Sugar — and all its evils — is a hot topic these days, so chances are it’s already on your mind. On average, Americans consume about 77 pounds of added sugar per year, close to four times the amount recommended by the World Health Organization — an excess that puts many at increased risk of obesity, metabolic disorders, cancer and a slew of other health problems.
The worst part? Added sugar is generally of the refined variety, meaning it offers only “empty” calories — ones that aren’t accompanied by health-promoting nutrients. You’re getting excess energy that your body will store as fat, without a single benefit to make up for it. Bummer.
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But thanks to some recent shifts in thinking, there’s an effort underway to seek out sensible alternatives to the conventional refined white stuff. It’s become clear that our way of life is no longer sustainable in terms of our health nor the environment, so we’re beginning to cast our eyes on the habits of our ancestors, who thousands of years ago didn’t face the same chronic illnesses that we do today.
Returning to a diet that’s wholesome, close to the earth, nutritious and healthy, luckily, is well within reach. There are two things you can do right this second to say goodbye to those dangerous empty calories forever—and still enjoy a little sweetness in your life: First, give up processed foods that contain added sugar. Now, consider coconut palm sugar.
Why coco sugar?
It actually offers nutrients. Coconut sugar is a rich source of potassium, magnesium, zinc and iron, minerals that promote proper cellular function, immunity, efficient use of oxygen and more. It contains many B vitamins, along with 16 amino acids (needed to make energy and repair tissue, respectively). Surprised? Think about the source. All those amazing nutritional benefits of coconut water—which has finally achieved its deserved magic-elixir status—come from the nectar found in each bottle. Coconut sugar is the same stuff in a different form.
It’s less likely to lead to overeating. Eat a cookie you baked using coco sugar, and you may be less tempted to binge than you would if you made them with regular refined sugar. Coco sugar has a published glycemic index—a gauge for how quickly a given food makes blood sugar spike—of 35, compared to 60 for table sugar. The higher that number, the quicker the surge, which makes you want to eat more in an effort to chase the sugar high. We test our product every month to ensure purity and to track glycemic index variances due to seasonality, weather and location of trees, and continually see results between 32 and 38.
It’s easy to swap in. With a delicious, mild, brown sugar flavor—perfect in your baking, cereal, tea or coffee—and an identical profile in terms of calories and measurements, there is literally no work involved in making the switch from can sugar to coco sugar. It mixes exactly like can sugar as a 1 to 1 replacement and pours in the same way, too, so it’s much more straightforward than swapping in Stevia or agave.
It’s natural and sustainable. Coconut flower blossom nectar is collected from the coconut tree and dried into granulated “sugar,” and that’s it—no other processing required. This unrefined and wholesome process (the same method used by Southeast Asian cultures for the past 6,000 years!) means fewer resources are needed for production. One coconut tree will produce up to three liters of fresh nectar per day for it’s whole life, making it 50 to 75 percent more productive per acre than cane sugar. That’s 289 gallons of nectar per year, compared to the 18 gallons of sap produced by a maple tree (other sweetener alternative) annually. And it’s a coconut tree, so it even grows in sand! We work hard to protect this sustainability by working directly with the families who grow the trees. In fact, we introduced the world’s first Certified Fair Trade coconut sugar this year, and we’re the only vertically-integrated brand of coconut sugar on the global market, meaning we’re approaching every aspect of the manufacturing and production process with social responsibility in mind from beginning to end.