Glowing Skin Smoothie With a Pumpkin Twist Recipe

When the air turns crisp you can find us swapping our summer tanks for knit sweaters, trading in iced cold brews for warm frothy lattes and stocking our cupboards with, you guessed it – pumpkin puree. Not only is canned organic pumpkin puree inexpensive, versatile and easy-to-store, it’s jam-packed with skin enhancing and disease defending compounds like vitamin A and vitamin K, with 1 cup fulfilling 44% of the daily recommended vitamin K intake for adult women. Bet you didn’t know that the beta-Carotene pigment that lends your favorite fall veggie its bright orange hue is converted by the liver into vitamin A. 

If clear skin is on your agenda, then vitamin A, also known as retinol, is an important nutrient to load onto your daily plate. “[Retinol] smooths and refines skin’s texture, enhances skin radiance and treats aging,” explained licensed esthetician Amanda von dem Hagen in an interview with TODAY. A 2016 study published in the journal of Lipids in Health and Disease even found that wound-induced rats topically treated with pumpkin oil exhibited healed wounds unlike the groups treated with saline solution or a topical drug. 

If that doesn’t impress you, an earlier comparative study found that diets rich in beta-Carotene can protect cells from damage and delay the onset of premature skin aging and skin cancer. According to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, guarding your healthy cells from damage triggered by free radicals may help in lowering your risk for inflammatory diseases like heart disease and certain types of cancers linked to oxidative stress. When it comes to keeping diseases at a distance, the vitamin K in canned pumpkin is just as powerful as retinol with results from one study correlating diets high in vitamin K intake to a diminished risk of contracting non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

We’re *major* glow getters always on the hunt for natural, nutrient-dense foods guaranteed to give our skin a radiant boost, while defending our cells against damage. With all the evidence-based research backing up pumpkin as a disease preventing and skin enhancing superfood, there’s no doubt that we’ll be sipping on our healthy, glowing skin smoothie this fall. Spiced with cinnamon, naturally sweetened with maple syrup and thickened with good-for-your-gut coconut yogurt, this fall inspired recipe does not skimp on flavor. Grab your favorite metal straw and get ready to drink yourself to a glowing, blemish free and smoother complexion with our pumpkin packed smoothie! 

Glowing Skin Smoothie with a Pumpkin Twist

Makes 1 Serving 

Ingredients 

• 1 frozen banana
• ½ cup unsweetened plain coconut yogurt 
• ½ cup canned pumpkin puree 
• ½ cup unsweetened coconut milk 
• 1 tbsp smooth almond butter 
• ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon 
• ¼ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice 

Steps 

Notes