Enjoy Halloween Sweets on Halloween – But Here’s How to Avoid Downward Spiral of Your Sweets Addiction Later!

Enjoy the holidays, but minimize some downsides by heeding these cautionary tales. Starting with Halloween, the holidays can trip up even the most conscientious and healthy eaters, can wreck the fittest bodies, and ruin the most beautiful skin. This has happened to many clients.

Cindy lost and kept off 20 pounds successfully. The Halloween trap caught her by surprise. She bought several bags of Snickers, her favorite candy bar, and began a binge that didn’t end until the candy was gone – long before Trick or Treat even began! That brought her up a couple of pounds. Next, the holidays came and before you know it, she had gained almost ten pounds before winter was out.

Another client traces the beginning of her adult acne to overeating Halloween candies brought home by her children. She still battles it years later. The research on acne confirms sweets are a primary dietary reason for skin problems, especially acne in adults, and in teens whose acne doesn’t improve at the usual rate, according to Advances in Dermatology and Allergology.

With Halloween and the holidays looming, it is important to determine your strategy for dealing with the temptation of sweets: what you eat, how much, what you bring in your home, and what you serve others.

My philosophy is, without exception, all food should be enjoyed!

But there are special challenges posed with some foods, particularly sweets, which have been confirmed by solid science – it’s not just in your head! Understanding the science behind sweet craving and overeating can help you eat in a way that saves your body, your skin, and your health.

People have an inborn attraction to sweets. If you don’t believe it, simply watch an infant’s response to something sweet versus, say, a vegetable. There is an automatic acceptance, even joy, after eating something sweet. On the other hand, vegetables are an acquired taste, which may take 10 to 20 tries before acceptance, in addition to experiencing positive examples set by peers and parents. This is partly explained by evolution. We’ve been eating naturally sweet foods such as breast milk and fruit for millions of years. They contain life-sustaining nutrients, and a love for those foods helped keep us alive. Also, during evolution, an attraction to scarce calorie-dense foods, such as sweets and fats, improved our chances for survival, according to a NIH Director’s Blog article.

But there are other explanations.  The research surrounding our attraction to sweets has stepped up in recent decades. Scientists are grappling with understanding the calorie imbalances causing the obesity epidemic, which is partly fueled by eating too many sweets.

Sweets Addiction

Our brain chemistry holds an important clue. Research shows that sweets increase the “happy” brain chemical, dopamine , which increases your mood. Eating carbohydrates, such as sweets and fruit improve mood; which is why a handful of candy corn may help you feel better. Compounding this, the reduction in sunlight in colder weather, reduces the brain chemical, serotonin, which can lead to depression in susceptible people

When we’re stressed, anxious or depressed, dopamine and serotonin levels can drop, and one way people modify their bad mood is by eating carbohydrates, especially sweets. This leads to increased levels of depression, which may be the trigger for overeating in some people, depending on their coping mechanisms for depression.

Cravings and overeating are difficult to study because they can be subjective and multifactorial.

Other researchers stipulate sweet cravings are mainly determined by culture or by psychological and behavioral factors, rather than physiology.

In some cultures, people don’t crave sweets because they haven’t been exposed to them as regularly as Americans. A study of chocolate, for instance, found that American women crave chocolate significantly more than Spanish women. And while a large percentage of American women reported increased chocolate cravings surrounding their menstrual period, Spanish women did not, according to the journal, Appetite.

Other studies confirm that exposure during childhood is the major determinant of what we crave and are susceptible to overeating.

I copied my mother’s love for sweets and baking; it was a fun activity we did together. In college, to combat loneliness, and heck just for fun, I over-indulged my love for sweets (as the pounds went up and up).  I would regularly bake my favorite chocolate chip bars and caramel popcorn, both of which I made in childhood. Study after study shows the importance of parental modeling on a child’s preferences, according to a study in the journal, Nutrients.

Availability and proximity are two of the most important factors science have found influence what we crave and overeat and they probably trump all of the other reasons combined, according to a study in the European Journal of Nutrition. When tasty foods, such as sweets, are around, we simply eat more of them, according to The Annual Review of Nutrition.

Chances are, a combination of factors is responsible for cravings and overeating sweets at Halloween and the holidays. Holiday sweets are novel, they only come around once a year. They comes in small pieces so you fool yourself into thinking you’re not eating as much. You put it in bowls around the house and eat it mindlessly.

If you have a strong desire for sweets, it may be a sign that you’re depressed, anxious or stressed. But you don’t have to indulge in sweets to raise your serotonin levels or to feel good. Physical activity, stress management, meditation, spending time with loved ones are activities which will help reduce depression, anxiety and stress. Physiologically, they will increase seratonin and dopamine levels, two brain chemicals responsible for happiness, according to Frontiers in Psychology (My client discovered a psychological basis for her binges, which she is successfully averting these days).

Using candy to feel better is not a great solution for your waist line. It is so high calorie, it doesn’t take much to overeat and forget your weight loss plans. For the same calories in a candy bar, you could eat four apples, or maybe you couldn’t – and that’s the point!

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not urging you to be a Halloween Scrooge. I believe it’s possible to have fun with Halloween, and even eat Halloween candy, but still avoid some of the excesses that many of us have fallen victim to in the past. Here are a few suggestions:

Tips to Reduce Sweet Cravings

• To reduce the possibility of seasonal cravings, make sure you’re getting 30 minutes to one hour of sunlight each day by taking a walk in the mornings or at lunch. You may be able to “catch up” on the weekend, if you didn’t get enough rays during the week,
• Eat plenty of healthy carbohydrates, such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains and legumes, to keep serotonin at optimum levels and reduce cravings of less healthy carbohydrates, such as refined sugar,
• If you feel driven to eat sweets, it may be a signal that you’re depressed, anxious or stressed. Reduce tension and anxiety by exercising, meditating or talking with loved ones. It’s important to understand the core of the problem and for that, you may need to seek help from a professional,
• If you want to lose weight, keep your candy – or other “extra” calories – to no more than 10% of your daily calories (that’s 200 calories for the average 2,000 calorie intake, or 150 for 1,500 calories). You may even get away with one big splurge on Halloween. But if you splurge for two or more days, it will probably effect your waist line negatively,
• If you can’t resist eating too much candy, wait to buy it on the day of the party or event (or, don’t buy it). This way, the candy won’t be sitting around as a constant temptation,
• Buy only what you need for the event and buy your least favorite candy. Give away the remaining candy at the end of the evening so that there’s nothing left,
• Try fun and healthier alternatives to sweets to have around your home and serve to family and guests, such as popcorn, roasted pumpkin seeds, sliced apples and fruit with nice dips,
• Most importantly, if you do find you overeat, lighten up, don’t dwell on the negative and get over it! Analyze objectively what you can do differently next time,

With awareness and good planning, you can have your sweets and eat them, too!

Urgent! Surviving the Heat, Preventing Heat Stroke, and Death During This Dangerous Heat Wave: #1 Piece of Advice? Pale Pee!

If you experience any of these symptoms, Call 911
This article appeared in The Huffington Post

Unprecedented heat waves across the United States have significantly increased heat stroke deaths, and heat related illness emergency room visits significantly over previous years. Multiple deaths have been reported. And the coming heat has been especially deadly and unprecedented.

Even experienced amateurs and professionals experience heat stroke. And I’ve seen it up close. I’ll never forget volunteering at the Marine Corps Marathon’s Finish Line Emergency Tent. The experience was horrifying and exhilarating at the same time.

I spoke at the marathon’s scientific conference the day before, and the other speakers — dedicated medical specialists who came from around the world — were amazing. Their expertise and dedication saved many lives at the marathon.

What is seared in my brain forever were the exhausted runners stumbling, vomiting, and defecating on themselves. The room reeked! They were so disoriented, they couldn’t remember their own names, let alone their birth dates. They were triaged quickly into the emergency tent on the verge of death: Forced into ice-water baths screaming, surrounded by emergency doctors hooking them up to IVs.  It was heat stroke. I’d never seen the like!

Once their body temperatures were lowered, and their blood fluids increased, and balanced with the right electrolytes, they were whisked off in waiting ambulances to nearby hospitals. Everyone survived that day.

The Most Essential Nutrient: Water

Nutrients don’t only come in the form of food; water is the most important, and often most forgotten, nutrient. You can last for some time without food, but only days without water. Your lean body mass contains about 70 percent to 75 percent water, with fat containing much less: about 10 percent to 40 percent water. Because of increased muscle mass, men’s and athletes’ bodies contain more water than bodies with proportionately lower muscle and higher fat, such as non-athletic women, people who are overweight and people who are older.

Water is:

-The solvent for important biochemical reactions, supplying nutrients and removing waste.

– Essential for maintaining blood circulation throughout your body.

– The maintainer of body temperature. As you exercise, your metabolism and your internal body temperature increase.

How sweating keeps us alive

Water carries heat away from your internal organs before serious damage occurs, which can lead to heat stroke, and even death. The heat travels through your bloodstream to your skin, causing you to sweat. As the sweat evaporates, this allows you to cool off and maintain a safe body temperature, optimal functioning and health.

Daily water intake must be balanced with losses to maintain total body water. Losing body water can adversely affect your functioning and health. Once you start feeling thirsty, you’ve probably lost about 1 percent of your body water and are dehydrated. With a 2 percent water loss, you could experience serious fatigue and cardiovascular impairments. It’s important to note that individual fluid needs differ depending on your sweat rate, the environmental temperature, your clothing, humidity and other factors.

Heat Illness First Aid

Hydration Tips For Preventing Heat Stroke

– Drink enough water to prevent thirst. Monitor fluid loss by checking the color of your urine. It should be pale yellow – not dark yellow, smelly or cloudy.

– For short-duration (less than 60 minutes), low-to-moderate-intensity activity, water is a good choice to drink before, during and after exercise,

– Any time you exercise in extreme heat or for more than one hour, supplement water with a sports drink that contains electrolytes and 6 percent to 8 percent carbohydrates. This prevents “hyponatremia” (low blood sodium), which dilutes your blood and could also lead to serious impairment and death,

– Begin exercise well-hydrated. Drink plenty of fluids the day before and within the hour before, during and after your exercise session,

– Avoid alcohol the day before or the day of a long exercise bout, and avoid exercising with a hangover,

– Consider all fluids, including tea, coffee, juices, milk and soups (though excluding alcohol, which is extremely dehydrating). The amount of caffeine in tea and coffee does not discount the fluid in them, even if they have a slight diuretic effect, according to the most recent report by the National Research Council’s Food and Nutrition Board.

– Eat at least five cups of fruits and vegetables per day for optimum health, as they all contain various levels of water and the all-important nutrient potassium,

– During exercise, for those who experience high sodium losses, eat salty foods in a pre-exercise meal or add an appropriate amount of salt to sports drinks consumed during exercise. Orange juice is high in potassium. Dilute juices, such as V-8 or orange juice, 50/50 with water so that the drinks are 6 percent carbohydrate solutions (the same as sports drinks), which will empty from your stomach quicker than 100 percent juice (juices are naturally 12 percent solutions), allowing the electrolytes and water to quickly reach your heart and organs,

– Following strenuous exercise, you need more protein to build muscle, carbohydrates to refuel muscle, electrolytes to replenish what’s lost in sweat, and fluids to help rehydrate the body. For two hours or less exercise, yogurt and water are excellent choices. For strenuous or long distance exercise of more than two hours, low-fat chocolate milk is a perfect, and natural replacement that fills those requirements,

– You can also replace fluid and sodium losses with watery foods that contain salt and potassium, such as soup and vegetable juices,

– For long hikes, when you’ll need food, dried fruit and nut mixtures contain high amounts of potassium, sodium, protein, carbs and calories — though continue to drink plenty of water,

– To determine your individualized need for fluid replacement: During heavy exercise, weigh yourself immediately before and after exercise. If you see an immediate loss of weight, you’ve lost valuable water. Drink 3 cups of fluid for every pound lost; use this figure to determine the amount of water (or sports drink) you’ll need to drink before and during your next exercise session to prevent weight/water loss in the future.

Most Olive Oil is Not As Healthful As You Think

Photo credit: North American Olive Oil Association

Does that mean you won’t receive the expected health benefits when using olive oil bought on America’s grocery shelves? Probably not!

This issue first came to my attention at a Mediterranean Diet Conference I attended in Florence, Italy, co-sponsored by New York University’s Department of Dietetics and the James Beard Foundation. 

The following story was originally published in The Washington Post… Read the article in Livescience.com

Olive Oil Gets Worse with Age

You feel good about using olive oil, right? You know it’s good for you, tasty and easy to use. Still, to get the most benefits — and the best bang for your buck – there’s more you should know.

“The health benefits of olive oil are 99 percent related to the presence of the phenolic compounds, not the oil itself,” says Nasir Malik, research plant physiologist at the U.S. Agriculture Department’s Agricultural Research Service.

Malik is referring to the polyphenols in olive oil, nutrients also found in wine, tea, cocoa and many fruits and vegetables that have been discovered over the past decade to be the substances responsible for the bulk of olive oil’s health benefits, without which “you might as well use canola oil,” Malik says.

And when tested, polyphenols were surprisingly low in most commercially available olive oils, according to a recently published study conducted by the Agricultural Research Service, co-authored by Malik.

They also don’t live up to international or U.S. Agriculture Department quality standards, according to studies conducted by the University of California at Davis Olive Center.

The good stuff

Polyphenols decrease heart disease risk factors by lowering blood pressure and cholesterol, reducing blood clotting and improving the health of artery linings.

Researchers have discovered that there are “healthy genes” that, when activated, reduce your chances for metabolic syndrome, the name for a group of risk factors (high blood pressure, cholesterol, and glucose) that together increase the risk for heart disease, America’s No. 1 killer. Fresh, high-polyphenol olive oil affects these genes in a positive way, reducing your risk for metabolic syndrome and heart disease, according to the 2025 study in Clinical Practice. But low-polyphenol olive oil does not have the same effects.

Polyphenols also reduce cancer risk by lowering inflammation and cellular proliferation. This “review of 45 individual studies reveals that, overall, highest versus lowest olive oil consumption was associated with 31% lower cancer risk. Significant protection was noted for breast, overall gastrointestinal, upper aerodigestive and urinary tract cancer,” according to a 2022 study in PLoS One. They act as antioxidants, reducing oxidation and cell damage, which leads to many degenerative diseases.

Olive oil polyphenols even reduce microbial activity and infections. “Experimental studies have confirmed significant anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory effects of dietary virgin olive oils and its bioactive components supplementation in preclinical models of autoimmune diseases, such as inflammatory bowel disease, rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus and sclerosis,” according to this 2019 study in Nutrients.

These biological benefits explain, in part, why the Mediterranean diet, high in olive oil, has been linked with superior health. But there is an advantage even the poorest of the poor in Mediterranean countries have enjoyed since at least 4,000 B.C.: freshly harvested olive oil. That’s because olives were growing on trees in their own back yards; it was plentiful and cheap. But its freshness had been taken for granted.

Waning quality

Studies show that as days, weeks and months go by after harvest, the polyphenol content and health benefits of the oil diminish.

“Think of olive oil as olive juice with a maximum two-year shelf life,” says Selina Wang, research director at the U.C.-Davis Olive Center.

Several factors are responsible for the polyphenol content of olive oil, according to the experts:

●Harvesting method: Rougher treatment and exposure to the elements reduces polyphenols.

●The age of the trees: Older trees contain significantly more.

●Olive maturation: Green olives contain more polyphenols than ripe olives, though it’s easier to extract more oil from riper olives.

●Processing: The less processing the better. “Extra virgin” olive oil, which is cold-pressed only once, has the highest polyphenol levels. Two presses (“virgin” olive oil), reduces polyphenol content further, and oil with three extractions contains only about half the value of “virgin” olive oil. Highly refined or “light” olive oils, which use heat or chemicals in the refining process, have significantly lower polyphenol levels.

●Storage: Any exposure of the harvested olives or the oil to heat, light or air will reduce polyphenol content. (If you’re using extreme heat in cooking, you’ll most likely lose the polyphenols anyway, so you might as well use canola oil, which contains more heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids.)

The Quest

Marcia Horting and her husband, Marc Marzullo, who visit Italy regularly, are on a constant quest for great olive oil. “We look for oils produced by single vineyards, co-ops in small towns like Volpaia, or high-quality Tuscan producers that are grassy and spicy,” says Horting, a consultant in Gaithersburg. She has noticed that in the bigger stores in Paris and Rome serving tourists, “older olive oils are sold at the same prices as the more recent harvest.”

Luckily, you no longer have to travel to Italy for high-quality extra virgin olive oil, as they are now being produced in the United States. They’re may be fresher — and with a price you can afford. California is the leader of the olive oil-producing states, but Texas, Oregon, Arizona and Georgia are producing a small amount.

It’s tricky knowing the olive oil you’re buying is high-quality, fresh extra virgin olive oil. In most U.S. stores, I have found olive oil with harvest dates on perhaps one out of 20 bottles. Some have “sell-by” dates, which are usually two years after harvest (already too old!), though there are no standards for a sell-by date, so there is no guarantee how old your olive oil is unless there is a harvest date. Olives are harvested once annually, usually in the fall/winter, depending on the region. Look for a harvest date within the past year.

Even if it has a harvest date, you still won’t know whether it has been harvested and handled to maximize polyphenol content.

The way I handle this is by going to a specialty shop where the owners are familiar with the olive farm from which the olives were harvested and the oil processed, or somewhere that I know sells California or Texas olive oil. I make sure the container is opaque. It has to have a harvest date within the past year. I keep it in a cool, dark cabinet at home, and use it up quickly. I save expensive olive oil for drizzling on salads and use canola oil for cooking, especially with high heat.

The more consumers demand harvest dates and proper handling, the more these products will become available.

What to look for

Advice from Dan Flynn, executive director of the UC-Davis Olive Center:

●Look for a harvest date on the label (it should be no more than one year old). Freshness is important for quality and nutrition. Some retailers are becoming more savvy about this.

●Color is not an indicator of freshness. Some people think a strong green tint means better quality, but some olive varieties are just greener than others. Some high-quality olive oils are a golden color.

●Buy olive oil in a container that protects the oil from light. That could be dark glass or a tin.

●People need to taste truly fresh oil. I believe most people are used to an oil that is not fresh, and that’s what they think it should taste like. There’s a high-quality product available at the same price. Extra virgin olive oil has a special flavor and freshness. Once people taste fresh extra virgin olive oil, they’ll want to continue choosing it.

●Olive oil should smell fruity and taste and smell like olives. Some describe high-quality olive oil as “grassy” or “peppery.”

For maximum nutrition, quality and flavor, ideally, the olive oil you buy should not be more than one year old. It should say “extra virgin.” It should be harvested carefully, processed quickly and minimally, stored in a cool dark environment, opened and used quickly without too much exposure to air.

This piece was originally published in The Washington Post.

Buy Your Chocolate While You Can Afford It! (I did): 38% and 21% Tariffs on the Highest Cocoa Producing Countries.

I just bought several pounds of my favorite Belgian Dark Chocolate in light of this recent news. The highest cocoa producing countries, Ghana and The Ivory Coast, are slated to be charged 38% and 21% tariffs, respectively, for their exports by the Trump administration. Depending on the country, new tariffs are anywhere between 10%, the baseline tariff for all countries, and 38%, according to Americas Quarterly. (Though worldwide, 50% is the highest so far – or 145%, depending on the day!)

“There are over 2 million small cocoa farms in [the West] African region thanks to its favorable climate and fertile soils that make the land ideal for cocoa cultivation. These and other regions 20 degrees north and south of the equator also offer the essential climatic conditions—hot and humid—for growing cocoa,” according to the Cocoa Confectionary Company.

Chocolate is Important!

I recommend dark chocolate as the rare healthy treat that has virtually no downsides. And just about everyone loves it. It’s an excellent choice for people with diabetes because chocolate has a low glycemic index, with dark chocolate being about 22 and milk chocolate at about 50. Just keep the amount to no more than about an ounce, which costs about 150 to 170 calories. A luxurious dessert for my guests is topping a bowl of fresh raspberries with dark chocolate shavings. I like to chop dark chocolate into my evening yogurt.

Cocoa and dark chocolate have been associated with a reduction in all causes of death. In fact,  “chocolate contains several health-promoting factors (bioactive components – polyphenols, flavonoids, procyanidins, theobromines, etc, and vitamins and minerals) that positively modulate the immune system of human beings. It confers safeguards against cardiovascular diseases, certain types of cancers, and other brain-related disorders like Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, etc. Dark chocolate is considered a functional food due to its anti-diabetic, anti-inflammatory, and anti-microbial properties. It also has a well-established role in weight management and the alteration of a lipid profile to a healthy direction,” according to a 2022 study in Current Research in Food Science.

For more on chocolate’s health benefits, check out my Washington Post article.

NOTE: I keep my chocolate in the refrigerator to keep it fresh

“Song for Autumn” by Mary Oliver

In the deep fall
don’t you imagine the leaves think how
comfortable it will be to touch
the earth instead of the
nothingness of air and the endless
freshets of wind? And don’t you think
the trees themselves, especially those with mossy,
warm caves, begin to think
of the birds that will come — six, a dozen — to sleep
inside their bodies? And don’t you hear
the goldenrod whispering goodbye,
the everlasting being crowned with the first
tuffets of snow? The pond
vanishes, and the white field over which
the fox runs so quickly brings out
its blue shadows. And the wind pumps its
bellows. And at evening especially,
the piled firewood shifts a little,
longing to be on its way.