"Mom, we are totally gonna get egged tonight." - the 9 year old
So this is nothing to do with putting any political sign out although one might expect that given our current national state. Rather we are talking about Halloween. You see, increasingly each year I’m having a harder and harder time with this holiday. As a nutritionist, I cannot fathom the amount of sugar and chemicals that we are allowing a 30 pound humans to ingest. Now, do not get me wrong, I’m not a hard ass, well maybe my ass is hard but it’s because I work out. (ha, ha, ha) What I mean is, I am fully aware of life with treats is what makes life extra sweet and I encourage this with my family and my clients. Just the other weekend I let my kids have homemade blueberry pie and ice cream FOR BREAKFAST! (See I can be fun and truthfully that is probably not much different sugar content wise then what most Americans eat for breakfast)
Our holidays have been overtaken by the food industry and now there is candy for everything to the point that it is not special anymore. Often times it is expected or worse if you abstain people accuse you of “taking the fun out of it.” Since when did our holiday fun become intertwined with 8 pounds of candy per kid? And why is that the only source of “fun?” Our children’s health is the worse it has ever been in the history of our planet and America is right at the top of the list, numero uno. Sooo I’m encouraging you the embrace the REAL traditions of the holidays and side step the candy trap. I realize that Halloween is the worst offender. So let’s break it down. I’m not saying that you can’t indulge, but maybe lessen the hit. Take for example a normal American child will go to 1-2 trunk-or-treats, a regular trick-or-treat night and school parties. Don’t forget the candy handed out at the bank, office building or even stores?!? So I think we may have gone overboard, um, just a tad!
Think about the massive amount of sugar unleashed on our kids this month and then consider the WHO recommendation that children have no more than 10 g of sugar in an entire day. You know it is interesting, why are there no RDA (recommended daily allowances) on our ingredient labels for sugar? They only show the RDA for fat, sodium, carbohydrate, protein, and calories. Well, the sugar lobby fought hard (I’m guessing someone(s) pocketed quite a lot of millions of dollars for this one) to keep that off labels. How is that helpful to the American public? Guess what, your health has been sold.
I think it is not a coincidence that right around Halloween time the cold and flu season kicks into gear. Consider this after you consume sugar, your immune system is “off line” for the next 4-6 hours. Your body is dealing with the sugar and not doing it’s job of keeping you protected from germs. Think of it this way, you’re at the bank and the security guards get sloshed, it would make it quite easy for the robbers to waltz right in and take the loot. This is similar to your immune system when you consume sugar. What happens when we eat those cute little candy bars (why are tiny things so damn cute?!?) all month long as we wait for the trick-or-treaters? And then right on into November as we eat our ‘loot’. Your immune system has taken a very, very long vacation.
I wanted to share a very fun tradition that we’ve done at our house every year, meet Switch Witch. This cute little doll and book set are essential to the healthy family! One who wants to side step this whole unhealthy landmine that is Halloween. As the book explains the witchy world uses candy to heat their home and more so they need your candy to do so. The children collect all their candy throughout the month and the night of Halloween leave it out. The Switch Witch will then switch it for a toy! The excitement of this new toy is rivaled only by Christmas and the kids happily leave their candy out and do not feel like they are “missing out” in anyway. We’ve done this tradition for over 8 years and just a few years ago we were gifted this adorable set. (Thanks Grandma!) I have recommended this to all my mama clients. You can order yours here: Get my Switch Witch
So when Halloween comes around I just can’t put out candy…it feels so wrong to me, like I’m giving a child drugs. (Ironically enough many scientific studies have shown that sugar is 8 times more additive than cocoaine and it lights up more than one pleasure center in your brain) I just can’t do it. I’ve handed out, stickers, fake tatoos, bubbles, pencils and notepads, you get the jist. Which is why my then 9 year old, let me know she thinks our house will get egged. Oh well I guess that’s what you get when your mom is a nutritionist.
