Healthier Halloween

If you’ve been feeling stressed and notice that your cravings for sweets are a little out of control, it is normal. Sweet foods light up the reward center of the brain and reduce your body’s stress response.

The problem is that when you eat a lot of sweets, your blood sugar will spike and then crash, leaving you super fatigued and looking for more sugar as a “pick me up.” Having CF can drain your energy enough, so it’s important to find balance with your sweet food choices.

This weekend, your cravings along with the abundance of leftover Halloween candy sitting on your kitchen counter will make things a little challenging, but here are some tips to enjoying a healthier Halloween.

Stabilize your blood sugar this Halloween weekend by ensuring your meals combine healthy fats, protein, carbs and fiber. If you want candy, have your healthy balanced meal first, then enjoy a couple of your favorites. If you’d like to stick to the “healthier” Halloween treats, here are a few lower sugar options:

Hershey’s kisses 7.7 grams of sugar in 3 pieces

Peanut M & M’s- The fun size pack has 9 grams of sugar, but here you get some protein and fiber from the peanuts which will prevent the blood sugar spike and may be more satisfying

Nestle’s Crunch or Kit Kat fun size - 1 piece has 7 grams of sugar

Mr Goodbar fun size -again the peanuts are helpful and one fun size treat has about 3.5 grams of sugar

The ones to skip:

Candy Corn- it has 15 grams of sugar in just 15 of those little pieces.

Now & Later- these little goodies have so much sugar along with unhealthy artificial colors and vegetable oils. Your dentist will thank you for bypassing these

Skittles-these are also loaded with sugar and artificial colors and corn syrup and have over 11 grams of sugar in the fun size pack

All hope is not lost though!

Next week I’ll give you the good news about chocolate (hint: it’s actually good for you!)

Have a happy and safe Halloween!