The air has turned cool and crisp, and the landscape is awash in color from the changing leaves. Fall has arrived! But for coffee drinkers, the surest sign of fall is the Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte.
For a few short months a year, Starbucks offers this rich, sweet, creamy coffee treat. Made with cinnamon, frothed milk and of course everyone's favorite gourd, the Pumpkin Spice Latte has become an immensely popular fall favorite.
But is the Pumpkin Spice Latte healthy enough to not break your diet? Or does all of the cream and sugar make this a dessert in disguise? There's only one way to find out... Let's take a look at the nutrition facts!
As it turns out, the nutrition of a Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte depends greatly on the way you order it. The least healthy Pumpkin Spice Latte you could order would be a Venti (20 oz) with whole milk and whipped cream. Ordered like this, your fall favorite will pack a 510 calorie punch. That's just a hair fewer calories than you'll find in a McDonald's Big Mac (530 calories)! In addition to all those calories, your Pumpkin Spice Latte will also contain 20 grams of fat.
The good news is that with a few changes to your order, you can make the Pumpkin Spice Latte a whole lot healthier. The first thing you can do is exercise a little portion control. Just by downsizing from the 20 oz Venti to a 12 oz Tall, you'll save yourself 130 calories.
Another thing you can do to make your Pumpkin Spice Latte healthier is skip the whipped cream. It might be delicious, but going cream-less will save yourself 60 calories and 4 grams of saturated fat.
And if you really want to keep it healthy, add non-fat milk to your Pumpkin Spice Latte instead of whole or 2% milk. All of these changes will get your Pumpkin Spice Latte down from 510 calories to a much easier to stomach 300. But even that still seems like a lot for your morning coffee.
Our advice? Go ahead and treat yourself to a Pumpkin Spice Latte once in a while (it's ok to indulge!), but we wouldn't make it part of your daily morning routine.