Halloween – The True Cost and Ways to Make it Healthy and Fun

Oct

Written by Ritamarie Loscalzo

Click here to leave a comment >> 2 Comments »

The ghosts and goblins will be walking the streets today, carrying their special Halloween treat bags. What they carry in those bags is far more scary than they, for it has the potential to rob them of their most precious gift…their health.

Americans spend close to two billion dollars every year on Halloween candy! That’s $2,000,000,000!!! That’s how much it would cost to send 20,000 students to a decent college for 4 years, or to feed 303,030 kids in Ghana, Africa for a year. How many hurricane or earthquake victims can be assisted with $2 billion? What about the hidden costs of Halloween? The dentist bills, doctor bills, lost productivity and distress that ensues as a result of gorging on candy every October 31st add up to millions.

The cost of Halloween on our health and the health of our kids is staggering. Since 1980, obesity rates in children have tripled. Today, 13 million children are obese . The amount of sugar consumed at halloween and throughout the year contributes not only to obesity but to serious debilitating disease, like heart disease, cancer and diabetes. Annual obesity-related medical costs are estimated to be $168 billion.

The ingredients in typical Halloween confections are scarier that the costumes. In addition to sugar and health damaging oils, they are filled with artificial colors and preservatives. And, according to Pure Fun Candy, producers of an organic line of cane juice sweetened candy colored with vegetable and fruit extracts, the FDA doesn’t monitor artificial colors, flavors and preservatives or even require that they be tested. Yet research published in the Lancet, one of the most respected medical journals, concludes that food additives affect brain chemistry in children, resulting in hyperactivity and ADHD like behavior. Lancet 2007, Nov 3:370(9598)1560-7 “Food Additives & Hyperactive Behavior in 3 Year Old and 8/9 Year Old Children in the Community: a Randomized, Double-Blinded, Placebo Controlled Trial.” McCann D, Barrett A, Cooper A, Crumpler D, Dalen L, Grimshaw K, Kitchin E, Lok K, Porteous L, Prince E, Sonuga-Barke E, Warner JO, Stevenson J. School of Psychology, Dept. of Child Health, University of Southampton, UK. 300 Children Studied.

This research prompted Wal-Mart in the UK to ban these additives in children’s foods. Yet American kids continue to consume them in record amounts, especially at Halloween.

So what’s your plan for keeping yourself and your family safe this Halloween? Here are some suggestions, taken in part from Healthy Halloween Treats

1- Pull your spending power away from the $2 billion spent on candy. Hand out trinkets like pencils and pads, party favor toys, boxes of raisins or quarters. If you feel you MUST give candy, try some of the Pure Fun Candy organic products. There’s a 3 page list of healthy alternatives in the book Healthy Halloween Treats.

2- Make your own Healthy Halloween Treats, using fresh,whole, raw organic ingredients and natural sweeteners like date paste and dried fruit powders.

3- Swap the candy your kids collect for trinkets, money or toys. The book Healthy Halloween Treats has pages of suggestions for new Halloween rituals that the kids find fun.

4- Teach your kids to Trick or Treat for Unicef, or another charity of your choice. It will teach them the magic of giving.

I’m off to make some caramel coated apples and chocolate covered strawberries for my kids.

Enjoy a Healthy Halloween safe from the scariest part of Halloween – the candy!

Love, Health and Happy Halloween

Dr. Ritamarie Loscalzo

Post below in the comments area one thing you plan to do to make Halloween safer and healthier for you and your family.

Tags: Cancer, chocolate, Dr. Ritamarie, Dr. Ritamarie Loscalzo, Halloween treats, healthy hallowAeAen, healthy halloween treats, raw food recipes, sugar
Posted in Articles, Cancer, Raw and Living Foods, Vibrant Health

Click here to leave a comment >> 2 Comments »

3 Keys to a Vibrantly Healthy Valentine’s Day

Feb

Written by Ritamarie Loscalzo

Click here to leave a comment >> 9 Comments »

heart and flowers1 300x297 3 Keys to a Vibrantly Healthy Valentines Day

Valentines Day is the LOVE holiday…the day when we express our love to the special people in our lives.

The tradition of Valentine’s Day is believed to have originated from the pagan customs of the Third or Fourth Century B.C., when the Festivals of Purification were celebrated in Ancient Rome. With the advent of Christianity, priests attempted to replace all ancient heathen practices, and in the fifth century A.D., they created its own holiday around the same date, and selected a saint who to honor for his devotion to love.

Traditionally, Valentine’s Day is a day when health takes a backseat as most people embellish their loved ones with chocolates, little candy hearts with sayings on them and all sorts of sweet, heart shaped treats and lavishly rich dinners.

What would it be like to enjoy the magic of your Valentine’s Day love connections without compromising your health and your waistline?

Here are 3 key strategies that you can use to create new and memorable health promoting Valentine’s Day rituals.

1- Celebrate and thank the one person you can count on to be there every moment in your life, through thick and thin, good times and challenging ones and until you take your last breath…YOU. Do something special for yourself. Self love and care is health care. One of the best heart shaped candle 3 Keys to a Vibrantly Healthy Valentines Day ways to improve the quality of your health and increase your energy and longevity is to consistently make time to reward and acknowledge yourself.

Take a minute right now to stroke and massage your shoulders, arms and hands. Doesn’t that feel great? Plan a time for a candle-lit hot bath, or an evening in bed to read, write or meditate. What’s your favorite pass time? What do you love to do? Reward yourself by scheduling time to do it. Schedule it right NOW.

Jot me a note in the comments box and let me know how you plan to show self love.

valentine chocolate small 300x199 3 Keys to a Vibrantly Healthy Valentines Day 2- Create special treats for your loved ones using whole, fresh, organic and living foods.

As a special Valentine’s Day gift from me to you, I created a recipe sampler you can use and enjoy.

http://www.drritamarie.com/candy.htm

3- Make aphrodisiac foods a part of the celebration, to spark some passion into your love life. These traditionally include:

Almond – aroma is supposed to induce passion in a female.
Arugula – has been documented as an aphrodisiac since the first century A.D.
Avocado – The Aztecs called the tree the “testicle tree”.
Basil – Is supposed to stimulate the sex drive and boost fertility.
Chocolate – contains PEA, a neurotransmitter that stimulates a feeling of love and connection.
Fennel – a source of natural plant estrogen, fennel was used in the early Egyptian times as “libido enhancement”.
Figs – An open fig is said to resemble the female sex organs and traditionally thought of as sexual stimulant.
Garlic – is said to stir sexual desires.
Mustard – is believed to stimulate the sex glands and increase desire.
Pine Nuts – have been used to stimulate the libido as far back as Medieval times.
Raspberries and Strawberries – are described in erotic literature as fruit nipples
Vanilla – The scent and flavor is believed to increase lust.