Are There Healthier Candies?

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It's hard to qualify any production candy as 'healthy', but with Halloween and the holidays coming up, I thought I'd post about what may be healthier. And this depends on your perspective. I look for sweets with no corn syrup (high fructose or otherwise), no artificial colors, flavors or preservatives, and limited soy ingredients. That's a really high bar to set for most candy.

Here is a great article from Business Insider (www.businessinsider.com) with an exhaustive, ranked list of popular candies and how they stand up to 'healthy' scrutiny:
Healthiest Halloween Candy

Note that basically *none* of these candies listed would qualify as healthy when reviewed with my criteria... this article basically looked at calories, fat content and protein per serving.

You'll see popular favorites on the list like Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Candy Corn, Twizzlers and at the top of the list, Smarties. It is mostly the fat content that makes many of these less healthy than their counterparts - and peanuts and peanut butter are a common culprit adding fat content. 

I like the simplest candies, like old-fashioned butter toffee and caramels. When you can find these with no corn syrup and sans all the artificial junk, they can be a great treat. And a standard satisfier around our house (and in our pantry) is dark chocolate. High in antioxidants and with a little kick from caffeine, dark chocolate has a rich, sophisticated flavor that is really satisfying (to me).

The biggest thing to remember with candy consumption is portion control. Don't let your sweet tooth get the better of you! If you're buying Halloween candy, get the 'fun' sizes and mini packets to keep the kiddos from pigging out on any one thing. Any of the candies reviewed in the above article would be okay in moderation... the key is keeping the candy cravings under control.

Have fun this Halloween, and you can even consider offering popcorn or graham cracker cookie treats for the costumed hoards. Most of all remember to keep candy consumption to a minimum.

By the Way

Some months ago I found this tremendous website for 'healthy' candy. Again, I would qualify that as no corn syrup (high fructose or otherwise), no artificial colors, flavors or preservatives, and as simple and organic as possible. Check out the Natural Candy Store, www.naturalcandystore.com. I get this awesome all natural bubble gum from Tree Hugger through them... isn't the internet great?