It sounds too good to be true. A keto pumpkin spice latte that’s actually good for you? One that delivers so many nourishing compounds you can feel great about it and even have seconds?
Yes, please. In fact, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better way to start your day than this. And if it’s still hot as the sun where you live, make cold brew instead and enjoy a cold pumpkin spice latte that’s good for you.
Both ways, so good!
Since the coffee shops are busting out the pumpkin spice despite the heat, we are too. Here’s how to make it, what it offers, and why you should avoid commercial pumpkin spice lattes like your health depends on it.
Ingredients:
Nutrition Info: 173 calories, 9 grams fat, 0 grams net carbs (5.5 grams carbs, 5.5 grams fiber), 16 grams protein
Our homemade pumpkin spice latte is a delicious, ultra-healthy way to start your day. In fact, with each cup, you’ll receive all the health benefits of coffee, MCT Oil Powder, Collagen, and the real spices in pumpkin spice. Together, the benefits include:
There are many benefits of including enough healthy fats in your diet. They include:
The collagen in this recipe is incredible healthful for your skin, hair, nails, and tissues.
Overall, proteins do a lot in the body. They help your muscles rebuild after stressing your muscles, support immune function, support hormone balance, and help you feel full even with fewer calories.
Collagen goes beyond other proteins to encourage joint and connective tissue strength, repair, and health. To learn more about the benefits of collagen, read this post.
We all encounter oxidative damage on the cellular level. Every day that you live, different biochemical reactions occur in your body. These reactions are necessary for life, but they can also produce free radicals. In addition, environmental and dietary toxins, unhealthy foods, and more can contribute to free radical build-up called oxidative stress.
One of the most dangerous things about free radicals is that they can oxidize cholesterol, allowing it to enter artery walls and form plaques. Thankfully, antioxidants neutralize free radicals and render them harmless.
In much the same way, anti-inflammatories reduce chronic inflammation in the body, which can lead to many chronic diseases including heart disease, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, cognitive decline, and more(8).
Our homemade latte contains antioxidants from:
Of course, you could just buy a pumpkin spice latte from a coffee shop or fast-food restaurant. How different could it be?
Buyer beware! Most commercial pumpkin spice lattes are short on pumpkin, real spices, healthy fats, and protein. But, they are high in sugar.
In fact, check out the grams of sugar in these popular choices. Their sugar is 100% added sugar. Ours is 6 grams of naturally-occurring sugar.
Or, looking at your nearest grocer?
Sugar is harmful at any time of the day, in combination with any foods. Not only can overeating sugar cause elevated blood glucose, insulin resistance, weight gain, inflammation, and high triglycerides, it’s now linked to elevated breast cancer risk (9).
But, when you mix it with caffeine, it’s especially dangerous. In fact, there is growing evidence that caffeine may interfere with insulin release and result in related metabolic issues when mixed with sugar. It makes the sugar spike more intense. (10, 11, 12).
And, that’s not all.
Sugar in liquid form makes its way especially quickly through the digestive tract, having a strong impact on blood sugars. For those with pre-diabetes or type 2 diabetes, blood sugars are often high in the mornings. A morning caffeine and sugar latte can spell disaster.
It may be pumpkin spice season, but that’s not a good reason to drink a cup full of sugar and chemicals every morning. Instead, make our Homemade Pumpkin Spice Latte. It’s good for you!