What Would You Eat for Halloween?

**Emily Kwak (ISB G10)**

Emily Kwak, a *Buddy!* staff writer, enjoys sweets and the sweets you get at halloween as much as the next person, but what if we all indulged in a healthier solution?
Join Emily as she delves into healthier and equally yummy alternatives to harmful treats. You can even use recipes she’s suggested to make your own healthy halloween snacks to enjoy!

Trick or Treat! 🎃 Halloween is coming soon. When you think of Halloween, the first things that come to your mind are costumes and Trick-or-treating. In 1000 A.D., the church designated All Soul’s Day to commemorate the dead. On All Souls’ Day, poor people went to rich people’s houses and earned some "soul cakes" with the promise that they would pray for the relatives of the rich people. This practice was known as ”souling,“ and was adapted into its current form of trick-or-treating, where children go door-to-door to ask for gifts such as money, food, and ale. Children must have received a tremendous amount of candy both during that time and now. But, have you ever wondered about the true effects of Halloween candy on the human body? Follow me as we take a dive into the mysteries of sugar and look at some healthier alternatives!

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Sugar

There are three types of sugars for sweets: granulated sugar, dark brown sugar, and confectioners’ sugar. Granulated sugar is what we usually see, and it is the most common sugar for cooking and baking use. Brown sugars are made by boiling a brown sugar syrup or mixing white sugar. While light brown sugar is used in sauces and most baked goods, dark brown sugar has a deeper color and stronger molasses flavor than light brown sugar. Dark brown sugar’s rich flavor is ideal for gingerbread, baked beans, barbecuing, and other full-flavored foods. Brown sugars are likely to stick together because they are more moist than white sugars; this helps baked goods to maintain moisture and chewiness. Confectioner’s sugar is smooth, powdered sugar and usually mixed with cornstarch (3%) to prevent caking. Confectioner’s sugar is often used in icings, confections, and whipping cream.

The Damages Sweets Bring to Our Body

Although many enjoy the sweetness of candy, they often ignore the negative effects sugar brings. One such effect would be diabetes, a disease that occurs because blood sugar, also called blood glucose, is too high. Blood glucose is the main source of our body's energy and can obtain from the foods you eat. If insulin, a hormone helps glucose to go into the cells for energy, is not produced enough in your body or cannot be used, glucose will stay in your blood, and this may cause diabetes. However, there are many causes of diabetes due to the different types of diabetes, such as Type 1 diabetes, Type 2 diabetes, Gestational diabetes, and other types of diabetes. By consuming sweets exceedingly, diabetes can be caused and can also develop other problems like heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, eye problems, dental diseases, and so on. According to a study in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, foods containing a large amount of sugar that cause damage in blood sugar and increased insulin levels can cause increased androgen secretion and oil production, which can also cause acne; pimples, blackheads, and bumps are representative of acne. As sweets can increase the levels of blood sugar quicker than foods containing less sugar, balanced eating of sugar is important.

Sweetener

Sweeteners are any of the various natural and artificial substances that provide a sweet taste in food and beverages. Natural sweeteners may be both nutritive and flavorable and thus popular both as food and flavouring. However, because common sugar and other nutritive sweeteners such as honey and corn syrup are associated with health problems (such as obesity and tooth decay) or are even a threat to life (for diabetics), there have been efforts since the 19th century to produce nonnutritive sweeteners that are not subject to metabolism and contain little or no caloric value. Natural sweeteners are sugar substitutes that are often promoted as healthier options than sugar or other sugar substitutes. But even these "natural sweeteners" often undergo processing and refining. Natural sweeteners that the FDA recognizes as generally safe include fruit juices and nectars, honey, molasses, and maple syrup. Nonnutritive sweeteners, also called artificial sweeteners, are synthetic sugar substitutes. But they may be derived from naturally occurring substances, such as herbs or sugar itself. Artificial sweeteners are also known as intense sweeteners because they are many times sweeter than sugar. Artificial sweeteners can be attractive alternatives to sugar because they add virtually no calories to your diet. Also, you need only a fraction of artificial sweeteners compared with the amount of sugar you would normally use for sweetness.

Artificial sweeteners are widely used in processed foods, including soft drinks, powdered drink mixes and other beverages, baked goods, candy, puddings, canned goods, jams and jellies, and dairy products. Artificial sweeteners are also popular for home use, and some can even be used in baking or cooking. Certain recipes may need modification because unlike sugar, artificial sweeteners provide no bulk or volume. Some artificial sweeteners may leave an aftertaste, so different artificial sweeteners or a combination may be more appealing.

Artificial Sweeteners: Is It Really a Healthy Substitution for Sugar?

Artificial sweeteners have been scrutinized intensely for decades. Critics of artificial sweeteners say that they cause a variety of health problems, including cancer. That's largely because of studies dating to the 1970s that linked the artificial sweetener saccharin to bladder cancer in laboratory rats. Because of those studies, saccharin once carried a label warning that it may be hazardous to your health.

Artificial sweeteners are regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as food additives. They must be reviewed and approved by the FDA before being made available for sale. Sometimes the FDA declares a substance "generally recognized as safe" (GRAS). Substances receive this designation if they meet either of these criteria:

Qualified professionals deem the substance safe for its intended use on the basis of scientific data. Stevia preparations are an example of this type of GRAS designation.
The substances have such a lengthy history of common use in food that they're considered generally safe.

The FDA has established an acceptable daily intake (ADI) for each artificial sweetener. ADI is the maximum amount considered safe to consume each day over the course of a lifetime. ADIs are set at very conservative levels.

Also, even be cautious about the labels like “sugar-free” or “low sugar” since some can be merely a misleading food label and damages your body! Not only sugar, but also other ingredients of candies like food dye can be detrimental to the body. According to the Forbes article “Living in Color: The Potential Dangers of Artificial Dyes,” many of these natural colors contained toxins such as mercury, copper, and arsenic... The safety of products containing artificial colors has been a point of debate for decades – adversaries claiming that they are toxic, carcinogens, and contributors to ADHD. Still, seven dyes remain on the FDA’s approved list for use in the United States.

How can we reduce consumption?

According to AHA (American Health Association), men should consume no more than 9 teaspoons (36 grams or 15 calories) of added sugar per day. For women, the number is lower: 6 teaspoons (25 grams or 100 calories) per day. Consider that one 12-ounce can of soda contains 8 teaspoons (32 grams) of added sugar! Also, according to statista.com, global sugar consumption has exceeded 176 million metric tons. As of 2016, the United States had the highest per capita consumption of sugar, amounting to approximately 126.4 grams, which is a tremendous amount of sugar.

For many people, sweets are important; it would be hard to suddenly stop eating sweets. So how can we make or consume healthy sweets? Here are some ideas to make healthier snacks!

Vegan Cookie Dough (Peanut Butter & Chocolate Chip)

Ingredients

1 can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup peanut butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/2 tablespoons maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon ground chia seeds
1/3 cup 60% cacao chocolate chips or cocoa nibs

Instructions

Drain and rinse chickpeas. Place in a paper towel, dry off. If some of the skins start to come off, peel them off and discard. (this will help the cookie dough not be as gritty)
Add chickpeas, peanut butter, vanilla extract, maple syrup, and cinnamon to a food processor. Blend until smooth and creamy. Add the ground chia seeds to the food processor. (to grind chia seeds add them to a coffee bean grinder or a mortar and pestle) Blend until everything is combined.
Add chickpea cookie dough mixture to a small bowl. Fold in the chocolate chips.
Serve immediately.
*** Can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. ***

Nutrition

Serving Size: 1/4 cup
Calories: 244
Sugar: 11 g
Sodium: 57 mg
Fat: 15 g
Saturated Fat: 4 g
Carbohydrates: 23 g
Fiber: 4 g
Protein: 8 g
Cholesterol: 0 mg

Gingerbread Energy Bites (No-bake, gluten free, paleo + vegan)

Ingredients

1 cup pitted dates about 12
1 cup toasted pecans
1 tablespoon molasses
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon cloves
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
2 oz. dark chocolate to drizzle (optional)

Instructions

Roughly chop the pitted dates and add them to a high-powered blender or food processor (I used my Vitamix). Blend until they're broken down into small bits or a paste.
Add the toasted pecans, molasses, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves and pulse until combined. The pecans should be in small bits - be careful not to over-process or the oils will start to separate. If this happens, just dab off the excess oil with a paper towel.
Roll into 1-inch balls and place on a cookie sheet.
Finely chop the dark chocolate and melt in the microwave. Place the melted chocolate into a zip bag or piping bag, snip the corner, and drizzle over the energy balls. Let chocolate harden in the refrigerator.
Keep stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator or freezer.

Frozen Yogurt Blueberry Bites

Ingredients

1 cup blueberries
1 cup non-fat Greek Yogurt

Directions:

Place blueberries and Greek yogurt in two separate bowls. Place a piece a parchment paper on a large baking sheet.
Drop each blueberry into Greek yogurt with a spoon, swirl around to coat, and place on the parchment paper. Repeat until all blueberries are covered.
Freeze for an hour or more, then enjoy as you please.

Flavor Options:

Add 1 tablespoon of Peanut Butter Powder to Greek yogurt.
Add 1 tablespoon of honey to Greek yogurt.
Add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice to Greek yogurt.

Sweets are everywhere around us, and sweet goods often provide happiness for people. Sweets help weight control, mood control, and improving diabetes. However, you need to be careful that too much sugar can damage your body as diseases like diabetes and ingredients of sweets such as food coloring can include toxins. Still, you can enjoy sweets by consuming less amount of sugars or sweeteners (you can also search for more recipes). Otherwise, have a healthy Halloween!

Citations:

EmilyK

What Would You Eat for Halloween?

Sugar

The Damages Sweets Bring to Our Body

Sweetener

How can we reduce consumption?

Vegan Cookie Dough (Peanut Butter & Chocolate Chip)

Ingredients

Instructions

Nutrition

Gingerbread Energy Bites (No-bake, gluten free, paleo + vegan)

Ingredients

Instructions

Frozen Yogurt Blueberry Bites

Ingredients

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