Jaggery Benefits: Is Gur Healthier Than White Sugar?

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Is jaggery healthier than white sugar?

Jaggery benefits are real but small. Gur keeps a little iron, calcium, magnesium and potassium that white sugar loses. But jaggery is still sugar, with almost the same calories. India's own dietary guidelines count jaggery as added sugar. So gur is a slightly better sweetener, not a health food.

Many Indian families end a meal with a small piece of gur. It is a lovely habit, and the taste is part of the joy.

This guide checks what gur can and cannot do, using India's food tables and real studies. We have kept the old claims and marked each one honestly.

ICMR-NIN rule: India's Dietary Guidelines define added sugars, and say "they include sucrose (table sugar), jaggery, honey" and more. They also say: "Limiting sugar to 25g/day is better for health" (ICMR-NIN Dietary Guidelines for Indians, 2024).

Gur ke fayde: what does gur really do?

Gur ke fayde are smaller than most people think. Gur gives a little iron and some minerals that white sugar does not have. But gur is still sugar. ICMR-NIN counts jaggery as added sugar, so keep all your sweet foods together under about 25 g a day.

गुड़ में थोड़ा आयरन, कैल्शियम और पोटैशियम होता है, जो सफ़ेद चीनी में लगभग नहीं होता। लेकिन गुड़ भी चीनी ही है।

ICMR-NIN गुड़ को added sugar मानता है। इसलिए पूरे दिन का मीठा 25 ग्राम से कम रखें।

Chini ya gud, kaun sa behtar? Gud thoda behtar hai, par dono ko kam khana hi asli fayda hai.

In short, enjoy gur for its taste. Do not eat extra gur hoping it will fix your health.

What are jaggery's nutrition facts per 100 g?

Per 100 g, cane jaggery has about 354 kcal, 84.3 g of sugars and 4.63 mg of iron, as per IFCT 2017. White sugar has 387 kcal, 99.8 g of sugars and almost no iron. The mineral gap looks big per 100 g. But you eat jaggery in small pieces, so the real gain is small.

The 10 g column is about one small piece of gur. That piece gives you about 0.46 mg of iron and 8.4 g of sugar.

Older articles often say jaggery has 11 mg of iron per 100 g. India's latest food tables found 4.63 mg in cane jaggery.

India's food tables: Cane jaggery has 4.63 mg of iron, 107 mg of calcium and 488 mg of potassium per 100 g (IFCT 2017, ICMR-NIN, food code I001). White sugar has 0.05 mg of iron per 100 g (Canadian Nutrient File, granulated sugar).

Do jaggery and sugar have the same calories?

Jaggery and sugar have almost the same calories. Per 100 g, cane jaggery has about 354 kcal and white sugar has 387 kcal. Jaggery is a little lower mostly because it holds about 11 g of water per 100 g. A 10 g piece of gur has about 35 kcal, close to sugar's 39 kcal.

So swapping sugar for gur barely changes your calories. Eating less of both is what cuts calories.

The same goes for honey. Our honey vs sugar guide explains why it is also counted as added sugar.

How much iron does jaggery have?

Cane jaggery has 4.63 mg of iron per 100 g, as per IFCT 2017. A 10 g piece gives about 0.46 mg. Green leafy vegetables average 8.07 mg per 100 g, and pulses 6.25 mg, as per ICMR-NIN. So jaggery is a small iron source, not a fix for low iron.

To get the iron in 100 g of leafy greens from gur, you would need about 175 g of jaggery. That is about seven times the 25 g sugar limit.

Why iron matters: In India, 57% of women aged 15 to 49 have anaemia, as per NFHS-5 (2019-21) (PIB, Ministry of Health). That is why the gur-for-iron idea is so popular.

ICMR-NIN says beans, dry fruits, eggs and meat are good iron sources. It also suggests "foods rich in vitamin C such as guava, oranges along with meals" to absorb more iron (ICMR-NIN, 2024).

For a full list of foods with their iron counts, see our iron-rich foods in India guide.

Two Indian studies did use jaggery for children with low iron. In a 2025 JIPMER trial, 82 children with low iron got iron syrup, and one group also got a daily ball of sesame and jaggery (Naimisha et al., Indian Journal of Hematology and Blood Transfusion, 2025).

The ball group had a slightly bigger rise in haemoglobin. But both groups took iron syrup, and the ball was made with sesame seeds as well as gur.

A 2002 Hyderabad study gave 24 children a daily laddoo of jaggery, rice flakes, garden cress seeds and amaranth seeds (Sood and Sharada, Indian Journal of Pediatrics, 2002). Their haemoglobin rose, but the laddoo was more than jaggery.

Jaggery benefits: are the 10 popular claims true?

Most popular jaggery benefits are not proven in people. We checked the 10 claims this page used to make. Gur does add a little iron. But claims about digestion, lungs, periods, joints, the liver and cough have no human study we could find.

The lung claim comes from a 1994 study at Lucknow's Industrial Toxicology Research Centre. Rats given coal dust and then jaggery moved more dust out of the lungs into nearby lymph nodes, and had less lung damage (Sahu and Saxena, Environmental Health Perspectives, 1994).

That is a rat study. It does not show that gur cleans human lungs, so please do not rely on it near dust or smoke.

The ginger and gur drink for a cold is a warm, comforting habit. If a cough lasts more than a few days, see a doctor.

Is jaggery good for diabetes?

Jaggery is not good for diabetes. A 1987 Madras Medical College study of 18 people with type 2 diabetes found jaggery raised blood sugar at least as much as table sugar. A 2021 Sri Lankan study found coconut jaggery and cane sugar raised blood sugar about the same. Treat gur exactly like sugar.

Diabetes study: In 1987, doctors at Madras Medical College gave 18 people with type 2 diabetes the same calories of glucose, sugar, honey and jaggery. At one hour, jaggery scored 84.4 and sugar 69.2 on the glycaemic index. The authors said "it cannot be said that one is less hyperglycaemic than the other" (Uma et al., RSSDI proceedings, 1987).

In the Sri Lankan study, 36 healthy adults were tested with coconut jaggery and cane sugar (Hewa Pathirana et al., Asian Food Science Journal, 2021). The glycaemic index was 65.19 for coconut jaggery and 60.76 for cane sugar, with no real difference.

If you have diabetes, our diabetes diet plan for India lists jaggery under foods to limit.

How much jaggery can you eat in a day?

Keep all added sugar, including jaggery, under about 25 g a day. That is the limit in ICMR-NIN's Dietary Guidelines for Indians. The WHO says free sugars should be under 10% of daily energy, about 50 g, and ideally 5% or less. Gur in chai, sweets and snacks all counts.

The WHO also says: "Limiting further to 5% or less of total daily energy intake may provide additional health benefits" (WHO healthy diet fact sheet).

ICMR-NIN says babies under 2 should get no added sugar at all. That includes gur.

• Count it: Add up the gur in your chai, ladoo and kheer for the day.
• Swap it: Use gur instead of sugar, never on top of it.
• Shrink it: A small piece after lunch is plenty if you want the taste.

Is eating jaggery on an empty stomach in the morning good?

We found no study that shows a benefit from eating jaggery on an empty stomach in the morning. Gur is mostly sugar, so an early piece is simply sugar first thing in the day. If you enjoy gur in the morning, have a small piece with breakfast, and skip it if you have diabetes.

Warm water with gur and lemon is a popular morning drink. It is fine as a treat, but count it in your daily sugar.

How do you swap sugar for jaggery?

Swap jaggery in for sugar one dish at a time, and keep the amount small. Gur works well in chai, kheer, halwa, payasam and ladoos, and it adds a deep, caramel-like taste. The rule is simple: replace sugar with gur, never add gur on top of your usual sugar.

• Chai: Use a little grated gur instead of sugar. Taste first, then add more only if needed.
• Puran poli, kheer and payasam: Gur gives a richer colour and taste. Our puran poli guide shows the right dal-to-gur ratio.
• Ladoos: Gur binds til, peanut and ragi ladoos well. They are still sweets, so keep them small.
• Baking: Gur changes the texture of batters. Our jaggery vs sugar in waffles test shows what to expect.

For gur chai at home, a small electric cooker helps. Our Multipurpose Electric Kettle cum Cooker holds 1.2 L and switches off on its own once the water boils.

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Which types of jaggery are sold in India?

You will find four main types of jaggery in India: cane jaggery from sugarcane, palm jaggery (karupatti) from palmyra sap, date palm jaggery (nolen gur) from Bengal, and coconut jaggery. FSSAI rules cover gur from sugarcane and from palmyra, date and coconut palms. India's food tables only list cane jaggery, so there is no fair way to rank them for health.

FSSAI says cane jaggery must have at least 70% sucrose and at least 90% total sugars on a dry basis (FSSAI food product standards, sweetening agents). White sugar must be at least 98% sucrose.

Traditional cane gur is made by boiling sugarcane juice in a large cast iron pan (Wikipedia). In West Bengal, date palm sap is boiled to make palm jaggery (Wikipedia).

Older posts call palm jaggery the healthiest type. We could not find good data to back that up, so pick the one you enjoy.

Who should limit jaggery?

People with diabetes, people trying to lose weight, and young children should limit jaggery most. Babies under 2 should get no added sugar at all, as per ICMR-NIN. For everyone else, gur shares the same 25 g daily added-sugar limit as white sugar. It is a sweet treat, not a health food.

• Diabetes: Gur raises blood sugar like sugar. Ask your doctor before eating it.
• Weight loss: Gur has almost the same calories as sugar. Cut the total, do not just swap.
• Babies under 2: No added sugar, including gur.
• Low iron or anaemia: Follow your doctor's treatment. Gur is not a cure.

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Some links here are affiliate links. If you buy through them we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only point to products we would suggest to our own family.