Coconut Sugar
Also known as: Coconut palm sugar
Evaporated coconut palm sap. Similar to sucrose with a softer GI and trace inulin.
At a glance
How Coconut Sugar compares to table sugar on the three numbers most people actually want.
What it actually is
Coconut sugar is the boiled, granulated sap of coconut palm flowers. It is 70–80% sucrose with smaller amounts of glucose and fructose, plus 2–9% inulin — the soluble fibre that probably accounts for the lower GI you see in lab tests.
It contains trace iron, zinc, calcium and potassium, but in amounts you would have to eat clinically meaningful sugar to obtain. Treat the micronutrients as garnish.
From a metabolic perspective, coconut sugar is roughly equivalent to sucrose. The lower GI is real but small. The flavour is rich and caramel-leaning, which is its main practical advantage.
- Lower GI than sucrose (~35 vs 65)
- Caramel-leaning flavour
- Trace inulin fibre
- Still 70–80% sucrose
- Premium price for marginal metabolic benefit
- Sustainability claims often overstated
Regulatory status
In practice
- 1:1 sugar swap in baking where caramel notes welcome
- Diabetic on tight control
- Keto
'Paleo' baked goods, granolas, raw bars
The evidence
Selected peer-reviewed sources behind the score. Open access where possible. Read our scoring methodology for how we weight evidence tiers.
Recommended swaps
Higher-scoring alternatives that perform similarly in use.