Because coconut sugar is a plant-based, natural sweetener, some people feel it is more nutritious than regular table sugar. In reality, coconut sugar is almost identical to regular cane sugar in terms of nutrients and calories.
Talking about sugar being good for health, then natural sugar or stevia is the best. They have many health benefits to offer apart from weight loss. It has all the essential nutrients, vitamins, and minerals that are essential for your body. While stevia is also known to be the best sugar for weight loss.
How to Use Coconut Sugar in Recipes. In general, coconut sugar can replace white sugar using a 1:1 ratio in most recipes, says Roszkowski. However, she recommends grinding coconut sugar into smaller granules using a food processor or blender first.
It is lower on the glycemic index than table sugar. Cons: It is still a high-calorie sweetener high in fructose. It is easier and healthier to get the nutrients in coconut sugar from whole foods like fruits and veggies.
Coconut sugar contains healthy fats that are known to help prevent high cholesterol and heart disease. Inulin is a type of dietary fiber that helps keep your gut healthy, prevent colon cancer, and balance your blood sugar. While standard table sugar is pure sucrose, coconut sugar only contains about 75 percent sucrose.
Potential Risks of Coconut Sugar
While coconut sugar contains very small amounts of minerals, antioxidants, and fiber, it is still high in calories. You would need to ingest so much coconut sugar for your body to use these nutrients that the calorie count would likely outweigh any nutritional benefit.
Coconut sugar has the same number of calories as other sugar, refined or not. Use it if you like the taste or if it works in your recipe, but treat it in the same way as any other sugar and use it sparingly.
Coconut sugar is high in fructose and calories
Much like table sugar, the high levels of fructose in coconut sugar can also cause many harmful side effects, including an increased risk of metabolic syndrome, heart disease, obesity, and diabetes, per Healthline.
Coconut sugar also contains a type of dietary fibre called inulin, which is beneficial to gut health.
Coconut sugar is a plant-based, anti-inflammatory sweetener, that has a low-glycemic index, meaning our bodies absorb the sugars at a slower rate.
In terms of coconut as a sugar substitute, coconut palm sugar has a low glycemic index, but the American Diabetes Association notes that you should treat it the same as regular sugar because it contains the same amount of calories and carbs.
Coconut sugar and brown sugar are very similar nutritionally, with slight differences in calorie numbers and carbohydrates. However, coconut sugar could be seen as the healthier option because it has a significantly lower GI than brown sugar.
Moreover, processed, high fructose corn syrup may be the worst type of sugar a person can consume. Some medical experts relate sugar to cocaine in the way it has addictive effects on the brain in humans and in animals and this notion is supported by research.
Free sugars are found in foods such as sweets, cakes, biscuits, chocolate, and some fizzy drinks and juice drinks. These are the sugary foods we should cut down on. For example, a can of cola can have as much as 9 cubes of sugar – more than the recommended daily limit for adults.
Coconut sugar contains about 375 calories per 100 grams, while stevia is virtually calorie-free. This makes stevia a great option for people who are trying to lose weight or maintain a healthy weight.
Coconut sugar shouldn't make you bloated, however, it can cause adverse effects if eaten to excess. This is because coconut sugar contains inulin, which is highly fermentable in the gut and can cause issues with gas and bloating if over-consumed.
Organic Coconut sugar is a premium natural sweetener devoid of added chemicals/additives. It is unbleached and contains no preservatives. Coconut Sugar, also sometimes referred to as palm sugar, is produced by evaporating the sap derived from the flowers of coconut trees.
Coconut sugar has no nutritional value, whereas honey has more calories and carbohydrates than coconut sugar. If you want to meet your body's nutritional needs, it's probably best to avoid consuming coconut sugar in the first place.
In a pinch, if you have no other sugar alternatives available, even granulated sugar will work as a replacement for coconut sugar. In general, you can use light brown sugar, dark brown sugar, and granulated sugar in equal amounts as coconut sugar.
Maple syrup is a moderate glycemic food at 54, higher than coconut sugar. ¹³ Coconut sugar would be a better choice due to its lower glycemic index and similar mineral content.
Is Coconut Sugar Keto Friendly? No, coconut sugar is not keto. Even though it's natural, coconut sugar carbs are too high to reasonably incorporate into a low carb lifestyle.
The inulin in coconut sugar is known to slow glucose absorption, making it an excellent choice as a clean-eating sweetener. It's unrefined but has the granular texture of refined sugar and that makes it super simple to measure when using it in a recipe.