nutritionist approved halloween candy
If a Reeses is your favorite thing about the Halloween season, our RDs are not going to stop you. But if one Reeses leads to 100 Reeses, we have to chat! Here are 3 guidelines our dietitians give their clients for this candy-filled season:
Get choosy. What's your favorite candy? If you live for Sour Patch Kids but you don't care about Snickers, skip the Snickers!
No candy on empty. Have a piece or two of candy *after* your meal or snack, and not when you're hungry for a meal or snack.
Upgrade wherever possible. Our pet peeve ingredient, even more than the 40+ types of sugar found in candy, is food dye, especially Red40 food dye which causes ADHD symptoms and migraines in children and adults.
Try the "1 a day rule": 1 candy per day during halloween week.
Donate leftover Halloween candy to Treats for Troops.
So how do you upgrade? We look for brands that don't use high fructose corn syrup, freaky preservatives, artificial flavors or colors, or artificial sweeteners. Here are our top 8 candy brands to seek out this week.
Chocolove: Chocolove makes individual peanut butter cups that are the perfect portion
Smart Sweets: If you're a sour gummies person, Smart Sweets are your solution! They make our favorite Sour Patch Kids and Peach Ring upgrades without food dyes or tons of sugar.
Better Bears: Love gummy bears? These are naturally colored alternative that won't leave you with sugar headache.
Unreal Candy: Unreal makes upgraded M&Ms, snickers, and so many other upgrade versions of traditional candies. These are one of our favorite things to see in Halloween baskets.
Joyride's Golly Lolli's: calling all lollipop lovers, Golly Lolli is food dye free and low sugar option with super cute packaging.
Alter Eco: You may have seen these on the checkout line at Whole Foods, and hear us out: they make the PERFECT Halloween candy! Beautiful packaging, perfect portion size, and the wrapper is biodegradable. Count us in.
7th Heaven: If you're a Twix or Crunch Bar lover, these are your upgrade. 7th Heaven makes coconut milk chocolate mini bars with flavors you'll drool over.
YumEarth: If you typically buy a big bag of candy, here's your replacement! Yum Earth is a go-to brand for classic candy, but better for you.