Tips to a Healthier Halloween

It's that season again where candy, sweet treats, and other goodies are everywhere you look! While indulging in a piece of candy or two on occasion can be a part of a healthful diet, consuming too many sweet treats at one time can leave with a stomach ache and will put you over your daily limit for grams of added sugar.  In this blog, you’ll find tips to a healthier Halloween, so you can enjoy the season with your friends and family while still sticking to your nutrition goals.

Hand Out Healthier Treats or Try Out Non-Food Treats

Some of the best aspects of Halloween for many consists of handing out candy at the door, seeing all of the children in fun costumes, and getting to eat the leftover candy from handing out at the door during trick-or-treating night. One way to have a healthier Halloween is to try handing out healthier treats or non-food treats (small toys, bubbles, pencils). That way, when there are inevitable leftovers for you to munch on, they are healthier treats without as much sugar, while also providing healthy alternatives for the kids. You also still get to enjoy the festivities of Halloween with handing out treats or toys at the door during trick-or-treating and seeing all of the children enjoying the night! Try these mix & match recipes below to find a trail-mix the kids will love and so will you:

Mix and Match Ingredients for Trail-Mix

-Nuts: Almonds, pistachios, cashews, walnuts, peanuts

-Seeds (good substitute for those with peanut allergies): Roasted pumpkin seeds, sunflower, flax, hemp seeds

-Dried Fruit: Dried apples, cranberries, banana chips, pineapple chunks, raisins, mango

-Grains: Oats, Cheerios, Chex Rice Cereal, air-popped popcorn

-Sweets: M&Ms, dark chocolate chips, mini marshmallows, yogurt-covered raisins

Eat a nutritious meal before going out trick-or-treating

Before you enjoy the night with your kids trick-or-treating, try eating a nutritious and balanced meal before going out. Balancing protein, grains, vegetables and dairy should allow for optimal intake of any nutrient your body might be craving that could later disguise itself as a craving for sugary candy.

Moderation and Portion Sizes are Key

As mentioned previously, indulging in a piece or two of candy won’t sabotage your health and wellness efforts. If you have a large bucket of candy in your house calling your name, try to set aside one piece per day for you to have as a treat, rather than eating multiple pieces at one time.

In addition to moderation, portion sizes will help you be conscious of your health this Halloween. Luckily, the candy that gets handed out at Halloween is fun-sized. Imagine if it was tradition to hand out regular sized or king-sized candy on trick or treating night – that might make things for difficult.  

See the difference: 

A  King size Snickers® bar has 510 calories, 24 g of fat, 63 g of carb, and 255mg of sodium. Compare that to a fun size Snickers® with only 72 calories, 3.7 g of fat, 7 g of carb and 35 mg of sodium, the fun size is definitely the way to go.

Even if you end up eating two pieces of a fun sized Snickers®, you still are consuming less than 1/3 of the amount of calories and fat than the King size candy bar. Eating a couple pieces of fun sized candy will satisfy your sweet tooth while still being conscious of your nutrition.

Healthier Alternatives

Another way to have a healthier Halloween is to find alternatives to replace those candy bars. There are many healthier options that will satisfy your cravings in place of a candy bar. As an example, the trail-mix recipes listed above are a great way to have a sweet treat. The dried fruit and dark chocolate chips will satisfy your sweet craving, while the dark chocolate provides antioxidants and the nuts provide some healthy fat to your snack. Also, put those pumpkins to use and dry/roast your pumpkin seeds for another healthy snack. Add some of your favorite seasonings when roasting and you have a crunchy, tasty, healthy snack!

If healthify-ing your Halloween is of interest to you, we hope you find these tips helpful!

Happy Halloween! 

-West Lakes Hy-Vee Dietitians Team