Pumpkin lattes & other milkshakes
The shocking truth
Restaurants use the word “treats” when talking about pumpkin spice lattes and other enticing milkshakes, but they are really cups full of health risks. If you avoid sodas because of their sugar content, you’re not alone! One typical can of Coke (12-oz) has 39 grams of sugar, which is a meaningless number until you realize that 39 grams of sugar is about 10 teaspoons of sugar! To get this number all you have to do is divide the grams of sugar by 4. (So, 39 g ÷ 4 = 9.75 tsp)
Let’s look at the sugar content in popular milkshakes:
- A 16-ounce cup of Starbucks’ peppermint mocha has 54 grams of sugar, which is 13 teaspoons of sugar.
- A regular Oreo shake from Jack in the Box has 74 grams of sugar, which is 17 teaspoons of sugar.
- A medium size McDonald’s chocolate milkshake has 85 grams of sugar, which is 20 teaspoons of sugar.
Do you think restaurants care if we get diabetes or heart disease? Are they trying to get us hooked on these addicting drinks so we keep giving them money? Every time we drink one of those we cause injury to our arteries, our blood pressure, our blood sugar, our kidneys, our liver, and our overall health.
This blog doesn’t even mention the dangerously high fat and cholesterol content all these drinks have, the kind that likes to stick to your arteries and cause serious health problems, like heart attacks and stroke.
A delicious alternative
If you’re craving something sweet, try this delicious and easy dessert:
Sweet Potato Bites
1 lb white, orange, or purple sweet potatoes (peeled and cut into cubes. Save the peel for a soup ingredient or other recipes)
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/3 cup ground macadamia nuts (or peanuts or sesame seeds)
1 dash ground cinnamon
Boil or steam the potatoes until tender, then mash potatoes with sugar. Once cool to handle, roll ptoatoes into walnut-size balls. Spread a layer of ground nuts of your choice or sesame seeds onto a clean surface and roll the potato balls in the nuts to coat. Drizzle with cinnamon.
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