Indonesians generally love sweets, how could we not? This food ingredient certainly offers a rich, sweet taste that can be enjoyed by children and adults alike. However, its high glyemic content can pose health risks and lead to diabetes, a disease that has already taken many lives.
Therefore, natural sweetener alternatives like organic coconut sugar are now growing in popularity. Nevertheless, organic coconut sugar is often confused with brown sugar, even though the two are different products, although they are made from the same base, coconut sap.
Organic coconut sugar is made from coconut sap and contains no processed white sugar at all. It has a hard texture and a brownish color, in contrast to granulated sugar, which has a sand-like texture. Naturally, these two sweeteners have different components. So let’s take a look at the differences in their content below!
Glyemic Content
Organic coconut sugar has a low glyemic index only 35 GI. It’s a fairly low number, making this natural sweetener a reasonably safe option for people with diabetes, who are allowed to consume only tiny amounts of sugar each day.
Unfortunately, this is different from granulated sugar, which has a glyemic index of 60–65. That’s why granulated sugar is not a safe option for people with diabetes.
Nutritional Content
This natural sweetener contains more nutrients than granulated sugar. Some of these nutrients are extremely important for maintaining a strong immune system and strengthening the body. The nutrients present in organic coconut sugar include zinc, iron, potassium, magnesium, calcium, and vitamin C. An interesting fact is that the potassium content in organic coconut sugar is much higher more than 400 times than in granulated sugar.
Granulated sugar, on the other hand, contains nothing but empty calories. Eating large amounts of it can add body fat and contribute to health problems, such as obesity.
Antioxidant Preservation
Organic coconut sugar is produced 100% naturally and is not mixed with chemicals or animal products. This means the antioxidants present in the sugar remain preserved.
This is different from granulated sugar, which has gone through a chemically intensive process and therefore no longer contains antioxidants.
Fructose Levels
The refined granulated sugar has a fairly high fructose content. Eating a large amount of fructose can cause excess fat to accumulate in the body, contributing to significant weight gain. Naturally, this can affect health if you frequently consume it.
The good news is that coconut sugar does not have a high fructose content. Although it still contains some, consuming it in reasonable amounts means you do not need to worry about excess fat.
So those are some of the key differences in content between organic coconut sugar and granulated sugar. Essentially, coconut sugar is still a form of “sugar” consuming it in excess can have the same health risks — but it’s certainly a better alternative if you want to live a healthier lifestyle.
