Not all sugar is created equal. Learn the difference between coconut, raw, white, fruit sugars & artificial sweeteners, and what’s best for your health.

Sugar: Are They Really All The Same?

Over the past few years, the number of alternative sugars on the market has exploded, and if you’re anything like me, it can feel a little overwhelming.

We’ve been told again and again that all sugar is bad for us. But is that really true? And if not, how do we tell the difference between the good, the bad, and the downright confusing?

Let’s simplify things and focus on just a few popular options: white sugar, raw sugar, and coconut sugar. I’ll also touch on fruit sugars and artificial sweeteners while we’re here.

Understanding Sugar: It Comes Down to Two Things

To really understand sugar and how it affects the body, we need to look at:

  1. The Glycemic Index (GI)
  2. How the sugar is processed

What is the Glycemic Index (GI)?

The GI is a scale that ranks how quickly carbohydrate-containing foods raise your blood sugar levels. High GI foods cause rapid spikes in blood glucose, which in turn triggers a strong insulin response.

Frequent spikes like this can contribute to insulin resistance, a key factor in the development of type 2 diabetes. In contrast, low GI foods raise blood sugar more gradually, supporting better energy levels and long-term metabolic health.

When it comes to blood sugar, low GI is where it’s at.

Let’s Talk Coconut Sugar

Coconut sugar is made from the sap of coconut flower blossoms. It’s heated until most of the water evaporates, then dried and ground into granules. No chemicals, no bleaching, no refining.

Because it’s minimally processed, coconut sugar retains small amounts of nutrients like iron, zinc, calcium, potassium, antioxidants, and amino acids. It also has a relatively low GI of around 35, much gentler on blood sugar than refined white sugar.

Here’s a Quick GI Comparison:

  • Rice malt syrup: 25
  • Raw honey: 30 (processed honey can be as high as 50)
  • Coconut sugar: 35
  • Maple syrup: 50
  • Blackstrap molasses: 55
  • Refined white sugar: 100
  • Fruit (fructose): usually 3-18 depending on the type

Yes, fruit sugar which is often blamed for weight gain and diabetes, is actually incredibly low GI.

What About White Sugar?

White sugar undergoes intense industrial processing. Sugarcane is crushed, boiled, filtered using slaked lime (calcium hydroxide), and then chemically treated with things like:

  • Sulfur dioxide – bleaches the sugar white (also a by-product of fossil fuel combustion)
  • Phosphoric acid – corrosive enough to require hazmat suits (also found in soft drinks and linked to poor bone health)
  • Polyacrylamides – a newer filtering agent linked to neurological and reproductive toxicity in animal studies

Through this process, all the natural nutrients are stripped away, leaving pure sucrose with no nutritional value.

To be clear: sugarcane itself isn’t the problem. If you have access to whole sugarcane or sugarcane juice, enjoy it! Sugarcane juice is full of enzymes, antioxidants, and polyphenols that support liver health, hydration, and detoxification. It also has an alkalising effect, which helps maintain pH balance and reduces liver burden.

Brown Sugar & Raw Sugar: Healthier? Not Really.

Brown sugar is basically white sugar with molasses added back in. It might have a bit more flavour, but nutritionally, it’s still sugar.

Raw sugar is only slightly less refined than white sugar and retains a trace of molasses, but the health impact is almost identical.

And don’t be misled by the “organic” label. Organic sugar may be grown without synthetic pesticides, but it’s still processed. Your body still treats it as sugar.

Fruit Sugar is Not the Enemy

This one is personal. Back in 2010, I was diagnosed with fructose malabsorption and told that fruit was making me sick. So I cut it out. And guess what? I got even sicker.

Turns out, the real issue wasn’t fruit, it was fatty liver. I had non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, and that’s what actually kicked off my health journey.

When fat levels in the liver and bloodstream are high, fructose can’t be metabolised properly. But after losing 45kg and doing multiple liver cleanses, I was able to juice fast for 60 days without issue.

Before that? A single piece of fruit would leave me with spasms and diarrhoea.

Fat was the problem. Fruit was the solution.

Citrus fruits like grapefruit, lemon and lime help break down fat and support detox. Fruit sugars in their whole form are packaged with fibre and water, which slow absorption and blunt blood sugar spikes.

Key point: Whole fruits do not contribute to metabolic disease. Refined sugars do.

Artificial Sweeteners: My Firm No

If you’ve followed me for a while, you know artificial sweeteners don’t enter my house.

These include:

  • Aspartame
  • Sucralose
  • Cyclamate
  • Neotame
  • Saccharin
  • Acesulfame K

They may be marketed as “safe”, but when heated to body temperature, they can break down into formaldehyde and formic acid.

Formaldehyde is used in embalming. It hardens tissues, contributes to arterial calcification, and is toxic to your nervous system. Not something you want floating around your body.

And unfortunately, these compounds are hidden in more products than you probably realise.

In Summary

  • Whole fruit: nutrient-rich, low GI, and healing
  • Coconut and raw alternatives: gentler options, especially in moderation
  • Refined and artificial sugars: stripped of nutrients and stressful to the body

I hope this gave you some clarity and helps you make more informed choices next time you’re at the checkout.

Back to blog