Table of Contents[Hide][Show]
Coconut sugar is one of the primary sweeteners I use in my home for baking. Other common names include palm sugar, coconut palm sugar, and coconut syrup. The reason I love it is because it’s not only delicious but also healthy and sustainable for our planet.
Made from the sap of cut flower buds from the coconut palm, coconut sugar, and coconut nectar are a source of minerals, vitamin C, B vitamins, and some amino acids. Coconut sugar has been used as a traditional sweetener for thousands of years in South and South-East Asia.
How Does Coconut Sugar Compare with Cane Sugar?
Sweeteners derived from cane sugar can overly stress the pancreas as the glycemic index of these sweeteners is high compared with coconut sugar. Even maple syrup has a rather high glycemic index in comparison.
The glycemic index (GI) is the rate of how fast blood sugar levels rise after eating a particular type of food. A high GI means that the food is rapidly absorbed by the body, spiking the blood sugar causing the pancreas to release large amounts of insulin. A low GI indicates a food that is more slowly absorbed, thereby preventing that health-damaging insulin spike.
The glycemic index of a food can be reduced by eating healthy fats along with the sweetener of choice. Hence, traditional desserts such as cream and fruit, cookies made with butter, and flan (eggs, sugar, whole milk). However, for some with blood sugar issues, this is not enough to prevent problems with insulin.
Here is the glycemic index of many common sweeteners on the market (higher GI = higher blood sugar spike).
Stevia 0
Monk fruit 0
Yacon Syrup 1
Xylitol 7
Agave 15-30
Date Sugar and Syrup 20
Brown Rice Syrup (traditionally made) 25
Coconut Sugar/Nectar 30
Palm Jaggery 35
Raw Honey 35-58
Malted Barley 40
Sucanat 43
Organic Sugar 47
Maple Syrup 54
Blackstrap Molasses 54
Evaporated Cane Juice 55
Raw Sugar (Turbinado) 65
Corn Syrup 75
White Sugar 80
High Fructose Corn Syrup 87
Brown Rice Syrup (industrialized) 98
Glucose 100
Low GI vs High GI Sweeteners
After looking at this chart, you may be thinking, “Xylitol and agave have a very low glycemic index. Why not use those?”
The problem is that xylitol and agave nectar are both very highly processed. It’s not just the glycemic index that comes into play when selecting a sweetener, but how it is made that needs to also be considered.
What about stevia and brown rice syrup? Those are both good options, but practically speaking, they don’t work well for all baking situations.
Palm sugar is much more versatile and is easily substituted for cane sugar in baking recipes 1:1. Thus, I find it a practical as well as a healthy choice. It is sweet with no coconut flavor. Hence, there is no risk of drastically altering the flavor of a dish.
The ideal coconut sugar has been made using low temperature processing that involves evaporation of the sap from the coconut blossoms into crystals. Evaporation temperature is about 100F for an hour or two. As a result of this low temperature, enzymes remain intact.
Some coconut sugar manufacturers boil the nectar down to crystallize it, so check labels carefully or contact the manufacturer first if you desire raw coconut sugar.
Of course, moderation is key as with the use of all natural sweeteners – even coconut sugar. No more than 3 TBL per day (or 5% of total calories) or even a natural sweetener is a good rule of thumb.
Why Coconut Sugar is Good for the Environment
Unfortunately, misinformation about the sustainability of coconut and palm sugar has been making the rounds on the internet to the massive detriment of those earnestly seeking healthier sweeteners.
The article primarily responsible for promoting the notion that coconut sugar is unsustainable insists that coconut trees cannot produce both coconut palm sugar (derived from the nectar of the coconut blossom) and coconuts simultaneously. Moreover, the article states that the increasing popularity of palm sugar will cause the price of products like coconut oil, coconut flour, and shredded coconut to skyrocket because low-income coconut tree farmers will choose to use their trees to produce coconut sugar instead of mature coconuts.
Only the rich able to afford healthy and beneficial fats from coconuts because a growing number of consumers enjoy and use coconut sugar and coconut nectar?
Hardly!
Coconut Tree Tapping: The Reality vs the Hype
There are numerous, reputable sources that insist that the negative press about coconut sugar has completely missed the mark. Tapping a coconut tree for its sap is a century-old tradition. It does not harm the tree or impact the tree’s ability to produce coconuts.
Coconut palm trees are in high abundance throughout the world, most of which are not even being used for either sap or coconuts! They are a sustainable resource ready and available to be used!
There is no evidence that sap production is overtaking or even threatening coconut production. Coconut oil exports are booming from the Philippines, a top coconut oil exporter. Shipments for the first seven months of 2010 surpassed those for the entire 12 months in 2009. A slump in exports due to bad weather in 2011 (not rising coconut palm sugar sales) was followed by an expected rebound in 2012 of 12.3% for coconut oil and 21% for copra (dried coconut meat).
World Bank: Coconut Palm Sugar IS Sustainable
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the World Bank reports that coconut palm sweeteners are the single most sustainable sweetener in the world!
The reason is that coconut palms are a tree crop which benefits the environment ecologically. Their cultivation restores damaged soil requiring very little water in the process. In addition, coconut palms produce more sugar per acre than sugar cane (50-75% more). At the same time, they use less than 20% of the soil nutrients and water for that high level of production.
Besides the World Bank, the Philippines at the Davao Research Center demonstrated that it is possible to produce sap for making coconut palm sugar as well as coconuts from the same tree. All that needs to be done is to tap the coconut sap in the first half of the coconut blossoms. Then, allow the remaining half of the blossoms to develop into mature, 12-month coconuts. This method for tapping both sap and coconuts from the same tree yields 5-7 times higher productivity than traditional methods.
Trees Tapped for Palm Sugar Live a Long Time
Moreover, once a coconut tree is tapped, sap continues to flow for the next 2 decades or so. This is highly sustainable and obviously supportive of the tree itself else it would die.
The fact is that coconut oil and coconut sugar are both Traditional Foods. It isn’t a choice of one over the other as they have completely different purposes in the kitchen. Both are used and enjoyed in my home and there isn’t any reason why both shouldn’t be in yours too.
Learn More About Healthy Sweeteners
If you are seeking coconut sugar that is raw and also sustainable, click here for the brand I use in my home and feel very good about.
If you wish to learn more about healthy sweeteners, check out the linked article for an in depth video discussing the alternatives.
Sources
University of Sydney Glycemic Index Database
High Fructose Cane Syrup and Sugar
Coconut Palm Sugar Sustainability
The Many Shades of Palm Oil
FAO: Towards a more diversified and sustainable agriculture
Setting the Record Straight: Coconut Sap vs Oil Production
Coconut oil exports soar
More Information
Agave Nectar Alternative
Avoid the Sugar Alcohols to Protect Gut Health
@Mikanuk Larry Adams, @Debra Bell
good to know. i have prediabetes and haven’t found a good baking sugar to use as a replacement.
Sherri Cates
“Sustainable” is the main code word for the UN’s Agenda 21. Look it up.
Just because they’ve co-opted a word, doesn’t mean it’s a “bad” word in all cases.
I have an open bag in my cupboard right now 🙂
I’m in the process of making the switch to coconut sugar and have been pleased to find it (same brand as you buy) readily available at my local grocery. However I have a hard time getting it to dissolve in things like whipped cream. Any suggestions?
I’ve not tried it with whipped cream. If it doesn’t work well there, then try another healthy sweetener. I like Grade B maple syrup for whipped cream.
Try putting it in your blender or food processor and blending it to become a little finer–just slightly coarser than powdered sugar. That should help. I use coconut sugar all the time in my baking and have found that to help.
To dissolve more readily, how about grinding it into a finer texture first using a coffee grinder?
Traci and I must’ve been typing at the exact same time.
Traci and I must’ve been typing at the exact same time!
Very keen to try Coconut Sugar! Does it dissolve like ordinary sugar?
Yes, I use it in homemade pudding and it dissolves very well.
https://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/video-no-box-vanilla-pudding/
Thanks for writing this, Sarah. As someone who emailed you the tropical traditions link, it’s great to know that coconut sugar is a sustainable practice. Thank you so much.
Hello Sarah,
Do you know if coconut sugar would work for making water kefir and kombucha?
I enjoy so much reading your blog! Thank you for all the helpful information. 🙂
I’ve never tried it. I use organic cane sugar and it works very well. Almost all the sugar is used up in the fermentation, so go with what works for you here.
I’ve used it for water kefir to great success, but I’ve learned to switch up sweeteners and fruit for kefir grains every now and then or the grains will get deprived of some mineral or other. Using coconut sugar for kombucha, however, DID NOT work at all! My finished kombucha smelled like, and quite frankly tasted like, puke. This was the only batch of kombucha I have ever had go bad, and thankfully I had some backup SCOBYS in the fridge so I’m still making tasty reqular kombucha with organic white sugar. 🙂
Does the 3 tablespoons of sugar a day include fruit sugar? If so how are you supposed to measure it?
Yes, that is sugar from ALL sources per day including fruit. The vast majority of people go WAY over that. You will have to look up how much fructose is in a serving of the fruit you are eating and estimate that way.
Sarah