The Only Good Reason For Buying Coconut Sugar

Part Two

So you think I'm just another sugar basher, out to smear Coconut Sugar's reputation?

Well, you are particularly right. I did set out at one stage to disprove that this sugar had any benefits over it's common comparison, white (or table) sugar, I was however wrong but not in the way you might expect.

I won't buy coconut sugar on the grounds that it is a "healthy alternative to sugar" because it is so marginally true (*not true in my opinion but that's another debate) that the price simply does not warrant its purchase. The amount of times people have tried to tell me this stuff is healthy on me on the verge of a permanent eye twitch.

Both white sugar and coconut sugar have 16 calories and 4g per teaspoon.

While there is much hype about the vitamins and minerals in coconut sugar, the amounts are so minute, you would have to consume large quantities of coconut sugar for these 'benefits' to register in your system (The detrimental health effects from consuming such large amounts would far outweigh any small benefit received from these nutrients).

The low GI, another hot selling point, is also a questionable benefit. Coconut sugar gains it's low GI title by having a slightly lower fructose content than white sugar (again, a marginal 3-5% difference) and a very small amount of fibre. It is still almost 50% fructose which, as I mentioned in Part One of the Sugar Files (Sugar, friend or for), is metabolised only by the liver and has absolutely no effect on insulin release.

STRIKE ONE - no clear health benefits.

 I am sure some of you will gladly argue that point until you are blue in the face, please, do educate me.

Coconut palms are so plentiful and the harvest of the sap,  so easy and sustainable for coconut growers, makes me wonder why coconut sugar has to be so expensive.

Coconut palms produce 50-75% more sugar per acre than cane sugar, require far less agriculture and refining equipment (not to mention the upkeep costs of these) and yet, only 1% of the world's coconut palms are being tapped.

The majority of the world's coconut sugar production is currently produced in south and south-east Asian regions. A quick look at the price of coconut sugar production in the Philippines suggests the cost is less than $4.50aud per kilo, the retail markup, $5.80aud per kilo and here in Australia, almost $20aud per kilo!

Are we OK with this?

Yes, we can factor in shipping and packaging but we are still being severely ripped off by an industry driven by greed and misleading propaganda.

STRIKE TWO - Overpriced.

Surely you can't possibly deny that?

Still think I'm sugar bashing the coconut palm?

Ok, maybe a little but wait, there's more!

Coconut Sugar, has the single most sustainable and environmentally friendly sugar production on earth, Hands Down!

Coconut palms are capable of producing coconuts and coconut sugar, over and over again, up until an age of about 50 years.

So, whilst I see no clear evidence of health benefits and still maintain that the price is way to high to be justified, I can no longer be of the belief that coconut sugar is not the better sugar. On it's environmental impact alone, coconut sugar has got to be the best sugar money can buy (albeit, a lot of money).

The Sugar Files continue:
Part One - Sugar Friend or Foe
Part Three - Sugar isn't Sugar
Part Four - Rice Malt Syrup