Halloween can be tricky for Brain Warriors and Junior Warriors. If your Junior Warriors want to go trick-or-treating, that’s okay. You just need to have a plan for what to do with all that candy once they bring it home. A lot of Warriors tell me they swap out some of it for brain healthy homemade treats, or they trade cash for candy (that’s what I used to do when my daughter Chloe was younger). If you’re doing some form of bartering with your trick-or-treater, try to trade for the worst offenders.
Here’s my list of the 5 unhealthiest Halloween candies for the brain. Steer clear of these scary brain drainers!
5 Unhealthiest Halloween Candies for the Brain
1. Candy Corn
This horrifying Halloween staple is the worst of the worst. There’s nothing but sugar, corn syrup, artificial coloring, and artificial flavoring—ugh! The sugar content—more than twice what you’ll get in a fun-size Snickers—will jack up blood sugar levels and cause a sugar high, then lead to a crash that will leave your little ones lethargic and irritable.
What are you actually eating?
- Serving size: 15 pieces
- 110 calories, 22g sugar, 0g fat
2. Snickers
There’s nothing healthy about the chocolate used in Snickers—it’s full of sugar, milk (which many people have trouble digesting), and artificial flavors. The chewy caramel is no better, and what about those peanuts? They aren’t even nuts. They’re legumes that are high in omega-6 fatty acids. And they’re highly susceptible to contamination during growth and storage, which can lead to infection by the fungus aspergillus flavus. This fungus releases the toxin aflatoxin, which is a potent carcinogen. That’s really scary stuff!
What are you actually eating?
- Serving size: 3 fun-size bars (On the Snickers site, it says a serving size is 1 bar, but who’s kidding who? Nobody eats just one.)
- 240 calories, 27g sugar, 10.5g total fat, 4.5g saturated fat
- Snickers Nutritional Info
3. Butterfinger
This is one of the most frightening candies you can eat. The first two ingredients? Corn syrup and sugar—that’s like giving kids diabetes for Halloween. What comes after that is equally nightmarish. Bad fats like hydrogenated palm kernel oil, and it doesn’t get any better. What makes this such a terrifying treat is the artificial preservative TBHQ, which is a form butane—otherwise known as lighter fluid—that is also used in paints, varnishes, and cosmetics.
What are you actually eating?
- Serving size: 3 fun-size bars (On the package, it says a serving size is 1 bar, but who’s kidding who? Nobody eats just one.)
- 255 calories, 25.5g sugar, 10.5g total fat, 5.4g saturated fat
- Butterfinger Nutrition Info
4. 3 Musketeers
Happy Halloween! How would you like some hydrogenated palm kernel oil, corn syrup, and soy lecithin? Doesn’t that sound yummy? These so-called “chocolate” treats have barely any real chocolate, but they are loaded with calories, bad fats, and sugar.
What are you actually eating?
- Serving size: 3 fun-size bars
- 190 calories, 30g sugar, 6g total fat, 4g saturated fat
- 3 Musketeers Nutrition Info
5. Skittles
When I tell Brain Warriors to eat from the rainbow, I am not talking about Skittles! Fun-size packs of Skittles originals, wild berry, and sours are almost all-unnatural. Yes, there is some real refined sugar—and lots of it!—but there’s also artificial flavoring and artificial coloring, including Red Dye #40 which has been associated with adverse impacts in children with ADD/ADHD.
What are you actually eating?
- Serving size: 1 fun-size pack
- 60 calories, 11g sugar, 0.5g total fat, 0.5g saturated fat
- Skittles Nutrition Info
Check my blog for some simple strategies to have a Healthy Halloween, and be sure to leave your favorite holiday suggestions in the comments. For “sugar-less” and other treat options, check out The Brain Warrior’s Way Cookbook. To thank you for being a Brain Warrior, I’m giving you 21% off when you enter the code TANA21.
