We all love Halloween! It’s fun for all ages, but as parents, we have an extra job to make it safe as well as fun. At Root Cause Medical, we have been seeing patients for 25 years – that’s 25 Halloweens and 25 “after Halloweens” where too often patients are struggling with having ingested foods to which they react negatively and as a result feel ill, or simply overindulge in sugar, and now find themselves craving it at every turn. And that is a dangerous way to go into the holiday season!

It can be a struggle to try to keep the fun of the holiday alive, while simultaneously keeping your children (and yourself) healthy. So let me provide some ideas that have proven successful over the years.

5 Simple Tips For a Healthy Halloween

1. Feed your children (and yourself) well before leaving the house to trick or treat. I know, they’re excited and too excited to eat. Let them know the day before that this is the “rule” – they need to eat a good meal and yes, they can choose what they want to eat, within reason.

The goal is to leave the house with a full stomach. You can even consider giving them a favorite treat that is healthy before leaving the house for the same reason.

One that’s fun to make is Chocolate Bark. You can find the recipe here on our site.

2. Get your children’s agreement that they can collect all the candy they want but they can’t eat anything until they show it to you, preferably when they get back home. This is for safety, generally speaking, and for safely avoiding any foods to which your child reacts.

3. Learn safe and unsafe candy companies. Here I have included some links that are specifically gluten oriented but do your homework so that you know what is safe for you or your child.

https://celiac.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Updated-Candy-List2.pdf

https://www.nationalceliac.org/resources/gluten-free-halloween/

http://www.celiac.com/articles/24144/1/Gluten-free-Halloween-Candy-2015/Page1.html

4. Consider making an agreement with your child about the number of “safe” candies they can consume the night of Halloween and thereafter. It’s also a good time to “bribe” them with a toy they have been wanting. Candy is worth “x” amount, and they can use that dollar figure (budget constraints withstanding) to go to the toy store. Pointing out that candy is eaten and gone but a toy they love lasts for a long time, is a good persuading tactic.

5. Focus on the fun, not the food. It’s great fun to wear a costume, receive treats from neighbors and friends, and arrive home with a heavy bag of goodies. Eating said the bag doesn’t have to be the focus. Rather, how much the bag weighs or something of the sort is a good game to play. Each pound can translate into money or healthy treats that are safe to eat.

As doctors dedicated to your improved health through root cause medicine, I would be remiss to not include this word of caution. Simply because candy is gluten-free or dairy-free doesn’t mean that it is good for you. It’s still junk food. The types of candy purchased for Halloween are particularly bad because they are cheap and therefore unhealthy, in the main. They are loaded with high fructose corn sweeteners, GMO ingredients, artificial flavors and colors, preservatives, rancid nuts, etc.

Did You Know?

Did you know that when you see “sugar” on any label, that means it’s GMO? Sugar beets are a crop that is over 90% GMO. If you are avoiding GMO, as you well should, the label would need to say “cane sugar” or better yet “organic cane sugar”.

As a final note, please consider perusing the link below regarding a recent study on sugar and obesity in our children. Many companies (think Coca-Cola) have spent millions recently to try to brainwash us into believing that it’s all about calories and sugar is “fine”. Of course, the doctors at Root Cause Medical know better and we have stated so for decades. The study below isn’t new news for us, but if you’ve been “on the fence” about sugar, it’s well worth a look.

Bottom line: Sugar is responsible for metabolic syndrome including heart disease and diabetes. Eliminating added sugar in your diet and that of your children can go a long way towards reversing the two diseases that are killing millions of Americans each year.

Here’s the link.

We hope you find this helpful. There is no reason not to have fun with your little ghost or goblin and there’s also no reason for Halloween to turn into a sugar battle or result in illness. With a little planning, it can be a happy AND healthy experience.

P.S. These rules go for you too, Mom and Dad! Don’t cheat on your healthy eating plan either. Get that bad candy out of the house fast – temptation can be vicious.