Living, Lite

by Judy Wurtman

Latest blog entry: 10/19/2009 11:06:00 AM

Haunted by those Halloween pounds

Although is seems hard to believe, Halloween was not always associated with packaged candy in mountain-size piles in every supermarket and drug store. Apples, small bags of home-popped popcorn, and cookies from a favorite neighbor used to be the treats available in my neighborhood when I was growing up. And in second grade the Halloween party activity was dunking for apples in a bucket of water, which was an impossibility for those of us who had just lost our front teeth. Then no longer could we accept apples from the nice old lady who lived across the street because somewhere else in the country, some evil person was putting razors in the fruit and bags of popcorn and homemade cookies were suspect because they could be laced with all sorts of poisons. Something had to take the place of these homemade and home-packaged treats. Regular size candy bars were too large and too expensive to be handed out to the dozens of costumed kids knocking on the door and small rolls of Life Savers and packages of bubble gum were too boring. The candy manufacturers who cleverly downsized their candy bars into packaged bite-size portions, packed them in large bags and made them safe from tampering, easily solved the problem. I was in a CVS recently and found myself marveling at the bags and bags of Halloween candy in the aisle where I always buy my favorite sweet, cherry licorice bits. I had still had a large bag at home so I did not have to sort through the other candies to locate them. But looking at the enormous variety of mini candy bars I have to admit I was tempted to buy a bag. But I talked myself out of doing so since my neighbors are considerably beyond second grade and more concerned about getting enough vitamin D and calcium than eating a bite size Almond Joy. Nonetheless, for anyone with a sweet tooth such as myself, this seasonal abundance of candy does pose an enormous temptation. I suspect many people find themselves buying bags of Halloween-sized candy with the vague idea that maybe they will be giving it away but end up eating all the candy. And because each wrapped item is so small, it is very easy to convince oneself that eating one or maybe two or even three won’t really cause a weight problem. As I walked home I wondered whether the availability of almost unlimited varieties of candy at a time of year when people are experiencing an intense craving for sugar is a coincidence or the response of candy manufacturers to a seasonal biological need. We know from decades of research that as darkness descends on the country with the switch to standard time, people feel tired, down in the dumps and hungry for sweets. So are the candy manufacturers using Halloween as an excuse to supply adults with the sweets they crave this time of year? I suspect that many households hide away bags of Halloween candy in drawers and closets so that sweet snacking can start way before Halloween and continue long after the costumes have been put away. It is hardly necessary to point out that the mini-candy bars are but a prelude to the serious snacking and meal eating that will start at Thanksgiving and continue until the New Year. Indeed, one might regard them as the appetizer to the weeks of overeating that seem to be our fate as we move through late fall and the beginning of winter. However, there are ways of preventing Halloween pounds from haunting you as you struggle not to gain any weight during the late fall and winter. If you have a serious seasonal sweet tooth, as I do, certain types of Halloween candy might be able to satisfy it without endangering your weight. Small amounts of very sweet, very low-fat candy like candy corn will boost the level of serotonin in your brain. In addition to making you feel content and less depressed, serotonin also shuts off your appetite, including your craving for sweets. By giving in to your sweet tooth and eating a small amount of candy, you will be able to prevent yourself from ripping open the bag of mini-chocolate bars and devouring all of them. The amount of candy, what I call the “therapeutic dose” that you need to eat to promote serotonin, is small and similar to what is contained in the mini Halloween candy packs. The sweet should contain about 120-130 calories, about 25-30 grams of carbohydrate, little or no protein and little or no fat. The reason for avoiding protein is that all protein interferes with the production of serotonin. Although fat is an essential and major ingredient in chocolate candies, its presence adds calories without helping satisfy your sweet craving. Fat has one additional problem. It slows down digestion, and the candy must be digested before the appetite and mood effects of serotonin can be felt, Buying a bag of Mars bars or Snickers or M&M’s, all of which are much higher in fat than candy corn, is risky. Because of their fat content, they take a while to digest so no serotonin is made. Before you can say Jack o’ Lantern, you have consumed half the bag of mini candy bars. Do this for a few days and there won’t be a ghost of a chance that you won’t gain weight. Do you still want one of those mini chocolate bars? Here is a trick that turns into a treat. Eat your serotonin boosting fat-free sweet snack in the amount that will boost this appetite-controlling brain chemical. Wait 20 minutes (answer the doorbell and give out some candy). Now eat one small chocolate treat. You will be satisfied. Why? Because the serotonin is shutting off your appetite for sweets and even eating one mini chocolate bar may seem like too much sweetness in your mouth. The feeling is similar to what you feel when you thirsty, drink enough water to satisfy your thirst and then don’t want anything more to drink. As to the snacks you have to buy for those Trick or Treaters: What about adding small boxes of raisins or tiny bags of pretzels or popcorn? Just don’t give apples to anyone without any front teeth.

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