Halloween is right around the corner, and there are plenty of spook-tacular Halloween themed events going on in DC: Trick or Treat at the National Zoo, on Embassy Row, or check out the DC Drag Queen Race in Dupont Circle. But the scariest part of Halloween might just be the effects of all that yummy candy on your waistline! Read on for the best—and worst—Halloween candies for your health:
Best and Worst Fun-Size Chocolate Candy:
Eat This: 3 Musketeers Fun Size Bar (63 calories; 2 grams of fat; 10 grams of sugar)
Not That: Butterfingers Fun Size Bar (100 calories; 4 grams of fat; 10 grams of sugar)
A “crispety, crunchety, peanut buttery” Butterfingers fun size bar is probably the worst fun sized candy bar for your health, and the peanut butter here packs in the calories and the fat. Choose a lighter fun size candy, like a whipped 3 Musketeers bar (fluffed with air) to satisfy your fun size candy craving instead.
Best and Worst Miniature Candy:
Eat This: 3 Tootsie Rolls (70 calories; 1.5 grams of fat; 9.5 grams of sugar)
Not That: 3 Twix Minis (150 calories; 7 grams of fat; 15 grams of sugar)
Beware of sweets of the miniature variety—sometimes we tend to eat more because we think we’re consuming less, but all those mini candies add up! Because of how gummy tootsie rolls are, they take longer to eat, meaning you’ll fulfill that sweet candy craving. Crunching away at Twix, however, can add up quickly, and the saturated fat in Twix (4 grams) is 20% of the daily recommended intake!
Best and Worst Fruity Candy:
Eat This: Fun Size Lemonheads (50 calories; 0 grams of fat; 8 grams of sugar)
Not That: Fun Size Starburst (166 calories; 3.5 grams of fat; 23 grams of sugar)
Sometimes it’s not something chocolaty that we want, but something sour or fruity instead—this too can fool our minds into thinking something is better for us and can lead to us consuming more of it. But beware, many fruity candies are just sugar bombs! Roughly 8 Starbursts will set you back 23 grams of sugar, but a fun-sized packet of Lemonheads will only set you back 8 grams—and 50 calories.
Best and Worst Peanut Candy:
Eat This: Fun Sized PeanutM&Ms (90 calories; 5 grams of fat; 9 grams of sugar)
Not That: Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup (1 individual cup: 88 calories: 5 grams of fat; 8 grams of sugar)
At first look, this comparison might not make sense—They are pretty evenly matched nutritionally, but the peanuts in the Peanut M&Ms pack protein, which tends to fill you up. The Reese’s Cup, on the other hand, packs all the worst qualities of peanut butter and chocolate—high calories and fat—but gives you nothing in return.
Best and Worst Halloween Themed Candy:
Eat This: Peeps Marshmallow Pumpkins (8 Peeps: 130 calories; 0 grams of fat; 29 grams of sugar)
Not That: Reese’s Pumpkin (170 calories; 10 grams of fat; 16 grams of sugar)
The light and airy quality of the marshmallows makes them the clear winner (although watch the sugar intake) in this comparison. A Reese’s Pumpkin is simply an oversized Reese’s Cup and will cost you 10 grams of fat—yikes!
When sifting through your sack of candy back in your GW dorm after a long night of trick or treating, it can sometimes be hard to limit yourself to just a few pieces of candy. Before you know it, you’ve consumed way more than you’d intended! Be wary of candies containing nuts, peanut butter, or coconut—these will tend to be higher in fat and calories. Hard candies like Jolly Ranchers and Lollipops take longer to consume, and will more easily satisfy a sugar craving. Knowing which candies to taste and which to toss will leave you making healthier choices, and not making up for them later on in Lerner!
Sources:
http://eatthis.menshealth.com/slideshow/best-and-worst-halloween-candy#s…
http://www.redbookmag.com/recipes-home/tips-advice/halloween-candies#sli…
http://www.realbeauty.com/health/diet/halloween-candy-facts#slide-1