Blog
5 Halloween Treats That Are Bad For Your Health
The history of how candy became synonymous with Halloween is very interesting. This website explains why Halloween is all about the candy, click here to learn more: [Link].
As adults, we are surrounded by an array of fall colored decorated candy in October. From office candy dishes to our children coming home with candy from school to trick-or-treating, you cannot escape the candy. While indulging in some candy occasionally is not terrible, over doing it can open the door to a full out binge that becomes hard to stop. So, while you enjoy all there is to enjoy about Halloween, keep away from these five treats:
Gummies
Although gummies can be made into different characters and shapes that are fun to play with, they are terrible for you. The different types of gummy candies (like bears, Sour Patch Kids, and jelly beans) can easily get wedged in the pits and grooves of your teeth and their main ingredient is glucose syrup (concentrated sugar). When all that sugar is on and between your teeth, tooth-decaying bacteria grows and due to the sticky nature of the syrup, your saliva cannot won’t naturally wash it off your teeth.
Skittles
This is another fascinating candy with a rich history and use of flashy commercials and social media marketing to get you to consume it. Resist the temptation to do so! Skittles are mostly artificial flavoring and sugar; which means they are bad for your teeth. Also if you eat too many, they will store as fat on your body and you will literally carry all the colors of the rainbow as excess weight.
Caramel Apple Lollipops
Lollipops take the longest to eat and dissolve. No one really knows how long it takes to get to the end of a lollipop. But, the longer this sticks around your mouth, the more time it has to do damage to your teeth because of the sugar. This is because of the bacteria that will grow that causes decay. Plus, this treat has a lot of synthetic ingredients that are not good for you.
Butterfinger
As the famous saying goes, “Nobody better lay a finger on my Butterfinger.” In the case of this candy, let others lay a finger on it. In fact, let them take it with the whole hand. This candy sticks like glue to your teeth, but that’s not the worst of it. Butterfingers are made with man-made trans-fats, which are really bad for you. Plus, they’re not made from real chocolate — just “compound chocolate,” which is a cheap substitution to coat candy.
Starbursts
These chewy delights are made from primarily corn syrup and sugar, and both ingredients are from genetically engineered crops. With all the synthetic dyes and trans-fats in these treats, they are best to be used as decoration or hockey pucks and not in your body.
Substitution: Instead of these tricky treats, try some dark chocolate. Dark chocolate is proven to be healthy for you in small quantities on a daily basis. With plenty of antioxidants and other good naturally qualities, it also melts in your mouth and won’t stick to your teeth. Plus it is a good source of iron and fiber. Happy treating!
