All Treats and No Tricks:
10 Wicked Ideas for a Healthier Halloween
By Crave Health Intern, Sarah Altvater
It’s that time of the year again. Supermarket and drugstore aisles are flooded with sugary sweets in preparation for the scariest holiday of the year: Halloween. But it’s not just the temporary invasion of witches, ghosts, and goblins that makes Halloween a freaky time. The link between excess calorie consumption, obesity, and type 2 diabetes is a frightening fact (1). As the prevalence of these conditions in children continues to increase (2, 3), it’s hard to feel good about distributing empty calorie snacks to every kid in the neighborhood on October 31st.
With these concerns in mind we scoured the stores to locate some healthier candy and candy alternatives for trick-or-treat giveaways.
We used the following guidelines to use in the search for our top ten treat picks:
- Dark chocolate. Numerous studies show that polyphenols in dark chocolate are beneficial for cardiovascular health (4). A higher cocoa percentage correlates to a higher concentration of these antioxidants; the higher the cocoa percentage, the better.
- No High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS). Cane sugar and other more natural, less processed sweeteners like evaporated cane juice, fruit juice concentrate, honey, maple syrup, molasses, and brown rice syrup are more desirable.
- Natural colors and/or flavors. Avoiding artificial ingredients is always a good idea. Natural color substances include spices like turmeric and vegetable and fruit juices like black carrot, beet, and currant. Examples of natural flavors include lemon peel and oil of wintergreen.
- “Real food” ingredients. Treats with fruit, nuts, seeds, and/or whole grains like oats and brown rice get a nutritional boost from the fiber, healthy fats, and a variety of vitamins and minerals. The soluble fiber in fruit and oats, plus the protein and fat in nuts actually helps slow down the rate at which sugar enter the bloodstream, preventing sugar “highs” and “lows,” which can be of benefit, especially on Halloween night.
With all this in mind, here are our top ten treat ideas for Halloween 2011. We’re confident all of these items will make your house the hit of the block:
1. Endangered Species chocolate. Kids will love the taste of these heart-healthy dark chocolate squares and, as an added bonus, 10% of the net profits go to a good cause. $6.99 for 20 individually wrapped squares; available at Whole Foods Market
3. Yummy Earth Organic Gummy Bears. These bears aren’t as nutritionally lacking as other gummies as they’re sweetened with real fruit extracts and contain no artificial colors. yummyearth.com; $5.99 for 30 individual packs; available at Whole Foods Market.
4. Organic Brown Rice Marshmallow Treats. Unlike the conventional puffed rice treats which contain nutrient-void white rice and HFCS, these bars contain whole grain brown rice and are sweetened with brown rice syrup and evaporated cane juice. $2.99 for 5 individually wrapped bars; available at Trader Joe’s.
5. 100-Calorie 70% Dark Chocolate Bars. One of these bars is a great small portion alternative to a full size candy bar. $2.99 for a 5 individually wrapped bars; available at Trader Joe’s.
6. Archer Farms Wild Berry Real Fruit Strips. The first ingredient is real organic fruit and the berry color is from carrot and blueberry juices. $5.99 for 24 individually wrapped strips; available at Target.
7. Halloween-themed School Supplies. Kids can put these fun pencils, erasers, and notepads to good use at school and will have fun showing them off in class the next morning. $1.00 for each package or pencils, erasers, and/or notepads; available at Target.
8. Erin Baker’s The Original Breakfast Cookie Minis (Peanut Butter). The whole grain oats and prune puree give this healthier cookie 2 grams fiber while the peanut butter adds to the 3 grams of protein to each one. $3.35 for eight individually wrapped cookies; available at PCC Markets.
9. Kashi Dark Chocolate Coconut Fruit and Grain Bar. This crunchy, high fiber granola bar has a layer of dark chocolate that makes it taste like a candy bar. $3.98 for eight individually wrapped bars; available at Fred Meyer.
10. Play-Doh Fun-sized Cans. Around since the 1950’s, it’s still a blast to play with. $6.99 for 20 mini canisters; available at Fred Meyer.
We wish you a safe, happy, and healthy Halloween and welcome any questions, comments, or concerns you may have about the information in this article.
One last thing: if you’re wondering what to do with leftover Halloween candy, you might be able to bring it to your local dentist’s office and score some loot. Information about the “Halloween Candy Buy Back” program can be found here: http://www.halloweencandybuyback.com/ Enter your zip code in the upper right-hand corner to find a participating dentist.
Sarah
References:
1. Mahan LK, Escott-Stump S. Krause’s Food & Nutrition Therapy. 12th ed. St. Louis, MO: Saunders; 2008: 236
2. Source: National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Division of Adolescent and School Health. Childhood Obesity Facts. CDC Web site. http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/obesity/facts.htm. Updated September 15, 2011. Accessed September 24, 2011.
3. Source: National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Division of Diabetes Translation. Diabetes Facts Page. CDC Web site. http://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/projects/cda2.htm. Updated May 20, 2011. Accessed September24, 2011.
4. Corti, R, Flammer AJ, Hollenberg NK, et al. Cocoa and Cardiovascular Health. Journal of the American Heart Association. 2009;119(10);1433-1441.
