Nobody wants to be the killjoy who hands out apples to trick-or-treaters (or get one, if you’re still doing that sort of thing). Of course, dispensing calorie grenades made of nothing but processed sugar and fat isn’t exactly good citizenship, either (and an easy recipe for self-sabotage if you end up with leftover stockpiles — last year, I shopped with the expectation of having a couple dozen kids come by; we got six. I love me some M&M’s, but, man…).
So, what can we do, both to satisfy the minions trooping to our doorsteps this weekend, as well as our own occasional cravings or sweet tooth?
There’s actually good news in the candy aisle, though it’s only for a small portion of what you’ll find there, in the form of dark chocolate (shape of… a modest serving!). We’re all familiar with chocolate, which is made from those tasty plant bits. Dark chocolate (anything containing more than 65% cacao) retains a good portion of the healthy compounds from its source shrubbery, specifically the flavinoids (which are anti-oxidants), in meaningful quantities. These can help lower blood pressure, as well as do all the other nifty (and not-so-nifty) tricks that anti-oxidants from more traditional sources do.
Other benefits include a bit of cholesterol management, since chocolate contains a three-part mix of saturated and unsaturated fats, as well as a some mood-elevating serotonin (one of the chemicals that anti-depressants help your body make use of). However, these goodnesses only exist for dark chocolate — white and milk chocolate (we Shall Not Speak of “orange chocolate”) don’t contain enough cacao, and the milk — whether in the chocolate, or as a companion beverage — may actually impede the body’s uptake of the flavinoids, which negates their goodness.
Sadly, there are no studies supporting, or even suggesting, any direct health benefits from the consumption of gummi anything, and if you go overboard with the caramel or candy coating on that apple, that’s going to defeat the purpose, too. The ones you bob for? Still good for you.
Now, go scoop the brains out of that pumpkin, cook ‘em up (either straight up or as pie), dry-roast the seeds, and have a few healthy snacks out of good old Jack o’ Lantern’s noggin.
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