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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
Good to know, i was just starting to feel awful about it. Ethical dilemma be gone! Yay!
Jocelyn, did you notice that the beginning and ending to the last paragraph totally contradicts itself?
It actually isn’t a contradiction. In the beginning TT is explaining the economical impacts for the production of Palm sugar. The Philippines depend heavily on coconut oil as a food source and for bio-diesel production. This would be the same in the U.S. if large diesel companies started utilizing more crude oil resources for the creation of diesel fuel instead of gasoline. Prices for reg. gas would skyrocket due to supply and demand. Asian markets mass harvest palms for many things and there have been many studies to show the environmental effects from their practices. If you are referring to the part of the paragraph where TT recommends ensuring the palm sugar they purchase is certified organic from a third party located on the Philippines or similar, this would be due to the globally known fact that the USDA and FDA are supporting corporate deceptive practices and hiding facts from US consumers. There is a much stricter international certification system in place than that which comes from the U.S. Which is why many products from the U.S. are imported by other countries.
I just messaged Tropical Traditions a link to your article and this is their response: Hi Jocelyn,
Thank you for your message. Our stance on coconut sugar has not changed and Tropical Traditions does not currently sell coconut palm sugar. Many people do not realize that the harvest of coconut palm sugar is not a sustainable practice when the sugar is made from the sap of the coconut flower, since cutting off the coconut flower prevents the formation of more coconuts. By sacrificing the coconut flower that would normally become a coconut, one is sacrificing coconut products in favor of the sap/sugar.
Coconut trees in the Philippines have been on the decline for decades, and the coconut oil from coconuts is also now valued as a fuel source in bio-diesel production, resulting in less coconut oil availability as a food source each year. The increase in demand for coconut palm sugar could further result in fewer coconut products, including coconut oil, being available as a food source in the future if the proper methods are not used for making the sugar from the sap of the tree. Current palm sugar production often comes from older coconut trees that are beyond their prime and no longer able to effectively produce coconuts and fertilizers are commonly used to increase the sugar production. If you do purchase coconut palm sugar, be sure it is certified organic by a reputable third party organization, preferably from the Philippines where coconut production is sustainable and natural, with small-scale family farmers providing the vast majority of coconut products. Other places in Asia may practice large-scale plantation harvesting that can result in destruction of natural habitat and environmental pollution. To read more, please visit this page: http://www.tropicaltraditions.com/coconut_palm_sugar.htm
Have a great evening!
Thanks for sharing this, Jocelyn. It seems the key is to make sure it’s sourced from the Phillipines and certified organic.
Thanks for clearing that up. I was wondering?
What about Ramiel Nagel’s position that it should be avoided?
Why would Tropical Traditions be spreading this misinformation or be do misinformed? They are a major coconut product retailer.
Tanesha Smikle
Sarah, it is unsustainable in the sense that it is not native to North America. It is being shipped here from thousands of miles away and thus has a huge carbon footprint. I think we need to be caution about using so many coconut products. Maple syrup is a more local sweetener than coconut sugar.
I had never heard of this before! What is this world coming to? This is freakin” scary. With Agenda 21 and Monsanto?
Has anyone made a syrup with this? I have two bags in my pantry and would love to make a syrup to add to my iced coffee recipe. I am thinking about making the sweetened condensed milk Sarah has posted on the blog but if I can do it without buying coconut milk that’d be the easiest.
I’ve made a syrup out of coconut sugar for over two years. I use it in recipes calling for a liquid sweetener.
2 1/4 c. coconut sugar
3/4 c. water
Bring to boil over medium heat, stirring to dissolve sugar.
Stop stirring and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 3 minutes.
This makes enough to fill a one-pint glass mason jar, which I then store in the fridge.