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Some call it fall; others call it autumn. And then there are those for whom this time of year is known as none other than pumpkin spice season.
Thanks to Starbucks, which is celebrating the Pumpkin Spice Latte's 23rd birthday this year, the cinnamon-accented beverage has grown from a drink to a movement. Brands have churned out pumpkin spice cat litter, cough drops and deodorant. There are pumpkin spice cookies, lip balms and T-shirts. Most people aren’t sick of it yet.
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But 40 percent of respondents over the age of 65 in a 2023 survey said that pumpkin spice (on the whole) was overrated.
“Once in a while, have one with your friends,” says Cindy Silver, a retired registered dietitian in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. “Other than that, on a regular basis, it can, in essence, dilute your nutrition because you’re getting a lot of calories, but they’re not what I would call healthy calories.”
Here’s what’s actually in a pumpkin spice latte (PSL), the potential health consequences of drinking them too frequently, and what dietitians recommend ordering — or doing — instead. As Bonnie Taub-Dix, a New York–based registered dietitian and host of the Media Savvy with Bonnie Taub-Dix podcast, puts it, “There are lots of other ways that you could welcome the fall.”
Nutritional costs
A traditional medium (or “grande”) Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks has 2 percent milk, a proprietary pumpkin spice sauce (which contains sugar, condensed milk and pumpkin puree, among other flavorings and colorings), espresso, whipped cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves. (Interestingly, it was almost dubbed Fall Harvest Latte, the company says.)
It clocks in at 390 calories, with 14 grams of fat and 50 grams of sugar. That’s equivalent to three pats of butter and 12.5 teaspoons of sugar. “Could you picture having a cup of coffee and opening 12.5 packets of sugar?” says Taub-Dix, author of Read It Before You Eat It: Taking You From Label to Table.
For reference, the daily recommended limit of added sugar for most adults is 25 and 36 grams per day for women and men, respectively.
Other versions are equally, if not more, eye-opening.
- A medium Pumpkin Spice Signature Hot Latte from Dunkin’ with whole milk has 420 calories, 14 grams of fat and 55 grams of sugar.
- A medium Pumpkin White Mocha with 2 percent milk from Caribou Coffee delivers 730 calories, 32 grams of fat and 95 grams of sugar.
- A medium Tim Hortons Pumpkin Spice Iced Capp has 470 calories, 25 grams of fat and 58 grams of sugar.
- A medium McDonald’s Pumpkin Spice Latte contains 310 calories, 8 grams of fat and 43 grams of sugar.
Older adults especially should be aware of the beverage’s caloric impact, says Silver. Since calorie needs gradually decrease with age, “we have to pack more nutrients into fewer calories” over time, she says. Drinks like pumpkin spice lattes, Silver says, may be “diluting essential nutrition that we all need to feel well and to be healthy today, tomorrow, next week and next year.”
The hefty amount of sugar in particular can also be a concern, given the link between sugar and conditions like diabetes and heart disease that are common, and potentially life-threatening, in older adults. Plus, Silver says, “the added sugars are harmful to one’s gut bacteria, which are responsible for overall good health, physiologically and mentally.”
“The main issue is the high sugar load,” says Grace Derocha, a registered dietitian nutritionist speaking on behalf of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. “That amount can spike blood sugar and insulin levels, leaving you feeling tired and hungry soon after.”
For adults over 50, a tasty PSL can pose more of a concern because insulin sensitivity naturally declines with age, Derocha adds. High-sugar beverages can worsen blood sugar control, triglycerides and inflammation, which are all risk factors for heart disease and type 2 diabetes, she says.
And if you’re trying to save money in (or for) retirement, the PSL can be a concern. One medium-sized latte can cost nearly $8 (plus tip). “It’s not going to keep you from paying your rent, but if you do have a lot of these coffees often, that could definitely take a dent out of your budget,” Taub-Dix says.
If, for instance, you have five a week during October and November — high season for pumpkin spice lattes — that’s about $320.
Older folks generally aren’t the biggest pumpkin spenders, though. According to a survey of about 2,200 people from Empower, millennials spend about $64 per month on pumpkin-spice-flavored products during the fall. That’s more than five times compared with baby boomers, who clock in at $12 per month.
Healthier pumpkin spice lattes
Fear not, pumpkin spice fanatics: You can have your latte and drink it too. “If you really love it, then go for it” — whipped cream and all — just not often, Taub-Dix says. “Don’t kid yourself about it by trying to lighten it up and not liking it but having that version anyway,” she says. But if you don’t mind an off-brand or customized variety, take her and Silver’s other advice:
Ask for less
Swap whole or 2 percent milk for an almond or a nonfat variety, ask the barista for fewer pumps of the pumpkin spice sauce (a traditional grande includes four), skip the whipped cream, opt for the smallest size — or try any or all of the above. “Let them know you’re looking for delicious plus nutritious,” Silver says.
Going without the whipped cream alone can save close to 100 calories — and you may not even miss it. Silver says her older clients are often surprised at how the overly sweet drinks they used to enjoy taste modified. “You can kind of train your tongue to desire less, and that’s a good thing for certain types of things, like sugar,” she says.
Make it a “skinny”
Starbucks doesn't have a “skinny” PSL on its menu, but registered dietitian Sabrina Goshen of Carmel, Indiana, has this low-calorie pumpkin coffee hack: Order a grande Blonde Caffè Americano with one pump pumpkin sauce, two pumps sugar-free vanilla and a light splash of half-and-half. Ask to put in a venti cup to allow room for the add-ins. Goshen writes in a blog post for the National Institute for Fitness and Sports that this should come to 75 calories, 7 grams of sugar and 2 grams of protein, saving you 315 calories compared with the Starbucks original.
Make your own
If you have milk, coffee and pumpkin spice (or any combination of nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon), you can experiment with making your own healthier take on the drink at home, Taub-Dix says. Try mixing in a bit of pumpkin puree or using a pumpkin-flavored brew to enhance the flavor. “Maybe even add a little bit of maple syrup so that you get the sweetness but certainly not anywhere near the 12.5 teaspoons of sugar,” she says.
Even a regular coffee with a splash of pumpkin-spice-flavored creamer might satisfy your fall cravings in a more dietitian-approved way. Just make sure you read the ingredients label and serving size first, Silver recommends.
Try an alternative
You can scratch your pumpkin spice itch without a drink altogether. Pumpkin spice muffins, for example, can contain far fewer calories than a store-bought latte and fill you up more. “A lot of people will consider the calories in food as being more detrimental for them than those that come in beverages, because they’re not chewing. And this is a perfect example of how this is just not the case,” Taub-Dix says.
Pumpkins offer a lot of health benefits. Read more about them, and find a recipe for pumpkin pie oat breakfast muffins (105 calories each, or about 300 fewer than an average pumpkin spice latte), in 8 Surprising Health Benefits of Pumpkins and Pumpkin Seeds.
And don’t overlook your other senses when you’re seeking to quench your desire for pumpkin spice. In fact, some marketing research has shown that 66 percent of Americans consider scent — not taste — the best part of the trend. “If you really don’t want any calories at all,” Taub-Dix says, “maybe buy some mulling spices and just heat them up on your stove with a little bit of liquid. Your house will smell amazing.”
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