Regular table sugar and high fructose corn syrup don’t contain any vital nutrients and therefore supply "empty" calories.

However, coconut sugar does retain quite a bit of the nutrients found in the coconut palm. Most notable of these are the minerals - Iron, Zinc, Calcium and Potassium, along with some short chain fatty acids, polyphenols and antioxidants that may also provide some health benefits.

Then it contains a fiber called inulin, which may slow glucose absorption and explain why coconut sugar has a lower glycemic index than regular table sugar.