Coconut Sugar vs. Table Sugar: Is One Really Healthier Than The Other?

Despite its name, coconut sugar won't quite make any of your baked goods taste like a piña colada—it comes from coconut tree flower buds rather than the meat itself. "Coconut sugar is a natural sugar made from coconut palm sap," dietitian-nutritionist Dana K. Monsees, M.S., CNS, LDN, previously told mbg. "It's also referred to as coconut palm sugar or coconut palm sap in liquid form." The taste is more similar to brown sugar and resembles raw sugar, with a brown tint and smaller granules. 

Coconut sugar is less processed than table sugar: The sap is dried and packaged without any additional processing and thus retains more nutrients like iron, zinc, and magnesium along with other polyphenols, explains Catherine Perez, R.D., founder of Plant Based R.D.

That said, Shanthi Appelö, R.D., says, "It's not a health food and shouldn't be consumed in excess."

Perez says coconut contains small amounts of inulin, a prebiotic, soluble fiber, which digests slowly and is beneficial for gut health. Since it slows digestion, this fiber can also help maintain blood sugar balance.

As such, "Coconut sugar is lower on the glycemic index (GI) than cane sugar or even maple sugar," New York City–based holistic nurse practitioner Victoria Albina, N.P., MPH previously shared with mbg.

A 100-gram serving of coconut sugar provides 875 milligrams of the heart-healthy mineral potassium and 375 milligrams of calcium, which is essential for bone health.

Our personal health is tied to planetary health, so that's something to consider when it comes to making nutrition decisions. "Another benefit to coconut sugar is that it is a more environmentally sustainable choice than palm sugar or cane sugar," says Albina.

Coconut sugar may be used as a one-to-one sugar substitute in recipes from baked goods to sauces and syrups to coffee. From a taste perspective, Perez says coconut sugar has a mellow caramel-like flavor to it, which may cause desserts to taste different compared to using other sugars. 

Cooking with coconut sugar tends to get a little more complicated from a texture standpoint: "The science of baking can be tricky, so it's important to keep in mind that coconut sugar doesn't have the same chemical makeup as table sugar and may not form the same type of structure," says Appelö, adding that coconut sugar tends to do well in recipes that have a considerable amount of liquids and fat.

It's worth noting that coconut sugar can't handle temperatures as high as cane or brown sugar. Appelö recommends avoiding temperatures over 280 degrees Fahrenheit to avoid burning.

Because palm sugar often goes by the name coconut palm sugar, the two are easy to confuse, but the sweeteners couldn't be more different. The two sugars come from different plants and have different harvesting methods (palm sugar is derived from boiling sap from palm flowers until it's reduced to sugar granules, but it's also sold as a paste). While both palm sugar and coconut sugar have notes of caramel, some describe palm sugar as having smoky overtones. 

When opting for coconut sugar, be sure to read labels carefully, says Appelö. "It's worth noting that labels and packaging can be misleading when deciphering between the two, so it's best to read the ingredient list to be sure coconut sugar is what you're getting," she says. "In fact, many companies mix in cane and other types of sugar for cost savings while still labeling the product as coconut sugar."

According to Jessica Cording, M.S., R.D., CDN, registered dietitian and author of The Little Book of Game-Changers, both coconut sugar and monk fruit are typically used as sucrose or table sugar replacements, though monk fruit has a bit more of an aftertaste akin to stevia. Because monk fruit tends to dissolve a bit better than coconut sugar, she says it's also a great option for beverages (note, however, that both coconut sugar and monk fruit dissolve well in hot water). Since monk fruit is much sweeter than coconut sugar, a tiny pinch goes a long way.

Unlike coconut sugar, which has a slight GI impact thanks to its prebiotic fiber content, Cording says monk fruit is a non-nutritive or non-caloric sweetener that won't have any impact on your blood sugar. Monk fruit does have small amounts of antioxidant properties.

If you're looking for another sugar alternative with some extra nutrients, date sugar is a noteworthy option.

Instead of coming from the palm tree itself, date sugar is made from the fruit of the date tree, which is ground up and dried into sugar, explains Perez. As a result, all the fiber, vitamin, mineral, and antioxidant content we know and love about dates remain intact, like vitamin A, vitamin B complex, iron, and zinc. While its fiber content associated with slower blood sugar absorption is a plus, Perez says, you would need to consume large quantities of date sugar to achieve any significant nutrient benefits. 

Coconut sugar nectar has a texture similar to honey, according to Appelö, so they're quite interchangeable in recipes. If you're going the granulated coconut sugar route, she recommends using a quarter cup for every cup of honey and adding some liquid elements to the recipe. Taste-wise, she says many honeys offer floral notes, while coconut sugar provides notes of caramel. 

Comparing coconut sugar to agave is a bit of an apples-to-oranges situation: Agave is much higher in fructose compared to coconut sugar, says Perez.

After stacking coconut sugar against traditional table sugar, it certainly seems to come out on top. It gets points for having more nutrients, the highest fiber content, better versatility in recipes, and the lowest glycemic index compared to other options.

That said, if you're looking for a top-notch natural sweetener, we would recommend opting for the blood-sugar-friendly monk fruit as an alternative option.