Here's how you can enjoy your Hallowe'en in a smart and healthy way - read our tips to be prepared and avoid feeling awful the next several days!
- Find out the 5 scary additives in Halloween food to avoid
- Awesome healthy Hallowe'en treats you can easily make at home
- How to party without feeling groggy the next day
- Stop your children turning into little sugar monsters!
5 SCARIEST HALLOWEEN ADDITIVES
Not all sweet treats are created equal, here are the ingredients to watch out for and avoid where you can:
- Food colorings and dyes – anything that looks an unnatural color (e.g. M&Ms, jelly sweets, colored icing) are likely to be packed with these and they’re linked to hyperactivity and other health risks. Anyone for a bright green cupcake?
- Preservatives – present in cakes, sweets, packaged goods with long shelf lives. Too many can build up to toxic levels over years and cause health problems. Stick to fresh food that doesn’t last unnaturally long periods!
- High fructose corn syrup – appears in too many sweetened foods and drinks to mention! This ingredient causes metabolic problems, affects our sensitivity to insulin, causes weight gain and can speed up ageing.
- Hydrogenated fats and trans fats – cookies, biscuits, cakes, doughnuts, these are the most damaging of all fats in our diets and harm our metabolism and absorption of nutrients.
- Aspartame – soft drinks and ‘sugar free’ mixers are the usual offenders for this artificial sweetener that has been connected to over 90 different adverse health effects.
"Watch out for Halloween food additives: colors, high fructose corn syrup, trans fats and aspartame."
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YUMMY HALLOWEEN TREATS YOU CAN EASILY MAKE YOURSELF
- Chlorella Coconut Bites - These yummy bites contain our detoxifying Chlorella healthy coconut fats, so they won’t spike your blood sugar levels. Bite them for a surprise!
- Acai Chocolates - these simple and quick to make chocolates are bursting with antioxidants and low in sugar.
- Wheatgrass Berry Cheesecake Bites - you'll love the delicious combo of berries and our Wheatgrass (that tastes yummy like green tea).
- Chlorella Wok Corn - superfood popcorn! Because popcorn can be healthy (without microwaving and pro-inflammatory seed oils).
- Spirulina Cinnamon Cashew Cream - this beautiful supergreen cream is great swirled over smoothie bowls, dolloped on top of fruit or as a luxurious accompaniment to desserts
- Sweet And Spicy Golden Chia Pizza - make this heavenly pizza that is actually completely gluten-free (and even grain-free!) and will nourish you with an array of amazing nutrients from its ingredients.
>> READ below to discover our Halloween survival tactics
OTHER HEALTHIER HALLOWEEN ALTERNATIVES
The better choices this Halloween are ones that steer clear of additives, are made from real ingredients and have some protein, good fats or fibre to slow down the release of sugars into the blood stream:
- Chocolate instead of sweets or candy – sugary sweets are 100% empty calories meaning they offer no nutritional value except for glucose energy, whereas chocolate (specifically when it’s good quality, high cacao percentage, raw or homemade) contains some fats and antioxidants. Fat slows down digestion, meaning you don’t get a pure sugar hit. Additionally, fat makes foods more satisfying, so you’ll become fuller faster and hopefully eat fewer treats in the long run.
- Dark chocolate instead of milk or white – only choose/accept dark chocolate and avoid commercial white chocolate, which contains none of the beneficial antioxidants. Better still, make your own with raw cacao powder and coconut oil (see below)!
- Nuts are your friends – nuts and seeds are rich in protein, healthy fats, fibre and minerals, which really help to stop sugar hitting your blood stream too quickly. Go for chocolate covered nuts, or treats made with nut butters.
HALLOWEEN SURVIVAL TACTICS
It can be difficult to avoid the nasties, and if you have kids, it’s even harder to control what they’re munching on. Here are some sneaky tactics to minimise the Halloween health horror:
- For the grown-ups, Halloween parties are both alcohol and sugar fuelled. To help your liver detoxify the extra load, take Organic Burst Chlorella before partying, at the end of the night and more the following day. Go for 1 teaspoon in water with lemon juice or coconut water, or take our 8 easy swallow tablets.
- Stagger (!) your alcoholic drinks with glasses of water in between, and if you’re serving cocktails, use fizzy water with lemon instead of sugary mixers like lemonade.
- Make sure you (and your kids) have a good meal including protein before any trick or treating activities get started.
- To help increase the feeling of fullness and avoid overeating, take 1 teaspoon of Organic Burst Wheatgrass or Spirulina in water with a squeeze of lemon juice before hitting those parties.
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Superfoods are perfect for kid too! Chlorella is detoxifying so can help the body deal with the toxic effects of additives and excess sugar, whereas our spirulina contains 60-70% protein to help keep them going and reduce hunger – perfect before a party. You can mix the powders into drinks with some lemon, or they may like to swallow or crunch the tablets, which have no additives whatsoever. Here are the spirulina and chlorella dosages for your little ones:
- Ages 1-5 ¼ tsp powder or 2-3 tablets /day
- Ages 6-10 ½ tsp powder or 4 tablets /day
- Ages 11-15 ¾ tsp powder or 6 tablets /day
- Age 16+ 1 tsp powder or 8 tablets /day - Remember not to waste the insides of your carved up pumpkins – they’re rich in betacarotene, a nutrient we convert to Vitamin A, which is important for the immune system and healthy skin. Make a yummy and filling pumpkin soup for the weekend.
Pull out the black cat costume, have a healthy one!