Fuel Your Body
Healthier Treats for Halloween
Photo by circler via Flickr (cc)
Halloween is always an exciting time of the year. In many ways, the spookfest is similar to a recital or performance. People dress up, houses are turned into eerie sets, there are the players (trick-or-treaters) and then there’s audience (people handing out candy). Not to mention, you’re always in for a treat!
While the norm is to give out an abundance of chocolates, sour gummies, lollipops and chips, it isn’t necessarily fueling your body the right way. For those looking for a healthier option to dish out this Halloween, here are a few go-to treats that pack in the punch!
Fruit leather and fruit snacks
A dried fruit packed with fibre and flavour, this chewy treat has the natural sweetness that comes from juice concentrates and puree. Some, like
SunRype’s Fruit to Go or Mini Bites, even include veggies in the mix, but
shhh don’t tell the kids!
Plain popcorn
Substitute the potato chips and cheese puffs for this
whole grain snack. Spice it up with a sprinkling of spices, herbs or parmesan cheese for a tasty snack.
Sugar-free gum
As good as
Original Dubble Bubble tastes, an alternative for this sugar-infused gum is to take the sugar-free gum route. There are a ton of flavours to choose from -cinnamon, original, mint, tropial, berr -it lasts longer and can freshen your breath.
Dark chocolate
For chocolate lovers, there’s good news: the bittersweet taste of dark chocolate can help lower blood pressure. Be sure to choose chocolates that contain at least 70 percent cocoa to enjoy the benefits of the antioxidants in dark chocolate.
But if you must satisfy your sweets craving (and why not –it’s Halloween!) do so in moderation. After all, no one wants “
to get chocolate wasted”…right?
By Jackielou Perez
(published October 28, 2010)