Heart Research UK Healthy Heart Tip, written by Dr Helen Flaherty, Head of Health Promotion at Heart Research UK
Halloween is approaching fast and the shops are filling up with spooky costumes, decorations, pumpkins and sugary treats. It can be difficult to avoid overindulging on sweets and chocolate at Halloween, but there are some healthy swaps you can make.
Before you head out to buy bags of sugary and fatty Halloween treats, why not consider celebrating Halloween in a healthier way.
Here’s some ideas to help you enjoy a healthier Halloween:
• Whizz up some ‘vampire blood’ smoothies by blending strawberries, raspberries and blueberries that are packed full of antioxidants to keep your heart and arteries healthy.
• Pumpkin is high in fibre, vitamins and minerals and low in calories. When hollowing out your pumpkin lantern, save the flesh to make tasty pumpkin soup and call it ‘witches’ brew’. You can find many more healthy pumpkin recipes here
• Swap some of the sweets for ‘bat droppings’ of dried fruit and unsalted nuts and give your little monsters a boost of vitamins, minerals and fibre, as well as plenty of energy to run around in their scary costumes.
• Buy Halloween-themed toys, puzzles, magazines or stationery to give the kids, instead of sweets and chocolate.
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