You might think it’s crazy to try and find healthy Halloween candy – and you’d be partially right. While it’s not realistic to find “healthy” candy, there are some candies that are a better option than others.
When choosing candy, there’s always a few things to keep in mind.
- Fat. First and foremost, take into consideration the amount of fat in a serving. Especially take into account the amount of trans fat and saturated fat. Saturated fat has been linked with higher levels of cholesterol and triglycerides, so try to keep your total daily saturated fat intake less than 10% of your total calories. This means you should choose candy with a minimum of saturated fat. Trans fat is even worse than saturated fat. Trans fats aren’t broken down in your body properly, and they increase your LDL (bad) cholesterol and decrease your HDL (good) cholesterol. Remember that if it’s less than .5 grams per serving can still be listed as “0 grams trans fat”. You’ll have to wait until 2018 before trans fats are completely gone from the market. In the meantime, watch for partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.
- High Fructose Corn Syrup. There’s controversy over whether or not the body processes high fructose corn syrup differently than regular table sugar. But one thing is certain – as levels of high fructose corn syrup have increased so have levels of obesity and diabetes. It’s better to just avoid high fructose corn syrup in foods and stick to plain old sugar.
- Sugar. Even though you should stick to “plain old sugar” in foods (and candy), its better not to go overboard. Keep in mind that it only takes 4 grams of sugar to make one teaspoon.
- Dental Health. Dentists have a love/hate relationship with this time of year. Sure, all those cavities are good for business (they have to make a living too), but they also don’t like to see their patients come in with cavities and tooth decay. All those delicious suckers and chewy candies contribute to both cavities and tooth decay. Any time that a really sugary food stays in the mouth for an extended period of time, there’s an increased risk for cavities and tooth decay. Having the sugary candies in the mouth causes an increased production of saliva, which changes the pH of the mouth and makes it ideal for dental problems.
- Portion Size. No matter what type of candy you choose, remember that a little goes a long ways. Just because dark chocolate is good for you (all those antioxidants, not to mention the mouth feel of the dark chocolate melting over your tongue – it just helps raise your endorphin levels, let’s face it), it doesn’t mean that you should eat the whole bag. While the nutrition facts for a type of candy might look good – take a look at the serving size and be honest about how many pieces you’ve had.
5 WORST Candy Choices
- Candy corn – filled with sugar, high fructose corn syrup, artificial flavors, preservatives and artificial coloring. I'm not gonna lie, I love me some candy corn. But its so addicting and so unhealthy that I just have to skip out on it altogether.
- Suckers – a great way to see your dentist more often than you’d like with all that sugar just hanging out in your mouth.
- Starbursts – another great way to spend more quality time with your dentist. Not to mention all the high fructose corn syrup and artificial coloring and flavors these tasty treats are filled with.
- Skittles – even though you get to eat the colors of the rainbow, these are full of sugar, high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils and artificial flavors
- Sour Patch – loaded with sugar and acidic, which wears away teeth enamel.
These sweet treats are much better options for you to snack on – just remember not to go overboard.
5 Healthier Candy Choices
- Fun sized peanut M & M’s – a great portion size (just make sure you don’t eat a couple handfuls from the bag and call that fun sized), not to mention it’s got chocolate and a tiny bit of fiber from those peanuts, which also have a tiny bit of protein.
- Twizzler – the ultimate low fat candy. It’s low in sugar and doesn’t have all those trans and saturated fats.
- Hershey miniatures – another great portion controlled food. They’ve also only got 4 grams of sugar per bar.
- Smarties – another great portion controlled snack. They’re pure sugar, but its sugar, and not high fructose corn syrup. There is also only 6 grams of sugar per roll of smarties.
- Dark chocolate – anything dark chocolate (with reasonable portion sizes) is always a good choice.
I hope this post will help you to make better choices this Halloween. And remember, candy is not food, so don't be afraid to just toss it in the trash. I myself don't like the temptation so it ends up in the trash can pretty quickly in my house.
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