning.

Iced Molasses Recipe

1 tablespoon Blackstrap Molasses
Hot Water
3/4 cup milk of choice (we prefer raw milk or goat milk)or organic rice dream or see hemp milk recipe
Ice

Add molasses to a glass and add just enough hot water to cover the molasses. Stir until dissolved. Add ice and then top off with milk. Even yummier is to blend the whole concoction.

Hemp Milk is high in protein and the EFAs Omega 3 and 6.

In a small pot combine and heat to warm (do not boil):
3 ounces hemp milk
3 ounces water
1 tablespoon black strap molasses

Stir until molasses melts, and once mixture gets thoroughly heated, sprinkle cinnamon to taste. No extra sweetner is needed.

Organic Black Strap Molasses - Unsulphered - A good source of Potassium, Calcium and iron. Blackstrap molasses is a very good source of iron. Particularly for menstruating women, who are more at risk for iron deficiency, boosting iron stores with blackstrap molasses is a good idea--especially because, in comparison to red meat, a well known source of iron, blackstrap molasses provides more iron for less calories and is totally fat-free. Iron is an integral component of hemoglobin, which transports oxygen from the lungs to all body cells, and is also part of key enzyme systems for energy production and metabolism. And, if you're pregnant or lactating, your needs for iron increase. Growing children and adolescents also have increased needs for iron. Just 2 teaspoons of blackstrap molasses will sweetly provide you with 13.3% of the daily recommended value for iron.  Blackstrap molasses is a very good source of calcium.  Molasses is also an excellent source of copper and manganese and a very good source of potassium, and magnesium.

Nothing stated here should be considered as medical advice for dealing with a given problem. You should consult your health care professional for individual guidance for specific health problems. This page is for informational and educational purposes only, and is simply a collection of information in the public domain. No claims whatsoever can be made as to the specific benefits accruing from the use of any herb or nutrients.