Coconut - The New Sweetener On The Market

It may look like brown sugar, it may have a caramel taste, and it may be used in similar ways as regular table sugar.  This new sweetener on the market has made big waves lately - and for good reason.  Coconut Palm Sugar is the new natural sweetener recently discovered to have the lowest glycemic index - even lower than agave or stevia which are both considered diabetic safe.  Dr. Oz just recently presented a segment introducing this new sugar - Doctor Oz - and there are several articles online, but all sharing the same information.  I have searched and the only negative feedback provided is from one website claiming that if we use all our coconuts for sweeteners then there won't be enough coconuts used for coconut oil - tropicaltraditions - which I'm sure is a very minimal concern.

I've made mention before the harms of sugar.  I've heard one physician call it the "root of all evil".  As much as I enjoy a good dessert, or a sweet snack every now and again . . . it is obvious how sugar has infiltrated our society and has caused havoc on our health.  The United States obesity levels continues to rise - even in the midst of a nation-wide concern and countless efforts to reverse it.  An article was just posted by the CDC stating that the daily intake of excess sugars has decreased but remains dangerously high - kids eating about 16% of their total calorie intake - Too much sugar -   It remains unstoppable.

Efforts have been made to create better options.  Unfortunately, a majority of these efforts have made issues worse.  Products such as sucrolose, aspartame, and high fructose corn syrup are not only just as dangerous as regular sugar, but can be even worse.  They are synthetic, refined, and cheap products.  Certainly they have provided a better option - not for consumers - but for companies who use them in their products for a fraction of the cost.  They promote health only to be a facade - a gimick - only in effort to profit off an uneducated health scared nation.

In promotion for natural sweeteners - some have rose above the rest.  Honey, agave, cane sugar, and stevia have created healthier options.  However, each one seems to have limits to their use and fall short either in taste or in practical use.  Honey and cane sugar are unrefined, natural products with some health benefits, but they are still a little high on the glycemic levels.  Agave and stevia have been classed as diabetic safe, but agave use is limited and stevia has lacked in taste.

But now there stands alone a sweetener above all - Coconut Palm Sugar.  Each site I've checked has listed the same health benefits, with no negative effects.  Here are their claims found at ibtimes.com

1. Coconut Palm Sugar is 100% organic, unrefined, and unbleached - Unlike regular sugar, Palm Sugar is natural and unrefined. Regular sugar comes from a natural source, but then is processed and refined becoming a nutrition-less, empty, foreign object to our body.  And in the process it become bleached giving that white color we know so well.  Palm Sugar is a brown color naturally - unprocessed and unbleached

2. It contains no preservatives - This may be the downfall when it comes to companies using natural sugars.  It contains no preservatives so it doesn't have a long storage life.  Refined products, or synthesized products like aspartame has a long storage life making it easier for companies to maintain and keep without worrying about it going bad - which also allows their products to have a longer shelf life - not good.

3. Palm Sugar has a very low glycemic index -  The glycemic index level measures how much your body is aware and reacts to certain levels of sugar in the body.  Having a low glycemic index - it is nearly undetectable in the body.  This is fantastic for diabetics who worry about their blood sugar levels. 

4. Palm Sugar has a slow energy release - I don't know how this happens, but it has been shown that Palm Sugar has a steady release that maintains throughout the day.  This is mainly due to the low glycemic index.  The body hardly detects the sugar levels and so it remains steady and low for longer periods.  With table sugar - the glycemic index is high in which the body reacts quickly to react to the glycemic levels.  Insulin is released to reduce the blood sugar levels and can last for hours afterward, turning high blood sugar into a quick low blood sugar level, thus creating those well known sugar crashes.  The result of table sugar are periods of highs and lows throughout the day, creating havoc on our physiology, cognition, and appetite.

5. Palm Sugar contains several beneficial vitamins - These days almost everything promotes being nutritionally beneficial, trying to get a sale.  You kind of have to take it with a grain of salt.  Cereals claim to be fortified with vitamins and minerals when in reality they have very little which have no real benefit. And just as I was typing this up, I just found an article stating that Splenda - an artificial sweetener using sucrolose - has come out with a new product called Splenda Essentials.  Just the name alone claims that Splenda is a necessary and vital product to sustain life which is quite false in of itself - but even more so - it now claims to be an essential form of vitamins, antioxidants and fiber - Yes, those vitamins and amino acids will come in handy when the sucrolose wipes out your digestive tract.  How essential is that -
I have tried to look into this for Palm Sugar but I have not yet found anything on how much nutritional value it truly contains and how beneficial it can be.  However, the claim is that it is richer in vitamins and minerals than any other commercial sweetener, containing zinc, iron, potassium, magnesium, B vitamins (B1, B2, B3, B6) and vitamin C.  However - one shouldn't look to sugars as a vitamin supplement - It's a little gimmicky - but that's what we got to deal with.

If the reports remain to be accurate - Coconut Palm Sugar may be the superhero we've all been waiting for to save as from the grasp of the evil sweeteners.  A product that is diabetic safe, has a sweet caramel taste, and comes in a crystallized form which can be used in similar fashion as regular sugar.  I believe sugar has finally met its match.  I don't like to promote things without trying it first, but this seems almost too good to be true.  I still plan on trying it - if I can find it - in which I will share.  But if the claims are accurate - there should be a complete shift in how we view and use sweeteners.  Not that we should consume it by the pound like we do with other sweeteners.  We still have a responsibility as consumers to know what we are putting into our body and make wise decisions. But maybe, once and for all, we have found a way to conquer this sugar crisis.