Halloween is a time of year when some families struggle with sugar consumption. If your family "Trick or Treat's" or passes out candy, here are some ideas to limit your families intake of candy this year. We always recommend limiting the consumption of sugar. This is important for your kids, too.

If you have children who want to go door to door "Trick or Treating", offer money in exchange for the candy (a penny/nickel/dime per piece) or by weight of the bag. Or, a special shopping trip to purchase an item of their choice in exchange for all or some of the candy.

If you have passed out candy in the past, try something else instead. Some good ideas are: Coins, Small Toys (Dollar Store items), Apples, Stickers, small Lara Bars, Pencils, or Raisins.

Another alternative is to host your own Harvest Party with lots of healthy food choices, play games, or watch a movie.

An interesting observation we have seen is that kids and adults who eat healthy food regularly often get a stomach ache and feel fatigued or hyper very soon after one bad meal of processed food or a sugar-laden dessert.  People who eat these bad foods regularly do not get the instant, noticeable stomach ache or fatigue. However, they suffer other long term problems that go away when they change to a whole food diet. 

On Halloween night, if your child eats a lot of sugar and doesn't get a stomach ache or become hyper or fatigued, that is a problem.  He or she is being fed bad food too regularly.  If your child does suffer from eating the candy, then their overall diet is relatively better.  Either way, end the suffering by using healthy alternatives.

Make this year a happy, healthy one for your whole family.

Sincerely,

The NHCAA Team
The Nutritional Healing Center