Pumpkin Spice and Everything (Not So) Nice

Before you reach for the PSL hype, read this.

Note: A version of the following will appear in the Friday, October 3 edition of the Estes Park News.

Listen, I love pretty much everything pumpkin-spice flavored as much as the next white girl at Starbucks, BUT we gotta talk nutrition here for one minute before we resume the regularly scheduled programming that is PSL season.

You know, that time of year where pumpkin is everywhere. What started as pumpkin pie on Turkey Day has snowballed into pumpkin lattes, pumpkin protein powder, pumpkin beer, pumpkin marshmallows—even pumpkin Cheerios. At this point, if someone launched pumpkin toothpaste, I wouldn’t be surprised.

But here’s the thing: Most of that stuff is just sugar bombs with an orange label slapped on—and at least half of it doesn’t even have any pumpkin at all! Of course, I get it. Pumpkin, combined with cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and allspice, is nostalgia in a cup. One whiff and suddenly you’re back at grandma’s Thanksgiving table, dodging your weird uncle’s political rants.

The good news? Pumpkin itself is actually worth the hype. Strip away the syrups and processed junk, and you’ve got a nutritional powerhouse:

• One cup of pumpkin delivers nearly 200% of your daily vitamin A (hello, healthy eyes).

• It’s low-calorie, high-fiber, and keeps you fuller longer. (Translation: fewer hangry meltdowns.)

• The carotenoids that give it that traffic-cone orange color fight cancer and give your skin a natural glow (without the tanning bed).

• It’s got more potassium than bananas (great for blood pressure).With solid vitamin C, it helps guard you as cold and flu season kicks in.

• And pumpkin seeds? Loaded with tryptophan, aka your mood and sleep booster. 

So yes, you really can have your pumpkin pie and eat your vitamins too.

The trick is getting your fix without falling for every pumpkin-spiced sugar trap on the shelves. Here are a few ways to pumpkin smarter:

• Brownies, upgraded. Sub out the oil/butter and eggs in a boxed brownie mix with a 15-ounce can of pumpkin purée. You cut fat, sneak in nutrients, and end up with fudgy brownies. Nobody complains about fudgy brownies.Any baking recipe. Swap pumpkin for oil 1:1. Sometimes you won’t even notice the flavor. And if you do—well, is that really a problem?

• Smoothie glow-up. Replace berries with frozen pumpkin, toss in almond butter and spices, and suddenly you’re sipping pumpkin pie for breakfast—without the crash.

• Soup it up. Stir pumpkin (purée or chunks) into your favorite fall soups, stews, or chili. Instant creaminess, no heavy cream required.

• Roast the seeds. Season them sweet, salty, or spicy (think BBQ rub, curry, or cinnamon-sugar) and roast at 300°F for 20–30 minutes. Crunchy, customizable, snackable gold.

• More spices, less sugar. Extra cinnamon creates the illusion of sweetness without the added sugar. In fact, cinnamon has been shown to help stabilize blood sugar levels. So double the amount of spices in your baking and cut the sugar in half. More flavor, less post-pie brain fog. 

You can easily buy canned pumpkin purée when it’s on sale and stock up (usually a couple weeks before Thanksgiving to get you in the store and then again directly after to get rid of overstock), but just be sure you don’t buy pumpkin pie mix, which already has sugar and spices added to it.

Or for all you DIY-ers: making your own pumpkin purée is easy. Buy a pie pumpkin (not the giant jack-o’-lantern type), slice in half, roast until tender, scoop, blend, and freeze in portions.

Bonus tip: Everything I’ve just said about pumpkin? It also applies to its squash cousins—butternut, acorn, kabocha, delicata, hubbard, buttercup, even banana squash. Each has its own vibe—some sweeter, some nuttier—but all deliver fall comfort with real nutrition.

So yes, embrace the season. Savor the cinnamon, the nutmeg, the cozy vibes. But maybe skip the pumpkin-spice marshmallows (unless you just really want to, because hey, balance). Your body will thank you if you go straight to the source.

Be on the look out for my all-time favorite pumpkin pie recipe coming in the next couple weeks. I'll make sure you get it in your inbox before the NFL Thursday triple header next month.

Just another basic white girl in love with everything fall,

Chazz

baker. pie eater. nutritionist. coach.