These days, everyone is looking for sugar alternatives. If you know me, you know I prefer to get my sugar from nutritive sweetener – meaning calorie-containing. Why? Well, I want to make sure I’m giving my body the calories it perceives to be taking in to fulfill the food rewards pathway (1, 2). That way I have a lower risk of overeating later. Check out some information here about artificial sweeteners and sugar alternatives to learn more.
In this post, I’ll talk about two sources of nutritive, or calorie-containing, sweeteners. Let’s explore if one is better than the other.
What is regular or white sugar
Sugar in its white, processed form has a few different, yet similar, names. White sugar, table sugar, processed sugar, regular sugar, and granulated sugar are all popular names. This is one of the most widely recognizable, and utilized sugars. It’s made from either beet sugar or cane sugar. In order to get it into its granulated form, sugar goes through a refining process.
At a sugar mill, beet or cane sugar stalks are washed, shredded, and rolled to squeeze the juice out. It then goes through a crystalizing, spinning, and purification process. Read more about how sugar is made from The Sugar Association.
What is coconut sugar
Coconut sugar, or coconut palm sugar, is a sugar that is brown in colour, similar to regular old brown sugar, made from the sap of the coconut palm tree. It’s made by heating the sap until the water has evaporated, and you’re left with coconut sugar crystals. Read more about how coconut sugar is made from The Coconut Company.
Because of this manufacturing process, coconut sugar will retain some vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients. Whereas the manufacturing process for white sugar strips all of the nutrition away (except for the calories! those stay).
While both sugars are still processed, the coconut sugar definitely goes through many less steps than white sugar.
How is sugar absorbed in the body?
At the risk of over generalizing: Sugars are carbohydrates. And carbohydrates are absorbed in the small intestine (3). While all sugars are absorbed in the small intestine, there are small discrepancies as to what type of sugar is absorbed in what way (4). But that’s a topic for a different day.
White sugar contains roughly 50% sucrose and 50% fructose. Coconut sugar has a higher percentage of sucrose, around 75%, and a miniscule amount of fructose.
Sucrose* must first be broken down to be absorbed into glucose and fructose. Now, fructose has been shown to raise blood sugar levels more gradually (5). HOWEVER, glucose can help fructose be absorbed better (6), in turn contributing to potentially higher blood sugar levels.
*Sucrose is a disaccharide which is made up of 2 monosaccharides: glucose and fructose
Since white sugar AND coconut sugar BOTH have SUCROSE, they will both in turn have fructose.
In a healthy person looking to enjoy their food, this isn’t a problem. But for those who are watching their sugar intake and blood sugar levels, this may be imperative information.
Is one better than the other?
IMO, and for my personal use, no. The amount of coconut sugar you would have to eat to benefit from any of the nutritional properties would be insanely high, and would contribute to multiple adverse health conditions (like metabolic syndrome, obesity, diabetes mellitus, hypertriglyceridemia, etc) since you would be consuming so much sugar (7).
My advice as a registered dietitian is to treat it the same as white sugar – take it in moderation.
Health
Coconut sugar has been reported to be lower on the glycemic index (yay!). Which means, it may not raise blood sugar as much after absorption (8). The same research paper also demonstrated that coconut sugar had higher vitamin, mineral, and antioxidants than white sugar (8). I say; well of course! White sugar has almost no nutritional value so anything that is compared to it will likely come out on top.
Coconut sugar also contains a fibre called inulin, which has been shown to reduce glucose absorption (9, 10).
Now, I looked extensively at research databases and food databases, and finding information on coconut sugar specifically is not easy. Very few studies have been done analyzing it and its purported health benefits. A lot more research needs to be done.
Nutrition Information
White Sugar (1 tsp)
Calories: 16 kcal
Calcium: 0.04 mg
Potassium: 0.08 mg
Sodium: 0.04 mg
Taken from the USDA Food Database
—————————————————————————————–
Coconut Sugar (1 tsp)
USDA Food Database – please note that each brand had different amounts, if any, of the vitamins/minerals
Calories: 15 kcal
Calcium: 8 mg
Potassium: 30 mg
Iron, sodium: 0
Calories: 15 kcal
Calcium, potassium, sodium: 0
Calories: 10 kcal
Calcium, iron, potassium: 0
Calories: 15 kcal
Calcium, potassium, iron: 0
I had a difficult time finding reputable sources for nutrition information for coconut sugar. Many blogs and webpages had no citation at all, so I didn’t know where this nutrient information they were displaying came from. Based on what I’ve found, the vitamin and mineral content in white sugar vs coconut sugar is not superior to the other. It is possible that coconut sugar does indeed have vitamins and minerals, but not enough in order to place it on the back of a nutrition label. Or, that 1 teaspoon does not contain enough vitamins or minerals to have on the back of a label. More information is needed.
Taste
Since coconut sugar has a different chemical makeup than white sugar, the taste will be slightly different (caramel-esque), and may have to be used differently in recipes and baking.
Bottom Line
Treat both sugars equally, you will have an increased blood sugar response no matter what. It’s possible coconut sugar may not have as intense of a response.
Both can be enjoyed in moderation as part of a healthy diet.
If you’re interested in the least processed type, go for coconut sugar.
References:
- Yang, Qing. “Gain weight by “going diet?” Artificial sweeteners and the neurobiology of sugar cravings: Neuroscience 2010.” The Yale journal of biology and medicine 83.2 (2010): 101.
- Smeets, Paul AM, et al. “Functional magnetic resonance imaging of human hypothalamic responses to sweet taste and calories.” The American journal of clinical nutrition 82.5 (2005): 1011-1016.
- Chen, Lihong, Biguang Tuo, and Hui Dong. “Regulation of intestinal glucose absorption by ion channels and transporters.” Nutrients 8.1 (2016): 43.
- Drozdowski, Laurie A., and Alan BR Thomson. “Intestinal sugar transport.” World journal of gastroenterology: WJG 12.11 (2006): 1657.
- Lee, B. M., and T. M. S. Woleve. “Effect of glucose, sucrose and fructose on plasma glucose and insulin responses in normal humans: comparison with white bread.” European journal of clinical nutrition 52.12 (1998): 924-928.
- Laughlin, Maren R. “Normal roles for dietary fructose in carbohydrate metabolism.” Nutrients 6.8 (2014): 3117-3129.
- Stanhope, Kimber L. “Sugar consumption, metabolic disease and obesity: The state of the controversy.” Critical reviews in clinical laboratory sciences 53.1 (2016): 52-67.
- Asghar, Muhammad Tuseef, et al. “Coconut (Cocos nucifera L.) sap as a potential source of sugar: Antioxidant and nutritional properties.” Food science & nutrition 8.4 (2020): 1777-1787.
- Kim, Meehye, and Hyun Kyung Shin. “The water-soluble extract of chicory reduces glucose uptake from the perfused jejunum in rats.” The Journal of nutrition 126.9 (1996): 2236-2242.
Jackson, Kim G., et al. “The effect of the daily intake of inulin on fasting lipid, insulin and glucose concentrations in middle-aged men and women.” British Journal of Nutrition 82.1 (1999): 23-30.
Hi! I could have sworn I’ve been to this site before but after going through many of the posts I realized it’s new to me. Anyhow, I’m definitely delighted I discovered it and I’ll be book-marking it and checking back often!