In a few days, on October 31^st, the Western World and a few other countries in the world, will be celebrating the holiday known as Halloween. With this holiday, most typically and traditionally, come the so called “treats”, such as chocolates, lollipops, gum and all sorts of other candies.

Kids and many adults who enjoy this holiday get dressed up and while the kids usually go out trick-or-treating, adults venture off to various ghoulish Halloween parties.

There is fun and excitement in the air! Some spooky sights and eerie music is played and generally speaking everyone is having a great time. Everyone that is, except your pancreas – and a few other organs as well.

So as fun and exciting as this holiday can be, living in the enlightened times that we do, we have to be aware and accept the fact that during Halloween, our bodies and health have the potential to seriously suffer.

We cannot deny the fact that the way Halloween is set up today, it is not making things any better where our obesity, diabetes and ADHD levels, especially in children, are concerned.  We also cannot hide behind the excuse of “Oh it’s just one day”, because the treats collected in that one day usually last and have ongoing effects for at least the next few months.

Hence this article will share with you some ideas of how to have a fun and healthy Halloween, whether you are giving out treats to the children OR you are the parent of a child going out to collect treats. Ultimately, where optimal health is concerned, we have to understand that we can still enjoy and participate in the fun of Halloween, without stressing our bodies and diminishing our health in the process.

Where Did Halloween and All the Candy Come From?

Halloween originated in Ireland, as a Celtic, pre-Christian festival to celebrate the end of the harvest season. Over the first few centuries, it acquired some religious ties to All Saints Day, which falls on November 1^st.

In present-day Ireland, adults and children dress up as “scary” creatures (e.g., ghosts, ghouls, zombies, witches and goblins), light bonfires, and enjoy firework displays. Dressing up originated from the belief that the dead walked the Earth this night and hence one wanted to “blend-in” when in the outdoors.

This gradually evolved into trick-or-treating because children would knock on their neighbors’ doors, in order to gather fruit, nuts, and sweets for the Halloween festival.

The commercialization of Halloween in the United States did not start until the 20th century. Mass-produced Halloween costumes did not appear in stores until the 1930s, and trick-or-treating did not become a fixture of the holiday until the 1950s.

Since the 1990s, many manufacturers began producing a larger variety of Halloween home and yard decorations, and hence today turned the holiday into an economy boosting event. Today, Halloween is 2^nd after Christmas for decorating one’s home.

As the Western world became more hooked on this holiday and kids regularly would dress up and go trick-or-treating, pressure resonated back to Europe, where countries like the United Kingdom became heavily influenced. In fact, between 2001 and 2006, consumer spending in the UK for Halloween rose tenfold!

Why Today’s Halloween Treats Are NOT Treats At All

So here we have this fun holiday with all sorts of wonderful traditions attached to it, but today we are no longer giving out treats, like nuts, fruits or home-baked goods.

Today on Halloween, the most popular “treats” given out consist of:

• Chips with saturated and trans fats
• Chocolates with loads of refined sugar and bad fats
• Gum with artificial sweeteners, colors and flavors
• Lollipops and candy full of refined sugars, artificial flavors and colors

I understand that gone are the “good old days” where we can trust baked-goods and fruits and such from strangers, but do we have to resort to “poisoning” our kids – seriously?

All it takes is for anyone of us to consciously consider the above items. Why are we giving these items, that have all negative and no positive health effects to the kids we so preciously love and want to protect?

Perhaps a few of us waking up won’t make a difference, perhaps we need to re-structure how we “treat” and see Halloween as a country. That would be great, but in my opinion we cannot afford the time to sit back and wait till the Health Ministry or government enforces something.

After all we are EACH capable of drawing our own intelligent conclusions and responsible for our own health and for the health of the kids in our care. I would love to say that “treats” are what they used to be in the past, but the truth whether sad or not, is that they are not.

Today’s “treats” greatly increase the risk or occurrence of the following:

• Type 2 diabetes
• ADD and ADHD
• Lowered Immune Function
• Digestive Disturbances
• Increased Acidity Levels
• Weight Problems
• Increased bad and decreased good cholesterol
• Energy Fluctuations
• Mood Fluctuations that can lead to depression
• Irregular Sleep
• Poor Oral Health
• Poor Skin Health
• Cancers

Healthy Tips for Giving Out “Treats” On Halloween

If you are choosing to participate in giving out treats for Halloween, here are some ideas to incorporate to give all the kids a happy and yet healthy Halloween.

1. “Healthier” Processed Treats

As more and more people are becoming health conscious, companies are slowly starting to follow suit. Start by looking in health food stores for healthier Halloween “treat” options.

For example, thanks to two of our readers here on Evolving Wellness, Jimmy and Rain, I was introduced to Salba Healthy Halloween Krispy Rice Bars.

These rice bars are individually packaged for Halloween distribution and guess what – they are made with NO REFINED SUGAR. That is right, just like their original size version Salba Krispy Rice Bars, these are not only gently sweetened naturally, but also made with whole grain rice cereal and contain some organic ingredients!

These are also vegan-friendly, 100% natural, wheat free, trans fat free and peanut and nut free.

You can find Salba Krispy Rice Bars in the Halloween version in most local Canadian health food stores and they cost around $5 – $6 for a 24 bar package. You have to admire their packaging too, as the bars come in a simple brown paper bag that is 100% compostable (except for the tin tie)!

2. Nuts, Seeds or Dried Fruit

Yes, we can still go back to the good old days as many famous nut companies make Halloween versions of individually packed nut, seed or dried fruit packets.

Simply look for salt-free, sulfite-free and artificial flavor free varieties.

3. Pencils, Erasers, Stickers, etc.

How healthy can we go? Well why not give children some fun and cute, Halloween inspired pencils, pens, stickers or erasers. Most dollar stores sell these in packs of about a dozen for a dollar. The best part is, kids can still trick-or-treat, use these for school or hobbies and stay healthy at the same time.

Healthy Tips for Parents of Trick-or-Treaters

First and foremost, remember you are the parent. Therefore you have the power and control to enforce or guide your kids in the right direction and the earlier you start with this the easier it will be on you and them.

First, if the kids are over 5 you can start to talk to your child about the “treats” they are collecting and the effect they have on their body. Trust me, if you take this seriously, the kids will take this seriously. They usually understand more than we give them credit for. Naturally the older they are the higher are the chances of them correlating the “treats” with negative effects on their own body.

Secondly, never forcefully deny them the “treats”. Remember from your own personal experience, the more someone tells us “no”, the more we want whatever we are being denied.

Thirdly, model the behavior you want them to live out. Your kids will not take you or your words seriously, as long as you indulge in these items and consider them treats yourself. One can do this by being a strong and most importantly consistent role model and eliminating these items from regular home use. Don’t forget this will offer your health amazing benefits too.

When the teenage kids I work with ask me for traditional treats, I respond with, “If I wanted to treat you, I would give you some fruit”. Naturally I explain this further to those who need an explanation, but the bottom line is we should start being truthful with our kids on what really is a “treat” for them.

Finally, Halloween is also a good time to teach kids about charity and sharing. You can go out and collect the so called treats and then donate it to a homeless shelter or charity organization. (Don’t get me wrong I am not proposing the less fortunate should eat poorly, but there is a greater lesson to be learned here for the kids.) Ultimately, you can throw out any items (this will be most of them), which are unfit for your children to ingest where their health is concerned.

Conclusion

Hence, remember getting healthy does not mean losing all the fun of this or any other holiday. One can still enjoy or make Halloween a fun event, while being healthy.

We simply have to face the truth of how this holiday operates today and the negative effects that result from it – effects that some of us cannot afford to subject ourselves or our kids to anymore.

We are in a new century and live in a new era. There is too much information out there today to ignore and so if you care about your health and the health of your kids, then lovingly treat them and yourself to things that your body will actually benefit from, not be hurt by.

So have a happy and healthy Halloween this Friday and if you have any healthy Halloween ideas, feel free to share them below!

Related Articles

1. From NaturalNews.com
Halloween Warning: Candy from China may be contaminated with toxic melamine

2. From Dr. Scott Olson of OlsonND
Endless Halloween: Children eat their weight in sugar every year

About the author:
Evita Ochel, B.Sc., B.Ed., CHN - is a certified holistic nutritionist, biologist, educator, writer, researcher and speaker in the areas of health, science and holistic wellness. She is a nutritional science expert and her teaching and writing focus on natural, wholesome, plant-based and organic nutrition to achieve optimal health and longevity. Learn more about Evita Ochel or Follow Evita Ochel on Twitter.