Coconut Sugar, the Alternative Sweetener for Healthier Life

Coconut Sugar, the Alternative Sweetener for Healthier Life

Speak as a Thai person in new age generation; something like coconut sugar is already out of date. The white sugar is more seen by eye in supermarket and TV advertising. I got to that know the benefits of coconut sugar from my good friend, Cristina, who is a health coach from Spain. Then start to make a research about it. And see what I got

                Coconut Sugar is a natural sugar made from sap, which is the sugary circulating fluid of the coconut plant. (It’s not made from coconuts as you might think.) The sap is boiled over moderate heat to evaporate most of its water content. The final product is coconut sugar, which is caramel-coloured and tastes similar to brown sugar.

 Why coconut sugar is way better than white sugar?

1.       Gives an aromatic sense of coconut to your food

With it caramel-colored after long process of stirring and boiling, it gives both the taste and the smell more aromatic.  As far as I know, aromatherapy is a holistic therapy which can be used to promote physical, mental and spiritual health equilibrium.  It is awakening the body’s innate ability to heal itself, leading to a state of balance.

2.       Healthier

Coconut sugar contains many minerals. It does offer more vitamins and minerals than white table sugar. It contains trace amounts of vitamin C, potassium, phosphorous, magnesium, calcium, zinc, iron and copper. Coconut sugar also provides small amounts of phytonutrients, such as polyphenols, flavonoids and anthocyanin, and antioxidants. You'll also find the B vitamin inositol, often used as a mood booster.

Moreover, according to the Philippine Food and Nutrition Research Institute, coconut sugar it contains a fiber called Inulin, which may slow glucose absorption. It has a lower glycemic index (35) than white sugar (60 to 65), meaning it doesn’t spike your blood glucose and insulin like table sugar does.

Glycemic index offers information about how foods affect blood sugar and insulin. The lower a food’s glycemic index or glycemic load, the less it affects blood sugar and insulin levels.

3.       Taste better

In almost every Thai dishes we put coconut palm sugar ;). So now you know the secret why Thai food is so delicious.

4.       It’s more natural, and less highly processed, than white sugar.

Your body is made by nature and has been developing such a perfect body system for a million year. So it is meant to consume only what is written in the DNA code has learnt to deal with. Not any artificial human made processed.

5.       Easy to find in the island and even cheaper!

Luckily, in Thailand, there are packages of coconut sugar everywhere in Thai fresh market! It’s kinda funny that I haven’t noticed it before. I usually got my coconut sugar at the fresh market in Thingsala, Koh Phangan. It is only 40 Thai Baht for a kg.

Pity for Thai new age generation, we try to follow the western world without awareness and forgot what is the ancient wisdom gives us from the nature, a long tradition that makes beautiful country with smiling people.

So if you agree, coconut sugar may be on your list for the next shopping.

Enjoy the island life,

With love and light,

Q