Is Coconut Sugar a Nutritious Replacement?

Medically reviewed by Suzanne Fisher, RD

Coconut sugar is a natural sweetener derived from the sap of the coconut palm tree. The sap is dried and made into granules or blocks of sugar for culinary uses. It's often marketed as a healthier alternative to table sugar and with additional benefits.

To determine whether coconut sugar makes sense for you, looking at factors like glycemic index, processing, and nutrition is essential.

This article examines whether coconut sugar makes a suitable sugar replacement, including its nutritional makeup and its pros and cons when using it.

Coconut Sugar: Where It Lands on the Glycemic Index

The glycemic index (GI) is a scale used to evaluate the impact of carbohydrate-containing foods on your blood sugar levels. It ranks them on a scale of 1 to 100, with higher values indicating a more rapid increase in blood sugar. Using the GI is particularly relevant for individuals who have diabetes or who are otherwise monitoring their blood sugar trends, but it can also be helpful for overall health and wellness.

Coconut sugar has a lower GI compared to regular sugar. This means it has a slower impact on blood sugar levels, which can benefit people who need to manage their blood sugar.

Coconut sugar generally falls around 35 on the GI scale, whereas table sugar ranks between 60 and 65. While it's not a huge difference, coconut sugar has a slightly less dramatic effect on your blood sugar levels than table sugar.

Related: What Is the Glycemic Index?

Is Coconut Sugar a Good Sugar Replacement?

Coconut sugar is often marketed as a healthier alternative to refined sugar and has some potential advantages. However, it's important to consider various factors and not view any sugar substitute as a one-size-fits-all solution.

Benefits

The main benefit of coconut sugar is that it is similar to table sugar and can be used in the same ways to sweeten recipes and beverages. Compared to table sugar, coconut sugar does have a slightly lower glycemic index and contains small amounts of several micronutrients that it retains throughout its processing.

Side Effects

Coconut sugar is still sugar. It's not meant to be consumed regularly or in large amounts but to help enhance the sweetness of specific recipes. Coconut and refined sugars are so similar that they can be used in the same ways in the kitchen with a simple 1-to-1 swap.

If you were to eat a lot of sugar, you would consume a significant amount of calories with no fiber, fat, protein, and only minimal amounts of specific vitamins and minerals. Consuming coconut sugar (or any sugar) in large quantities could then increase your risk for inflammation, unintentional weight gain, and related diseases, such as heart disease and type 2 diabetes.

Regardless of where it comes from, health experts recommend getting no more than 20% of your total daily calories from added sugar, including coconut sugar.

Pros and Cons of Coconut Sugar

There are benefits and drawbacks to every type of sugar; coconut sugar is no exception. Here are some pros and cons of coconut sugar.

Pros:

• Coconut sugar has a lower glycemic index (GI) than table sugar.

• It retains a few micronutrients in small amounts.

Cons:

• Regular consumption of any sugar increases the risk of inflammation, weight gain, and related chronic diseases.

• It's still mostly empty calories, with minimal nutritional value.

Related: Can You Get Diabetes From Eating Too Much Sugar?

Nutrition Facts: Single Coconut Sugar Serving

Compared to table sugar and high fructose corn syrup, which provide calories with no nutritional benefit, coconut sugar offers several nutrients in addition to energy.

A 2-teaspoon, or 8 gram (g), serving of coconut sugar has the following nutritional composition:

• Calories: 30

• Total fat: 0 g

• Sodium: 0 milligrams (mg)

• Total carbohydrates: 8 g

• Total sugars: 7 g

• Protein: 0 g

While they're not always listed on the nutrition facts label, research has found that coconut sugar provides trace amounts of potassium, calcium, zinc, vitamin C, magnesium, iron, and certain antioxidants.

Still, this doesn't mean coconut sugar is a good source of these micronutrients. You would have to eat a lot of coconut sugar to get any beneficial amount, which would come with many extra calories.

While coconut sugar contains more nutrients than table sugar, you're much better off getting vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants from whole food sources, like fruits and vegetables.

Sap Extraction and Making Coconut Sugar

How is coconut sugar made? It's derived from the coconut palm tree sap, not from coconuts. The process of making coconut sugar entails two main steps.

First, you have to make a cut in the flower of the palm tree, which allows liquid sap to pour out. The sap is collected in containers and then exposed to high heat. This evaporates the sap and any remaining liquid.

Then, the dried, crystallized solids are broken into granules that can be used like table sugar. The final product is tan in color and has a caramel-like flavor.

Coconut Sugar Alternatives

If you're looking for sugar alternatives but don't want to depend on coconut sugar, several other options can be used for cooking and baking, including:

• Brown sugar: Brown sugar is simply white sugar and molasses, but it has a similar color and texture to coconut sugar.

• Raw turbinado: Turbinado sugar is made from sugar cane but maintains some molasses from its processing and offers a caramel-like taste.

• Honey or agave: If you don't need the solid granules, honey or agave nectar can work well to sweeten recipes and beverages.

• Maple syrup: Another liquid option, maple syrup brings its unique smoky maple flavor.

• Sucanat: This comes from sugar cane but undergoes less processing than cane sugar, resulting in a brown color and caramel-like flavor similar to coconut sugar.

• Date sugar: This is far from table sugar because it's made from dehydrated ground dates. However, it's a minimally processed option, and dates are naturally sweet. It works well in specific cooked recipes—just be aware that it doesn't melt like sugar.

• Stevia: Derived from the stevia plant, this is sweeter than coconut sugar and works best for sweetening drinks and in baking.

There's no single best sugar alternative or sweetening option. Choose the one that best suits your needs and your preferences.

Related: Here’s Why You Should Try Rare Sugars as Your Sweetener Substitute

Summary

There's plenty of marketing hype for coconut sugar and other sweetening agents. While coconut sugar is less processed, has a lower glycemic index, and has a slightly better micronutrient profile than table sugar, that doesn't make it a "health food." Added sugar is still added sugar, and coconut sugar should still be used in moderation in your kitchen.

Read the original article on Verywell Health.