In recent years pumpkin spice has become all the rage. You can see all things turning pumpkin spice flavored by the end of August before Fall even truly hits! It has become THAT popular! The PSL (pumpkins spice latte) is amongst the original and most in-demand fall beverages! However, a traditional pumpkin spice latte from your big box coffee shop is not the most nutritionally friendly option. After reading this article today you will be able to understand the benefits of brewing a latte with Big Heart Tea’s Spicy Pumpkin Tea so you can enjoy your PSLs from home and have the perfect recipe to accomplish it!
Nutrition Information for
Traditional Pumpkin Spice Latte
Below you will see the nutritional information for the standard PSL you can get at your local big box coffee shop. When you look at the Nutritional Information the first thing that stands out is the sugar content. This drink comes in at a whopping 50 grams of sugar! This is comparable to 4 tablespoons of white sugar or a 20 oz coca cola. 50 grams is also the recommended daily total of sugar for a person consuming a 2,000-calorie diet according to US Dietary Guidelines. When you zoom out and think about this impact on your daily, weekly, and monthly dietary habits. Frequently consuming this very fun drink could add up over time.
Consuming high sugar beverages also has a large impact on your blood sugar regulation. When you have a high carbohydrate meal, food item, or beverage our blood sugar levels spike, and our pancreas shuttle out insulin to try and help bring our blood sugar levels down. This usually causes us to have symptoms like low energy, upset stomach, or other digestive system complaints.
Aside from the metabolic impact of this beverage if we move over to the ingredients label we do see natural flavorings in the beverage which is something that consumers should be mindful of. Natural flavors are man-made and created to give the product a replica of the flavor or desired scent. While these natural flavors must be included on ingredient labels it does not necessarily mean that the ingredients used to derive that flavor are necessarily natural. The manufacturers are not regulated to disclose the full ingredients used to make the natural flavor therefore they could be using additional synthetic solvents, artificial preservatives, carriers, or emulsifiers. Due to the fact that this is not well regulated it is hard to know exactly what you are consuming.
Benefits of Big Heart Tea’s
Spicy Pumpkin Tea
This delicious sweet & spicy tea blend is amazing all on its own and truly gives you the comfort of having a cozy blanket wrapped around you while you watch the leaves fall outside. It has no added sugars, no natural flavors, or coloring. When you consume this tea you get all of the wonderful flavors but without the unknown ingredients.
The Spicy Pumpkin blend incorporates black tea, ginger, cinnamon, black peppercorns, cloves, and all-spice. Outside of being comforting and delicious this hot fall beverage can actually offer some health benefits that your latte from a big box coffee shop cannot.
Black tea has been shown to have some powerful antioxidants that have numerous health benefits like reducing inflammation, lower blood sugar levels, and helping reduce cardiac events. It can also reduce cholesterol levels and help support good gut health.
Ginger is also a common and powerful antioxidant that can help reduce oxidative stress. Oxidative stress is the interaction between free radicals and antioxidants in the body. Ginger can also help with nausea, and digestion, and support the immune system!
The third spice is an added bonus that brings warm cozy feelings and provides similar properties to ginger. The big one is again that it helps with reducing oxidative stress. As well as reducing inflammation and improving insulin sensitivity.
Our delicious Latte recipe that you can make at home only has 11 grams of sugar instead of 50 grams like its traditional counterpart. So that you can boost your energy while also nourishing your body.
Healthy Spicy Pumpkin Latte Recipe:
Preparation:
- Bring your tea water to a boil or use an electric kettle
- Steep your tea bag for ~ 3 minutes and then remove the bag
- While you are heating your water at the same time take a saucepan and heat up your milk.
- Once the milk starts to lightly bubble add your pumpkin puree and maple syrup and begin to whisk consistently. Once it slightly thickens and gets frothy take it off the burner. If you have a handheld frother you could froth this more if desired.
- Pour into your tea cup and combine!
- Optional: top with a dash of cinnamon
- Enjoy!
Sources
- https://www.starbucks.com/menu/product/418/hot/nutrition
- https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/how-much-sugar-per-day
- https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/01/well/eat/are-natural-flavors-really-natural.html#:~:text=A.,otherwise%20manipulated%20in%20a%20lab.
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6512146/
- https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/10-proven-benefits-of-cinnamon#TOC_TITLE_HDR_6