Halloween tricks for healthier treating

Are you a little overwhelmed by what to do with all the sugar every Halloween? How do you handle what to do with all the candy?

I laughed watching the boys play in a giant corn pit, thinking about all the candy corn made with high-fructose corn syrup coming their way soon. 😂

But I don’t worry about it because I’ve figured out how to balance their fun with keeping them healthy! Save this post because I’ve got a bunch of tips for how to manage your kids’ mountain of candy!

I’m not going to tell you to take away all your kids’ candy. But I do believe in providing some “healthier” candy alternatives because what kind of sugar and how much is super critical. 

I refuse to participate in purchasing candy pumped with the synthetic high-fructose corn syrup. You might think, but hey, it’s not that big of a deal! But I’ll tell you why it is.

Regular sugar (sucrose), made from naturally-occurring ingredients like cane sugar, beets, even corn syrup (less ideal), breaks down in your digestive system into the bonded molecules of fructose and glucose in a way that can be absorbed by your body. It’s not good for you, but it’s a stable compound. 

High-fructose corn syrup is synthetically made and an unbalanced sugar, with more fructose than glucose (hence the name “high-fructose) and the molecules are not naturally bonded. So that extra fructose wreaks havoc on your body, as it is metabolized in the liver.

Metabolic problems such as insulin resistance, obesity, and unhealthful cholesterol and triglyceride levels are all directly related with what’s essentially fructose poisoning. Even small amounts create extreme spikes in blood sugar, extra energy diverted to problem-solving fructose’s effects on your body, and therefore, diverted away from your immune system, among other critical functions.

There’s a lot more to this, but essentially if you can find candy with real sugar, you’re winning! 

Here are my tips for how to let your kids enjoy their Halloween treats while keeping them healthy:

• Tell you kids ahead of time that you’re buying them some extra special treats. Some ideas are candy/chocolate/granola bars/cookies with organic ingredients, made with real sugar (cane sugar, beet sugar or even corn syrup) and that have a lower sugar content.
• Keep that in mind the sugar per serving when buying your treats. Between 4-7 grams of sugar is considered by nutritionists to be the max for children. It’s hard to find in any candy, so beware!
• Let them trick or treat to their heart’s desire! And remind them to get really good candy because they can pick out and keep X amount of their favorites. 😉 
• Help them sort through their booty and pick their favorites to keep.
• Then they turn in the rest to get the alternative goodies you purchased.
• Allow a small amount of candy each day at the end of a meal. When the digestive juices are flowing, that’s a better time for that extra sugar to be introduced. 
• When you allow them to indulge a bit more, the best way to combat too much sugar is with hydration, protein & healthy fat, fiber, greens, and probiotics. So keep your kids hydrated more than usual. Make sure they are getting meals with high-protein and fiber content and more greens than usual. You can even use this as a bargaining technique!
• Don’t be hard on yourself. We all make changes at the pace that’s right for us. Awareness is the first step and just by reading this you’re on a good path to considering a new approach.

I found a couple options this year that were a good compromise to give out to trick-or-treaters. The Yum Earth candy corn is organic and free of all allergens except egg and annatto. The Black Forest gummies are not organic, but made with corn syrup and real fruit juice. Both are still high in sugar (14g and 21g respectively) but I hope it’s a good alternative to other things in kids’ baskets.

Hope your Halloween is super fun!