BREAKING NEWS
Tap here to turn on desktop notifications to get the news sent straight to you.
"It's the new it sweetener," my friend said somewhat facetiously, pulling out a small bag of organic raw coconut sugar during a recent catch-up over green tea at our favorite coffee place. "Besides, you love coconut."
True: I love unsweetened coconut milk in my protein shakes, and coconut oil remains a staple in stir-frys and other high-heat cooking.
According to Dr. Jonny Bowden in his The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth, coconut provides healthy fats, including lauric acid, which are antiviral, antimicrobial, immune-boosting, and even help fight some cancers. Your body uses the easier-to-metabolize medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs) in coconut to burn as fuel rather than store as fat.
Electrolyte-rich coconut water doesn't offer those healthy fats, and many commercial brands contain added sugar. Athletes who need to rehydrate post-workout should be fine with no-sugar-added coconut water, but you'll only get those healthy fats in coconut oil, coconut butter, coconut milk, and coconut meat.
Determined to milk (no pun intended) the coconut-is-healthy buzz, manufacturers position coconut sugar as a better alternative as customers understandably grow wary about high-fructose corn syrup and other sweeteners. But is coconut sugar really better or just the latest hype?
Compared with table and brown sugars, coconut sugar has impressive amounts of
as well as antioxidants.
Coconut sugar also contains good amounts of inulin, a type of dietary fiber you don't digest in your upper gastrointestinal tract. Instead, inulin , feeding your intestinal bifidobacteria (a probiotic).
Among its benefits,
like inulin support gut health, colon cancer prevention, blood sugar balance, lipid (fat) metabolism, bone mineralization, fatty liver disease, obesity, and immunity.
One study in the Diabetes & Metabolism Journal found inulin could i and antioxidant status in women with Type 2 diabetes.
Nutrients and inulin aside, let's not forget coconut sugar is a sweetener. Like table sugar, coconut sugar contains about equal amounts of fructose and glucose.
More specifically, a study in the ASEAN Food Journal found coconut sugar has about , or table sugar, as well as 3 percent pure glucose and 3 percent pure fructose.
In other words, about 78 percent -- over three-fourths -- of coconut sugar is actually sugar, compared with 100 percent of table sugar. (Nutrients, inulin, and antioxidants constitute coconut sugar's other 22 percent.)
Inulin and nutrients likely lower coconut sugar's blood sugar impact. One study in the journal Nutrition Research and Practice gave participants
of table sugar or coconut sugar (as coconut-derived D-xylose) and took seven blood samples up to two hours after ingestion.
Coconut sugar had a lower glycemic index, a measure of how quickly a food raises your blood sugar levels, on every one of those seven samples. Researchers here determined coconut sugar had a glycemic index of about 35, officially ranking it a low-glycemic sweetener.
But not so fast: The glycemic index only measures glucose, not fructose. Whereas nearly every cell can use glucose, fructose goes straight to your liver to metabolize.
According to Dr. Joseph Mercola,
elevate blood pressure, triglycerides, and LDL; deplete v raise insulin re and contribute to cardiovascular disease, liver disease, cancer, arthritis and even gout.
Some whole foods contain this sweetener, but fruit juices and added sweeteners are where fructose really becomes a problem.
"If you received your fructose only from vegetables and fruits (where it originates) as most people did a century ago, you'd consume about 15 grams per day -- a far cry from the 73 grams per day the typical adolescent gets from sweetened drinks," writes Mercola.
Considering
of coconut sugar, you wouldn't need much to rack up your quota and overwhelm your liver.
Simply put, coconut sugar isn't the no-guilt free-for-all some manufacturers might have you believe you can liberally spoon into your coffee, baked goods, and anywhere else you require sweetener.
Instead, a lower glycemic index coupled with slightly lower amounts of fructose makes coconut sugar, like honey, a slightly better alternative to table sugar and an acceptable occasional "proceed with caution" sweetener. Nutrients aside, it's still mostly sugar and can create similar problems with your liver and blood sugar.
If you need a healthy sweetener for your coffee or homemade salad dressing, opt for
like stevia, monk fruit, and erythritol, which don't raise your blood sugar, don't stress out your liver, and even provide some health benefits.
What's your go-to sweetener for beverages, baking, and any other place that demand sugar?
Additional References
Jonny Bowden, The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth (Massachusetts: Fair Wind, 2007).
Follow JJ Virgin, CNS, CHFS on Twitter:
Celebrity Nutritionist, Fitness Expert, Author of NY Times Bestsellers The Virgin Diet & Sugar Impact Diet
This Blogger's Books and Other Items from...
SPECIAL PROJECTS
FROM OUR PARTNERS
Expert analysis and commentary to make sense of today's biggest stories.
Sign up here to have the best stories delivered straight to your inbox.
First-person essays, features, interviews and Q&As about life today.
Get breaking news alerts
Go to mobile siteAccess denied | www.sheamoisture.com used Cloudflare to restrict access
Please enable cookies.
What happened?
The owner of this website (www.sheamoisture.com) has banned your access based on your browser's signature (424370bdfc4a6d7e-ua98).Access denied | www.webmd.com used Cloudflare to restrict access
Please enable cookies.
What happened?
The owner of this website (www.webmd.com) has banned your access based on your browser's signature (fe428b2-ua98).How Coconut Oil Benefits Your Overall HealthWhen it comes to coconut oil benefits and uses, the options for ways to use it, are absolutely endless! You can use it alone, or in combination with other things. It is packed with benefits!
Some users of coconut oil swear by , this is an amazing practice and can help you take advantage of some of the coconut oil benefits described below.
Aiding in Weight Loss
Believe it or not, coconut oil can actually be used to help with weight loss. By simply eating a small amount of coconut oil each day, you will speed up the process of weight loss. Coconut oil does contain calories (120 calories per tablespoon). However, these calories are to be considered “good calories”. Overall, the foods you eat, have a huge impact on things such as metabolic health and hormones.
Eating coconut oil, in fact, burns calories. As crazy as that may sound, it is very true! When trying to lose weight, you want to eat foods that boost your metabolism. Coconut oil does just that! You also want to have a good hormonal balance, in that your organs are overall healthy. Coconut oil protects your liver, allowing your thyroid to function at a healthier level.
The Pro-Health Factor
When it comes to the term “anti”, coconut oil tops the list in these factors. One of the Coconut oil benefits is known to have anti-inflammatory properties. It not only keeps swelling down, it also repairs the tissue. Coconut oil is also known to be anti-bacterial. It fights bacteria that can cause gum disease, urinary tract infections, and even throat infections.
It boosts immunity and fights harmful cancer cells, making it an anti-carcinogenic. It has powerful components that fight fungus as well preventing the growth of yeast and fungus. Coconut oil can also be used to fight various parasites internal and external. This includes head lice and tapeworms.
All of this can be accomplished by simply ingesting 2 tablespoons a day of coconut oil!
Stabilize Your Blood Sugar
Coconut oil even has the power to stabilize blood sugar and insulin levels! While it does not have a direct effect on your blood sugar level, the magic happens in other ways. Coconut oils actually helps glucose enter your cell, which not only reduces, but slows insulin levels in your blood. The result? Regulated blood sugar. Of course, this needs to be in conjunction with a healthy diet.
Lower Risk of Heart Disease
When exposed to oxygen, heat, or light, coconut oil does not oxidize. Therefore, it does not cause damage to your arteries. This significantly lowers your risk of heart disease. Yet another reason to consume 2 tablespoons per day of coconut oil!
Thyroid Function is Boosted
As mentioned before, consuming coconut oil can help to boost the function of your thyroid. Thyroid issues are normally die to an underlying issue with inflammation. The anti-inflammatory properties in coconut oil, help keep your thyroid functioning properly and in a healthy manner.
Kills Fungus
Coconut oil is superb when it comes to killing fungus. Especially those associated with skin and nails. Candida fungus can grow throughout your body and the properties in coconut oil help to fight that off. This fungus can take over various parts of your body and coconut oil will literally get rid of it!
With all of these things, the use of coconut oil should be in combination with a healthy diet in order to see desired results. Maintaining a healthy lifestyle will have a lasting effect!}