WHY WE CHOSE ORGANIC COCONUT SUGAR FOR TLC PUREORIGIN™

By Dr. Eugene Capitano, DC, MSc

At TLC PureOrigin™, every ingredient earns its place. When developing TLC PureProtein 80™ and TLC PurePlant Protein, we wanted a sweetener that fit our science-based mission, metabolic balance, gut compatibility, and clean flavour, without overselling what a sweetener can do.

Our choice: certified organic coconut sugar.

Coconut sugar is made from the nectar of the coconut palm. It's mostly sucrose, with small amounts of glucose, fructose, and trace minerals, amino acids, and antioxidants. We're not going to tell you it's a health food, it's sugar, used sparingly, at about 3.2 grams per serving in the flavoured blends and none in the unflavoured.

What the evidence supports is modest, and worth stating plainly. Coconut sugar is largely sucrose, and in the one direct human comparison its blood-sugar response was similar to ordinary sugar, so its value here isn't a magic low glycaemic index. It's the amount. At ~3.2 grams, a serving contributes roughly 13 calories and an estimated glycaemic load under 2, a very small glucose exposure. And because sucrose is digested and absorbed in the small intestine, that small amount doesn't reach the colon intact the way some poorly absorbed non-nutritive sweeteners do, several of which have been shown in controlled research to alter gut bacteria.

There's also a simple food-science reason. A little real sugar does things high-intensity sweeteners can't: it adds body, mouthfeel, and the caramel and roasted notes that come from gentle browning, without the bitter or metallic aftertaste some artificial sweeteners leave behind. Using a small amount of sugar lets us make a lightly, cleanly sweetened product rather than chasing full sweetness with a stack of additives.

So the real reason it's in the formula is straightforward: a tiny amount of a familiar, well-understood sugar, absorbed where sugars are meant to be absorbed, chosen over a novel non-caloric ingredient whose long-term effect on the gut is still an open question. Our coconut sugar is certified organic and tested for heavy metals.

TLC PureProtein 80™ and TLC PurePlant Protein — where flavour meets function.

For the full reasoning and citations, see our article “Coconut Sugar and Non-Nutritive Sweeteners: A Critical Comparison of Glycaemic, Microbiome, and Metabolic Evidence,” and our scientific rationale “Why TLC PureOrigin Excludes Non-Nutritive Sweeteners.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. Eugene Capitano earned an MSc in Psychology & Neuroscience of Mental Health from King’s College London. He holds the ACSM Exercise is Medicine® (EIM) Credential and is an ACSM Certified Personal Trainer® (ACSM-CPT®). His research interests include the gut–brain axis, functional nutrition, metabolic health, and translational microbiome science.

DISCLOSURE

Dr. Eugene Capitano is Co-Founder and Scientific Lead of TLC PureOrigin™ and Founder of TLC NeuroMicrobiome Labs Inc. This commercial relationship should be considered when evaluating commentary about protein products, ingredients and formulation.

Educational content only; not intended to diagnose or treat disease. Consult a qualified professional before major dietary changes.