IT’S FALL!! My favorite time of year to cozy up with blankets, watch Gilmore Girls, and drink a warm PSL latte that helps my skin glow. Wait.. what?
Let the PSL (Pumpkin Spice Latte) fan club rejoice:
With the right ingredients, your favorite fall-flavored coffee can help your skin build collagen!!
Mind = blown
Why is collagen important?
Collagen keeps our skin supple and healthy by:
providing structure and elasticity
holding in moisture
removing dead skin cells
producing new skin cells
Basically, it’s what gives our skin that fresh, dewy, plump, youthful look. When we’re young, our skin can keep up with collagen production; as we get older, our skin produces less and less (hence, why we wrinkle and our skin sags). We’re SUPPOSED to always be able to produce it, but because we live in a fallen world, our skin is “fallen” too and sags as we age.
The truth about collagen creams
So you might be thinking: “Can’t I just apply a collagen cream on my skin and not worry about what I eat?” No. Collagen is too big for our skin to absorb. We have to eat or topically apply the right things that help our skin PRODUCE collagen; don’t buy the expensive collagen-filled creams – they won’t work.
Applying collagen doesn’t produce collagen. You CAN apply skincare that contains ingredients that will encourage collagen production, if you’d rather go that route (hyaluronic acid is one).
How to build collagen
The other option is to help your skin produce more collagen simply through the things you eat. Below is a list of foods that boost production, and they can all be found in my beloved morning fall cup of coffee.
Disclaimer: I’m not claiming a cup of coffee can work miracles. But every little intentional step helps give our bodies the tools and building blocks needed to function the way they’re designed to, instead of making things worse like a lot of our other options.
Carotenoids:
Our bodies turn this into Vitamin A; think all things yellow and orange, including pumpkin.
Antioxidants:
These are important for all kinds of things, including helping our skin glow. Two sources? Coffee and cinnamon.
Hyaluronic Acid:
Found in foods that are rich in amino acids, one of which is soy milk.
No caffeine:
Make it a decaf. Or don’t. You’re doing so much for your skin already.
Gelatin:
Boost your daily coffee even further by adding collagen peptides (the gelatin that disolves in hot or cold liquid). This is completely flavorless and doesn’t change the texture at all. There is some skepticism about whether this actually helps our skin PRODUCE collagen or if it’s just a marketing ploy.. I’m still working on my conclusion, but it doesn’t hurt to add good-quality supplements as long as we know not to depend on them (and that they might be a waste of money)..
So there you have it, the star ingredients to a PSL that you’ll not only love, but will love you back. Unfortunately, it’s not as simple as going down to your corner coffee shop – in order to get the benefits, you need these ingredients to be REAL. Fake syrups don’t count!
Thankfully, mixing your own from real food ingredients is easy. You can find every recipe variation imaginable for a real-food pumpkin spice syrup, creamer, or latte with a quick search on Pinterest. Here’s my version:
My Recipe for a Collagen Boosting
Pumpkin Spice Latte
1/2 cup mashed Pumpkin
1/2 cup Maple Syrup
1/2 teaspoon ground Cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground Cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground Ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground Nutmeg
1-1.5 quarts Soy Milk, depending on consistency and flavor desired (personally, I would rather use half + half {for creamer} or whole milk {for lattes}, and get my hyaluronic acid here or here)
To make the base: Mix pumpkin, maple syrup, and spices until combined. Then gently whisk in milk of choice and pour into a container to refrigerate. You can either use this as creamer for your coffee, or as the base for your latte (highly recommend). Brew coffee, add creamer plus 1-2 tbsp. collagen peptides if desired, and stir.
To make a latte: Pour 1 cup base into a frother (like this. It also makes amazing hot chocolate, fyi). Turn on and froth either hot or cold. Make espresso in mug of choice (I love my Aeropress – all flavor, no bitterness, and way cheaper than an espresso machine). Then pour your frothed base into the mug of espresso, add collagen peptides if desired, stir and enjoy!
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