Want a new way to enjoy coffee and pumpkin spice? We have a recipe so nutritious it can serve as a complete breakfast with healthy fats, fiber, protein, and antioxidants. And, it’s delicious, too. Try our Homemade Pumpkin Spice Mocha today.
Here’s how to make it, what it offers, and why you should avoid commercial pumpkin spice lattes and mochas like your health depends on it.
Ingredients:
Nutrition Info: 292 calories, 16 grams fat, 8 grams net carbs (14 grams carbs, 6 grams sugars – naturally occurring, 6 grams fiber), 28 grams protein
Our homemade pumpkin spice mocha is a delicious, ultra-healthy way to start your day. In fact, with each cup, you’ll receive all the health benefits of Keto Zone Shakes, 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:
Most adults don’t get enough fiber. If you are in the Keto Zone, you especially have to go out of your way to get enough fiber without carbohydrates. Luckily, the Keto Zone shake contains dietary fiber that is associated with digestive health, optimal cholesterol levels, improved blood glucose, and weight loss.
In fact, the Keto Zone Shakes pack in 4 grams of fiber per serving! These grams come from sweet potato fiber, broccoli powder, and chicory root, a fructooligosaccharide (FOS). Fructooligosaccharides provide amazing nourishment for the healthy bacteria in the gut, keeping the whole body healthy (5, 6, 7).
The Keto Zone shake contains one of the most bioavailable protein there is: whey protein. In addition, collagen 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.
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 mocha contains antioxidants from:
Of course, you could just buy a pumpkin spice latte or mocha from a coffee shop or fast-food restaurant. How different could it be?
Buyer beware! Most commercial pumpkin spice lattes and mochas 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.
While commercially-prepared pumpkin spice coffee drinks may be tempting, they can wreak havoc on your blood sugars and health. Instead, try our Homemade Pumpkin Spice Mocha. Not only is it low in sugar, but its ingredients also offer health benefits that surpass even most “healthy breakfasts.”