Coconut Palm Sugar – energy boost without the crash!

ingredients

May 29

Written By Megan Matthews and Patricia Schroeck, Sweets You Can Eat

No secret we have a major sweet tooth. We crave yummy treats and can’t live without dessert. But how do you create those desserts and still avoid refined white sugar?

The answer is to make friends with wholefoods like coconut palm sugar, sweet potatoes, bananas and dates.

Here’s the low-down on Coconut Palm Sugar:

It tastes very similar to refined cane sugar but has a rich brown color and warm caramel flavor. And no, despite its name, it’s not made from the coconut itself. In fact, it doesn’t taste like coconut at all. This sugar has been harvested from the nectar of the coconut palm tree flower for centuries.

The sweet nectar is tapped from the flowers and dried in large, open kettle drums. Depending on how high the heat during the drying process gets, the palm sugar can be considered “raw” (cooked below 118ºF). If the nectar is heated to higher levels it will always be “all natural and unrefined.”

A big plus is that coconut sugar production uses much less resources (land, water) than cane sugar and is considered one of the most sustainable sweeteners in the world.

One of the main health benefits of Coconut Palm Sugar is its lower glycemic index (GI) of 35 compared to cane sugar (GI 58-75). This is good news if you want to avoid spikes in blood sugars which have so many known negative health effects - not just for diabetics.

Coconut Palm Sugar contains inositol (Vitamin B8) which helps insulin sensitivity, high cholesterol, inflammation and depression. It also contains inulin which acts as a pre-biotic – meaning it helps feed your healthy gut bacteria. Inulin, as a dietary fiber, helps manage blood sugars and lipid levels.

Coconut Palm Sugar contains 78% carbs with 22% nutrients (amino-acids, B-vitamins and minerals - iron, zinc and calcium), antioxidants and fiber. Compare this to cane sugar with 100% “empty carbs!”

In Megan’s baking recipes we always combine Coconut Palm Sugar with healthy fats and proteins to further avoid spikes in blood sugars and to give long-lasting energy.