If there’s anything that marks the autumn season, it’s Starbucks’ famous Pumpkin Spice Latte.
But seasonal drinks usually contain a lot of calories and sugar. For those watching their weight or wanting to stay healthy with their food choices, dietitians recommend avoiding pumpkin spice lattes, or at least to indulge only on occasion or modify the concoctions.
In fact, nutrition experts are concerned about the drink’s amount of calories and sugar. While the concept of pumpkin and spices combined can offer many health benefits, a drink laden with sugar on top of pumpkin and spices for flavor is not.
“Pumpkin itself is healthy. Cinnamon and nutmeg are fine. But pumpkin spice lattes are about sugar,” said Katie Ferraro, R.D., M.P.H., a dietitian, nutrition consultant, and assistant clinical professor of nutrition at the University of California, San Francisco, and the University of San Diego.
A grande (16 fl oz) size of Starbucks’ PSL with 2 percent milk and whipped cream has 380 calories and 50 grams of sugar. According to the American Heart Association, the maximum amount of added sugars men should eat in a day are 150 calories (37.5 grams or 9 teaspoons). Women are allowed 100 calories per day (25 grams or 6 teaspoons). In this case, the PSL far exceeds the AHA’s recommendation.
Ferraro also went on to say that because of the amount of sugar, the PSL is “far removed from a coffee drink.”
So for those who are a lover of the PSL, be careful of the calorie intake. It’s ok to indulge once in awhile, but as Ferraro suggests, “if a coffee drink has more than 25 to 50 calories, don’t do it.”
By: Maytinee Kramer
