Nutritionists and dentists love these Halloween gifts

Halloween doesn’t scare dentists or nutritionists. They’re not monsters, after all, which means they won’t begrudge kids their share of candy.

But they use a few tricks to make dessert less annoying, starting with limiting the festivities to one night. “The kids will get the candy,” says Lil Greenbaum, MD, a pediatric dentist at Smiles+Greens in New York. “The biggest problem is when it gets extended to the next day, the next week, the next month.” He suggests choosing a handful of the best foods and enjoying them that night, then spreading out the rest.

It’s also a good idea to prioritize brushing your teeth as soon as possible after eating a piece of candy. If your kids are eating while walking around town, periodically offer them a bottle of water and ask them to rinse their mouths and spit out, Greenbaum says. This will prevent the sugar from clinging to their teeth.

Plus, of course, some options are healthier than others. We asked seven nutritionists and dentists what they hand out on Halloween night and why.

Chewing gum

Grinbaum’s Halloween special is sugar-free gum. “Kids will look at you and say, ‘What the hell is that?’” he says. Although it is not a traditional option, there are reasons to add it to the course. “The benefit of gum is that every time you chew, your jaw activates the flow of saliva, so your saliva contains the strongest antibacterial enzymes,” he says. “You protect your entire mouth while chewing.”

Dark chocolate

When in doubt, choose candy made with dark chocolate instead of milk or white chocolate. “It’s a really good alternative,” Greenbaum says. It’s made with a higher percentage of cocoa, which means the chocolate contains “much less sugar, and it’s also anti-inflammatory. The polyphenols and flavonoids in cocoa actually reduce the bacteria that cause tooth decay.”

Sweet potato chips

Ideally, anything you serve for Halloween won’t contain highly acidic ingredients, which are harmful to the pH levels of your mouth. “When the pH of your saliva drops, your tooth enamel starts to break down,” says Lilia Horowitz, founder of Domino Dental in Brooklyn. That’s why you prefer snacks like single-use packets of sweet potato chips, which are usually made with less acidic oils than other options.

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“Avocado oil, coconut oil, and olive oil are more alkaline, or neutral, than seed oils like canola or soybean oil, which are more refined and tend to have more acidity,” Horwitz says. Plus, the sweet potato chips are unique enough to add some much-needed variety to your trick-or-treat swag bags.

Clementine

One of the most fun things about clementines is that they look like little pumpkins, says Abeer Badr, a clinical nutritionist at MassGeneral Weight Center. You can decorate clementines with stickers to make a scary face. Aside from the sweet factor, she adds, “You’re getting some nutrients like vitamin C and fiber, which makes the clementine in the pumpkin a nice complement to all that candy.”

Gummy bears

Gummy bears provide easily digestible sugar, which helps keep kids nourished as they walk around the neighborhood. “Gummy bears are a good, quick source of fuel for your body, and they’re fun and something different,” says Diane Johnson, a registered dietitian at University of Tulsa Dining Services.

Payday bars

During a recent golf outing, Johnson’s friend needed a snack, and ended up choosing Payday Pub. The salty-sweet combination of peanuts and caramel makes them delicious and satisfying, as does their smaller size Six grams of protein.

In her opinion, those nutritional statistics outweigh the downsides of the stickiness of the candy bar. “It’s kind of a take on a protein bar,” Johnson says. “Obviously it’s not healthy, but if you’re going to do any candy bar,” that doesn’t haunt the dietitian.

Fruit jerky

Fruit jerky — an easy-to-portable snack — is “moist and tender,” says Nadine Hassan, an adjunct faculty member in the College of Health Sciences at Purdue University Global, where she teaches courses on nutrition. Choose one with “nothing else added” except fruit. In addition, the high fiber content in fruit jerky supports digestive health, and its natural sugars are healthier than the artificial kind added to many other foods. Choose from a wide range of flavours, including mango, pineapple, banana, strawberry and apple.

popcorn

Popcorn is perfect for salty snack lovers. “It’s definitely a good fiber snack,” Hassan says. “In a Halloween goody bag, you’re probably getting mostly everything sweet, so it’s a good balance.” Plus, popcorn is packed with B vitamins, potassium, and manganese, and many brands offer individual bags that are low in calories and fat (and high in crunch).

Freeze dried fruits

The freeze-dried fruit, which comes in individual portions, is “the healthy version of potato chips for your kids,” Hassan says. She adds that freeze-drying preserves vitamins and minerals, which means you’ll be delivering a nice dose of antioxidants and fiber to your trick-or-treaters.

Snickers and Milky Way

Jay Millett and his wife are dentists, but if you see them handing out candy on Halloween, it’s not a ghost. “We definitely eat sweets, and our oral hygiene is great,” says Millett, Northeast Dental Director at DentaQuest.

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Their favorites are Snickers and Milky Way. Aside from the taste, Maillet appreciates that the candy bars are consumed easily and quickly. On the other hand, sticky candies — like Twizzlers and Starbursts — stay on the teeth longer, increasing the risk of tooth decay. “Try to limit snacks that increase tooth contact time,” he says. The sooner the treatment dissolves in your mouth, the better.

Apple sauce and caramel

Apples are a first-class and healthy fall fruit. Choose a theme for trick-or-treating. Choose individual containers of apple slices and caramel sauce, suggests Lindsay Malone, a professor of nutrition at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. Aside from the obvious Health benefits Of apples, you can buy these in bulk. Plus, she says, “It’s packaged and sealed, so parents don’t have to wonder if it’s safe to eat.”

Sugar-free lollipops

You can’t go wrong handing out sugar-free lollipops, one of Grinbaum’s favorite office tricks and Halloween treats. Xylitol, a sweetener often used as a sugar substitute in these pops, reduces the growth of cavity-causing bacteria. Plus, it tastes as good as any other candy, he says. He loves putting it in his mouth himself during Halloween (and the rest of the year, too).

Ice cream cups

Depending on the weather you live in, it may not make sense to serve a cold treat like ice cream. But if you can swing it, many kids will enjoy the candy as they continue their stroll around the neighborhood.