The effects of fructose and corn syrup are becoming more and more obvious, so people are turning to natural alternatives.
Coconut sugar is one of the natural sugars used by many people over the years.
This type of sugar is derived from coconut palm trees. It is advertised as more nutritious and has a lower blood sugar index than sugar.
In fact, there are many online discussions about this sweet substance.
What Is Sugar Sugar And How Are They Made?
Coconut sugar is also called coconut palm sugar. It is a natural sugar made from sap, a liquid with sugar circulating in coconut trees. Coconut sugar is often confused with palm sugar - a type of sugar also made from palm tree plastic.
Coconut sugar is followed the two-step process as follows:
- Use a knife to pick up the coconut flower, plastic flows out and is collected into the container
- The plastic is heated until the water evaporates. And the last remaining product is coconut sugar.
Does Coconut Sugar Have More Nutrition Than Regular Sugar?
According to studies, normal sugar, fructose corn syrup does not contain any important nutrients and therefore provides "empty" calories.
However, coconut sugar does not retain many of the nutrients found in coconut. Although there is not much data about this, but according to the Philippine Ministry of Agriculture, coconut sugar contains many nutrients.
Coconut sugar is rich in minerals such as zinc, calcium, potassium, some short-chain fatty acids, polyphenols and antioxidants. These nutrients more or less give you some positive health benefits.
Besides, coconut sugar contains a fiber called inulin. This fiber slows the absorption of glucose, and that's why coconut sugar has a lower blood sugar index than regular sugar.
I want to point out that, although coconut sugar contains some nutrients, you will get more from other healthy foods.
Coconut sugar also contains 0 calories like normal sugar, so you have to eat very large amounts to meet the needs of the body's nutrients.
Coconut Sugar Has a Low Blood Sugar Index
The glycemic index (GI) is a measure of how fast a food makes blood sugar rise. Glucose has a blood sugar index of 100. And if a food has a GI50, it means it will increase blood sugar by half the glucose level.
The Philippine Department of Agriculture compares the glycemic index of coconut sugar and glucose.
According to them, coconut sugar has a GI index of 35, this index is on the lower floor. And it is only lower than the index of normal sugar.
What Is The Problem If We Still Consume Fructose?
Regular eating sugar is not too bad for you. Sugar has empty calories, and it has a higher GI index than other foods, but this doesn't say anything.
The main reason for unhealthy sugars is that it contains fructose. Regular sugar containing sucrose contains 50% fructose and 50% glucose.
Although the websites advertise, coconut sugar does not contain fructose. In fact, it is made of 70-80% sucrose, in which fructose makes up half of it.
For this reason, coconut sugar provides nearly as much fructose as regular sugar.
Excessive sugar consumption will lead to a range of problems such as metabolic syndrome, obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases, blood pressure, etc.
I myself have not seen why I should choose coconut sugar instead of regular sugar, while they also have many similarities.
Summary:
It can be said coconut sugar is not a strange food.
Coconut sugar is very similar to ordinary sugar, although its production process is more natural and in it also contains a small amount of nutrients.
So if you use coconut sugar, you should only use a small amount, and should not be used regularly every day. Although coconut sugar seems a bit better than regular sugar, using it regularly is an unwise decision for your health.
I personally evaluated coconut sugar like honey. It is healthier than refined sugar, but certainly not the best sugar we need.
