Why You Shouldn’t Indulge in Sweets on Halloween
It’s hard to deny anyone the chance to pig out on candy when Halloween comes around. After all, it’s the one day out of the year when people feel the absolute need to stock up on sweets and allow their children to indulge. But what if you’re doing more damage than good?
Most every piece of candy that goes into your child’s bucket or bag is filled with highly processed and refined sugar that has absolutely no nutritional value. It is a quick buzz from the sugars that exist in abundance with each sweet bite. With refined sugar there are no other nutrients or ingredients that allow for the ease of absorption into the body. Without such things as enzymes, fiber, vitamins, and other nutrients to slow the intake of sugars that are found in natural foods, refined sugar hits the liver with a heavy punch that makes it hard to metabolize and can cause fatty tissues to build up. This in turn can cause an unhealthy amount of fat to develop on the liver, which can prove problematic and potentially harmful in the long term.
Sugar is also known to affect the immune system, acting as a damper to the white blood cells that are used to fight off infection and illness. When the white blood cell count in the body is too low this means the that the immune system can’t work properly, which means that it can’t fight off invading bacteria as efficiently. Refined sugars can have the unfortunate effect of dampening down the immune system only a short time after being ingested, and can last for several hours. Being that Halloween is located right in the thick of cold and flu season, the consumption of mass amounts of refined sugar seems less than optimal when weighed against its potential effects.
Natural sugars that are found in foods are often balanced out by the other ingredients that surround and bind them, and are not nearly as harmful as refined sugars, which can create a dependency in the body as they leech nutrients and cause a hunger for more sugar. Added to this, refined sugars also are known to contribute to weight gain, stomach issues, and even diabetes in some cases. Many of these are worst case scenarios for those who engage in eating sugary foods and candies without regulating themselves, but they are effective warnings for those who might think of over-indulging over the Halloween holiday.
There are healthy alternatives to candy on Halloween that can help to balance out and even counter the addictive sugar cravings that are so prevalent among both kids and adults. Regulation of sugar intake is of course among the top practices of many parents. This can mean allowing one of two pieces of candy after meals, and rationing out a child’s candy over a period of time. If you don’t wish to indulge at all, there are always many healthy alternatives that can be practiced on Halloween, such as making healthy snacks that are fun to eat and contribute to the feel of the holiday. While they are not typically acceptable to hand out to trick or treaters, they are still very acceptable and quite preferable to many parents when considering their child’s nutrition.
There are literally hundreds of recipes and fun ideas for healthy snacks that can brighten your Halloween holiday and entertain your children. Sugar is a large part of the Halloween holiday and has been for many years, but regardless of this it is not the only part. Keep your children, and yourself, healthier and happier this holiday by sticking to natural, more wholesome foods that can keep your body running the way it should.
