? Halloween is right around the corner. ?
As a result, many parents of children with ADHD are scrambling to figure out how to handle this holiday while still maintaining a low-inflammatory diet (that doesn’t include gluten, dairy, soy, artificial flavors or colors, or other nasties).
What’s a parent to do?
They want to let their children be kids and enjoy the season, but they also don’t want to totally derail any progress they have made.
Is it even possible to avoid gluten, dairy, soy, artificial flavors and colors, and other nasties at Halloween?
That’s why I wanted to share a few ways that many of the families I work with are making Halloween fun and relatively healthy!
4 Ways to Have a Healthy(ish) Halloween:
Idea #1:
Some parents ask their children to hand over their candy and then parents sort through it and give them back one safe piece of candy per day.
Idea #2:
Other parents ask their kids to swap out their candy for cash or for healthier candy (more on this in a bit).
Idea #3:
Some families choose to collect candy only from houses that are giving safe candy or candy alternatives. Look up the Teal Pumpkin Initiative for more information on finding safe houses in your neighborhood.
Idea #4:
Finally, some families decide together on a good cause to donate the candy to. We like to donate our candy to Treats for Troops or Ronald McDonald House Charities.
One of the most important things parents can do – regardless of which plan they choose to follow – is to communicate the plan BEFOREHAND and explain why it’s so important.
There’s a really great book that my boys like to read each year too. It’s called Switch Witch. This book encourages kids to make healthier choices for Halloween.
Now, I can hear the question already…what’s a safe candy?
Safe candies are those that avoid some of the worst ingredients out there…ingredients like artificial colors (like red 40 and blue 1), artificial flavors, and of course, like I always say, those top inflammatory foods (gluten, dairy, and soy).
Artificial Colors (Like Red 40 And Blue 1) are derived from petroleum and linked to several health issues, including allergies and hyperactivity in children.
Did you know that they require a warning label in Europe? And yet we give them to our kids freely here in America!
Artificial flavors are complex chemical mixtures made in a lab using various substances like crude oil or coal tar, and can contain upwards of 100 ingredients (including some that are recently banned).
Food companies don’t have to tell you anything about the ingredients actually in their artificial flavors – they just slap “artificial flavors” on the ingredient label – and we are left in the dark about what we are really eating. So we definitely want to avoid that.
Luckily for us, not all candy has these ingredients!
My family LOVES the Natural Candy Store online. Parents can filter out ingredients as they search for certain candies.
Our favorite brands of allergy-free candies are:
- Yum Earth – https://amzn.to/2YjHlXF
- Enjoy Life – https://amzn.to/3uFEGDN
- Unreal – https://amzn.to/3LxiPHd
- Free2B – https://amzn.to/3RXthKt
I hope those ideas help make Halloween much less scary and much more enjoyable for your family!
Want to know more about how we can help YOU get to a place of peace and calm with your child using natural strategies?
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And as always, I am not a medical doctor and the above post is based on my experience. No information on this site should be relied upon to make a medical diagnosis, treat, prevent or cure any disease or medical condition.
