8 Common Types of Sugar in Your Food

Regular sugar is relatively high on the glycemic index (60 to 65 out of 100)—so it’s metabolized faster, causing a bigger sugar high and crash.

RELATED: Yes, You Still Need to Keep Sugar Around—Seriously

Molasses is what makes brown sugar brown. Use light brown sugar in baking, condiments, and glazes; use dark brown for baked beans.

Not as sweet as sugar, this syrup has butterscotch and nutty notes— as well as one of the highest glycemic index numbers at 98.

New Year. New Food. Healthy eating starts here with the Cooking Light Diet.

This sugar has no coconut flavor. At 54 on the glycemic index, it’s metabolized more slowly than other sugars, tempering that sugar high.

Made from corn, this sweetener isn’t the same as high-fructose corn syrup. HFCS contains fructose and is sweeter than corn syrup but is no worse for you, nutritionally, than other sugars.

With a glycemic index number of 54, maple syrup is rising in popularity. Though it boasts disease-fighting antioxidants (darker grades deliver more than lighter ones), it’s still sugar.

One study showed that this yellow- to amber-colored sweetener has about the same antioxidant capacity as maple syrup, though it’s much higher on the glycemic index.

This syrup comes in varying shades of amber and dissolves well in cold liquids. It’s 25% sweeter than sugar, so you can use less, and it’s the lowest on the glycemic index of all the sugars here.