Quick answer: Coconut sugar's glycemic index (GI) lands between 35 and 54 across studies, compared with around 65 for refined cane sugar. The lab gap is real, but in clinical trials with people who have type 2 diabetes, the actual difference in blood-sugar response has been small. The honest case for coconut sugar rests less on a dramatic glycemic edge than on what comes with it: trace minerals, inulin, and a less-refined production chain.
Walk through any natural-foods aisle and "low glycemic" is the dominant story coconut sugar tells. The phrase is technically defensible — coconut sugar does test lower than refined cane sugar on most glycemic-index scales. But the number on a marketing pouch is not the same number a rigorous laboratory returns, and neither is what your own body returns after a normal meal. The real question is not whether coconut sugar has a lower glycemic index, but how much lower, how reliably, and whether the difference matters at the doses people actually eat. This guide walks through the data and where the truth probably sits.
What the glycemic index actually measures
The glycemic index ranks foods on a 0-to-100 scale based on how quickly their carbohydrates raise blood glucose, compared with pure glucose at 100. Values under 55 are classified as low, 56 to 69 as medium, and 70 or higher as high. The most widely cited testing protocol is run by the University of Sydney's Glycemic Index Research Service, which maintains the public database behind most published values.
A related measure, glycemic load (GL), adjusts for portion size by multiplying the glycemic index by the grams of carbohydrate in a realistic serving. It is the more useful number in everyday eating, because a small portion of a high-glycemic-index food can produce a smaller blood-glucose excursion than a large portion of a low-glycemic-index one. A teaspoon of any caloric sweetener is, in that framing, a small dose.
Where coconut sugar lands: the GI range and why studies disagree
Coconut sugar's glycemic index has two often-cited reference points. In 2009, the Philippine Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI) reported a value of 35 from a small study of 10 adults. Years later, the University of Sydney's testing service reported 54 using a larger sample and the standardized protocol that anchors most published glycemic-index databases. Both numbers appear in the literature, and both are quoted in marketing materials, often without flagging which one is being cited.
The likely explanations are sample size and product variation. Coconut sugar is made by boiling down coconut palm sap, so batches differ in the ratio of sucrose to glucose to fructose, and in inulin content. A measurement on 10 adults eating one batch is not the same experiment as one on 30 adults eating a different batch a decade later. The reasonable read is that coconut sugar's glycemic index sits in the low-to-mid 50s rather than the mid 30s — lower than refined cane sugar's 65, but not by a wide margin.
What real-world trials show
Glycemic-index numbers are lab values produced under fasting conditions with a single isolated food, and they do not predict what happens inside a normal meal. A 2022 trial published in Clinical Nutrition Open Science compared blood-glucose responses to cane sugar versus coconut sugar in 43 adults with type 2 diabetes. Each ate equal-carbohydrate doses of each sweetener on different days; researchers measured blood glucose at 30, 60, 90, and 120 minutes. The headline finding: no statistically significant difference in response between the two sweeteners.
That is not the same as saying the sweeteners are identical. The same data show a small numeric advantage for coconut sugar at later time points, consistent with the slower-absorption signal that inulin and trace minerals might provide. But for someone watching blood sugar carefully, swapping cane sugar for coconut sugar at the same dose is not a substitute for cutting total sugar intake.
What coconut sugar brings beyond glycemic index
A 2023 review in the journal Foods analyzed coconut sugar's chemistry and confirmed what earlier studies had reported. It is mostly sucrose, roughly 70 to 80 percent by weight, but carries plant compounds that fully refined white sugar does not. Per 100 grams, coconut sugar contains around 625 milligrams of potassium plus small amounts of zinc, iron, magnesium, and phosphorus. It also contains approximately 4.7 grams of inulin — a soluble fiber that slows glucose absorption and feeds gut bacteria.
The compounds are real, but the absolute amounts are modest. A teaspoon of coconut sugar (about 4 grams) carries roughly 25 milligrams of potassium and 0.2 grams of inulin — too little to hit a potassium or fiber target. The argument is closer to whole-grain flour over white flour: a less-refined version of the same staple, not a different food category.
The comparison below sets coconut sugar against other common sweeteners by glycemic index and per-teaspoon glycemic load.
| Sweetener | Glycemic index (typical) | Glycemic load per teaspoon | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Glucose (reference) | 100 | 4.0 | The 0–100 scale's anchor; not a kitchen sweetener |
| Refined cane sugar | 65 | 2.6 | Pure sucrose; no other nutrients of significance |
| Honey | 58 | 2.3 | Glucose + fructose; trace enzymes and antioxidants |
| Coconut sugar | 35–54 | 1.4–2.2 | About 70–80% sucrose; small mineral and inulin content |
| Agave nectar | 19 | ~1.0 | Very high fructose (~70%); long-term concerns around fructose load |
| Stevia leaf extract | 0 | 0 | Non-caloric; bitter aftertaste in some forms |
Marmels uses organic coconut sugar in our 62 percent dark chocolate bars for exactly this reason — not as a low-glycemic claim, but as the most coherent sweetener for what we are building. Total sugar per 60-gram bar sits at 11 to 12 grams, inside the range of a single piece of fruit, and the bar's 12 grams of protein and 4 to 5 grams of fiber further blunt the blood-sugar curve from any one serving.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is coconut sugar safe for diabetics?
Coconut sugar is not unsafe for people with diabetes, but it is not meaningfully better than cane sugar either. A 2022 trial in 43 adults with type 2 diabetes found no statistically significant difference in blood-glucose response between the two sweeteners. The American Diabetes Association (ADA) treats coconut sugar as an added sugar, counted against the daily total alongside any other caloric sweetener.
What is the glycemic index of coconut sugar?
Coconut sugar's glycemic index has been reported at 35 by the Philippine Food and Nutrition Research Institute (2009), and at 54 by the University of Sydney's Glycemic Index Research Service. The gap reflects differences in sample size and product variation. A reasonable working assumption is that coconut sugar sits in the low-to-mid 50s — lower than refined cane sugar's 65, but not dramatically so.
Does coconut sugar raise blood sugar?
Yes. Coconut sugar is roughly 70 to 80 percent sucrose by weight, the same molecule as in refined cane sugar. Once digested, it breaks down into glucose and fructose and raises blood glucose accordingly. The rise tends to be slightly slower because of trace inulin and minerals, but the total area under the curve in clinical comparisons is similar at equal doses.
Is coconut sugar healthier than cane sugar?
Marginally, in narrow ways. Coconut sugar contains small amounts of potassium, iron, zinc, and inulin that are absent in fully refined white sugar. It is also processed less aggressively. But the quantities of those compounds are modest at typical serving sizes, and the dominant ingredient is still sucrose. Sweetener choice is a much smaller lever for blood-sugar control than overall sugar intake.
How is coconut sugar made?
Coconut sugar is made from the sap of the flower buds of the coconut palm, not from the coconut fruit itself. Farmers cut into the unopened flower spadix, collect the sap, and boil it down until the water evaporates and the sugar crystallizes. The process is closer to maple-syrup production than to refined-sugar manufacture, which is why some of the original plant compounds survive.
Coconut sugar is modestly lower than cane sugar in the lab, similar in the real world, and slightly richer in trace nutrients. None of that makes it a free pass at the bottom of a coffee cup. For more on the ingredient thinking behind the bars we make, see our science page.
