Heartburn-Free Pumpkin Spice Drinks and Snacks
Autumn is here, and it seems every latte, muffin and cookie is pumpkin spiced. While your tongue may crave the sweet, comforting flavors, your sensitive stomach might pay the price with painful acid reflux.
Create Your Own Pumpkin Spice Fall Foods
Many of your favorite fall foods and drinks are highly processed and contain preservatives and artificial flavors and colors. You can enhance almost any beverage, snack or breakfast item with natural ingredients to make your own pumpkin spice versions that won’t cause heartburn. You’ll need:
- Canned pumpkin puree
- A customized pumpkin spice blend of cinnamon, clove, ginger and nutmeg
Here are a few heartburn-friendly pumpkin spice drinks and snacks you can create at home:
- Pumpkin Spice Latte — Make this fall classic at home by warming some almond milk on the stove. Stir in 1 tablespoon of pumpkin puree, some maple syrup or agave, and a dash of your pumpkin spice blend. Pour into a mug with decaffeinated coffee.
- Pumpkin seeds — Roasted, lightly salted and pleasantly crunchy, pumpkin seeds are a perfect snack. You may also like pepitas, roasted pumpkin seeds with the shells removed. Sprinkle some pumpkin spice blend on the seeds and enjoy.
- Pumpkin spice hummus — Create your own fall hummus with pumpkin puree, chickpeas, tahini, cumin and pumpkin spice blend.
- Pumpkin Spice Oatmeal — Make traditional or steel-cut oat porridge according to package instructions. Add one tablespoon of canned pumpkin, a pinch of salt and a dash of your homemade pumpkin spice blend.
- Pumpkin Yogurt — Add one tablespoon of pumpkin puree to plain yogurt and sweeten with honey or agave. If dairy products aggravate heartburn, try a plant-based yogurt like soy yogurt
- Pumpkin Pancakes or Waffles — Bypass the frozen waffle section at the grocery store and make your own with whole wheat flour, eggs, coconut oil, baking powder, nondairy milk, pumpkin puree and one teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice. Add a little drizzle of maple syrup and breakfast is served!
Call Your Gastroenterologist
If you are experiencing heartburn on a regular basis, make an appointment with a gastroenterologist before the end of the year. Chronic acid reflux is a symptom of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD ), a serious health condition that requires prompt treatment.