FUN!ctional Fitness

Scary movies, costumes, pumpkin flavored EVERYTHING, jack-o-lanterns, spooky decorations, candy… it’s not hard to figure out why Halloween is my favorite holiday of the year.  I have many a fond memory of trick or treating as a kid.  My brothers and I used to take giant pillow cases with us as we visited different neighborhoods, and by the end of the night they would be filled to the brim.  Then we would come home, dump out our loot, toss out all the apples and toothbrushes from houses we swore we’d never visit again, and stuff our faces with candy until we passed out from a sugar coma.  Those were the days…

Unfortunately, this kind of behavior isn’t really conducive to a healthy lifestyle.  I will always and forever condone eating sweets… in moderation.  We are human, after all, and enjoying the taste of food is one of the great pleasures of life.  So why shouldn’t we be allowed to indulge a little here and there?  Why should we deprive our kids of some Halloween fun?  But gorging on candy Halloween night (and more than likely the weeks leading up to Halloween as well as post-Halloween leftovers) is taking things a little too far.  This kind of over-consumption is a one way ticket to type 2 diabetes.  That sounds more like a “trick” than a “treat” to me.

Lucky for you, I found this spooktacular (sorry, I had to) article from the Huffington Post that reveals the scary details of what lies inside various types of Halloween candy… well, as far as calories and fat are concerned.  The results are terrifying.  Fortunately, the article also gives some helpful tips on how to pare down on the mass consumption of candy while still letting your kids enjoy the holiday.  It even goes so far as to address kids with gluten allergies, celiac disease, or diabetes.  Not bad, eh?

So go have fun and let your kids trick or treat… just don’t let those treats trick you!

Tags: candy, celiac disease, diabetes, gluten allergy, Halloween, Huffington Post, trick or treat