Popular “health foods” are sneaky sources of sugar.

As far as you’re concerned, you’re having a pretty healthy day. You start off with a glass of orange juice and a bowl of whole-grain cereal. By mid-morning, when you’ve got the munchies, you reach for some mini rice cakes and a cup of yogurt, and lunch is just a smoothie and an energy bar. You end the day with some spaghetti drizzled with marinara. Truth is, you might as well have just eaten ice cream and cookies all day, because all of these foods have added up to an insane 200 grams (50 teaspoons) of sugar. Here are 10 ostensibly “healthy” foods that often have even more sugar than a can of Coke.

Milk

You down that glass of cow’s milk every day thinking about how the calcium and vitamin D are so good for you – and they are. But just a single 8-ounce serving of plain old 1% milk contains 12 grams of sugar. That’s 3 teaspoons hiding in a very unexpected place. The real trouble comes along when you add any kind of flavoring, like chocolate or strawberry. A carton of flavored milk is a popular “healthy” option for children’s school lunches, yet either option contains between 25 and 30 grams of sugar. For reference, a can of Coca-Cola Classic clocks in at 27 grams.

Non-dairy milk tends to fare a little better. Silk brand soymilk has 6 grams of sugar per cup, while So Delicious brand coconut milk contains 7 grams. The original flavor of Rice Dream has 10 grams of sugar, and the vanilla kind has 12. Get the unsweetened version of Almond Breeze and you won’t be taking in any sugar at all, but the chocolate version is nearly as bad as dairy chocolate milk at 20 grams.

Cereal

Take a stroll through the cereal aisle and you’ll see box after box of sugary confections that look more like desserts than breakfast. Of course, all of those glazed mini cinna-buns and marshmallows are clearly not healthy, but what about the whole grain oats, shredded wheat and flax flakes? General Mills’ Oatmeal Crisp Crunchy Almond is “whole grain guaranteed,” but the ingredients include brown sugar, sugar, high-fructose corn syrup and honey, making it 27% sugar. Kellogg’s Raisin Bran may be mostly wheat flakes, but it still has just as much sugar as Lucky Charms at 19 grams. In contrast, Kashi 7 Grain Whole Puffs has zero grams of sugar, and Cheerios have just 1. Check out this chart at Harvard School of Public Health to compare dozens of varieties.

Yogurt

Greek yogurt is kind of having a moment. It’s rich, it’s creamy and it’s good for you, packed with protein as well as probiotics that maintain bacterial balance in the gut. The plain versions offered by brands like Fage or Chobani contain a lot of saturated fat (up to 16 grams per serving – as much as three Snickers bars) but the low and no-fat kinds taste just as good. Then, of course, there’s the sugar. I happen to have four flavors of Chobani fat-free greek yogurt in my fridge, so I decided to check each one. Plain? Not too bad at 7 grams of sugar. But I nearly choked when I saw that the 6-ounce pineapple, peach and blueberry flavored yogurt cups contain 18, 19 and 20 grams, respectively. Ouch.

Other types of yogurt, unsurprisingly, are even more sickly-sweet. A 6-ounce container of Stonyfield Farm vanilla yogurt has 25 grams, and a cup of Yoplait Original Blueberry has the exact same amount of sugar as a can of Coke. But the worst by far is another flavor offered by Stonyfield Farm: fat-free “Chocolate Underground,” at 35 grams of sugar. Add in any of your own sugary toppings, like granola, and you might as well be having ice cream for breakfast.

Granola

The word “granola” is used to this day to describe people who are wholesome, down-to-earth and health conscious. This may be a bit of a misnomer, at least when it comes to the last point. Mixing rolled oats with dried fruit, nuts and sugar or honey can produce a product that’s got more sugar than soda and more fat than french fries. An 8-ounce cup can contain as much as 30 grams of sugar and granola bars, which are often globbed together with even more sugar, can be even worse. Look for low-sugar options or make your own.

Fruit Juice

Squeezed straight from fresh oranges, apples, pineapples and other fruits, juice should be one of the healthiest foods on the planet. It can’t be that bad if there’s no added sugar, right? Wrong. These fruits are naturally full of sugar, meaning they don’t need any help to be sweeter than soda. Apple juice has a whopping 10 teaspoons of sugar in just 12 ounces, and orange juice has 8. Grape juice actually beats Coca-Cola by half, with 15 teaspoons or an unbelievable 60 grams.

And, as anyone who has ever comparison shopped for juice knows, 100% pure fruit juices are outnumbered by all of the varieties that contain added sugar. An 8-ounce glass of Ocean Spray Cranberry Cocktail has more sugar than a can of soda at 33 grams, while an 8 ounce bottle of Minute Maid Cranberry Grape juice, which is “25% fruit juice”, contains 38 grams.

Energy Bars

You’re halfway through a long workout and can’t stop thinking about food. It’s the perfect time to break out an energy bar, which provides the protein, fats and carbs that your body needs for optimal performance, and after all, you’ve earned it. But be careful. Nutritional bars contain lots of sugar to help you power through a workout, but those grams still count toward your daily limit. A fruit and nut Boomi Bar in Apricot Cashew flavor has 19 grams of sugar, a Kashi Go Lean roll has 14 and a Kind Fruit & Nut Delight contains 11 grams. Grab a Clif Bar in the enticing seasonal flavor of Iced Gingerbread and you’ll be taking in 24 grams of sugar, or 6 teaspoons.

Packaged Fruit

Popping dried fruit instead of candy? You might benefit from the extra vitamins and minerals, but you’re still getting about the same amount of sugar. It would seem that canned or jarred fruits packed in syrup would be among the worst packaged fruits on the sugar scale, but a small cup of Del Monte diced pears has 17 grams and it only gets worse from there. Motts apple sauce has 23 grams of sugar in a small serving cup, and just 1/3 cup of Ocean Spray’s Craisins dried cranberries contains 29 grams.

Oatmeal

On the road without a pre-packaged breakfast, what’s a health-conscious traveler to do? If you’re desperate, the oatmeal options at either Starbucks or McDonald’s might be tempting but don’t give in. McDonald’s oatmeal cup, ostensibly made up of just oats, milk, brown sugar and fruit, actually has 11 ingredients and more sugar than a Snickers bar at 32 grams. In fact, it has just 10 fewer calories than a McDonald’s cheeseburger or Egg McMuffin. Meanwhile, at Starbucks, the “optional dried fruit topping” has 20 grams of sugar, and you can add even more with a packet of brown sugar.

Eating at home? A packet of instant oatmeal might be slightly better than the drive-in options, but it’s still far from healthy. Quaker’s raisin, date and walnut variety has 11 grams of sugar and the strawberries and cream kind has 12. Try the low-sugar,  varieties instead, or choose Kashi brand, which averages 6-7 grams per serving.

Smoothies

You probably don’t need anyone to tell you that smoothies from McDonalds or Dunkin Donuts aren’t anywhere near as wholesome as claimed. Sure, there’s “real fruit” in a McDonalds strawberry banana, mango pineapple or wild berry smoothie, but there’s also 49 grams of sugar. A 16-ounce Dunkin Donuts strawberry banana smoothie has 69 grams of sugar and the same size Jamba Juice Sunrise Banana Berry smoothie contains 59 grams.

Pasta Sauce

Tomatoes don’t have many calories, so why would crushed tomatoes in a jar add up to over 100 calories per serving? It’s partially the olive or other vegetable oils, but another culprit is up to 6 teaspoons of sugar. The 9 grams of sugar in Classico’s Sweet Basil sauce or the 11 grams in Ragu’s Sundried Tomato and Sweet Basil may not send you into a sugar crash on its own, but they definitely add up fast.

Rice Cakes

Long thought of as the ultimate diet food, rice cakes typically resemble nothing so much as round slices of styrofoam. But in a bid to catch health-conscious shoppers, manufacturers have begun releasing these puffed rice snacks in a wider range of flavors from sour cream and onion to caramel corn. Quaker’s Vanilla Creme Brulee mini rice snack cakes pack 8 grams into a serving.

ALSO CHECK OUT:

The Top 20 Best Foods for Your Brain

15 Best Foods to Improve Your Immunity

Foods to Boost Your Metabolism

Photos: kaibara87, daily sunny

National Candy Day is a good reminder that there is such a thing as too much sugar.

Turns out that today is National Candy Day. No joke.

So in honor of this truly special occasion – well, special until Sunday rolls around and it’s National Nachos Day – we’re featuring anything that’s candy related. Because who doesn’t love a little cotton candy foie gras? That and more in today’s Foodspotting Friday. Can someone get me a bowl of organic, locally grown broccoli please?

Cotton Candy Foie Gras

Candy Bar Pie

Yogurt Covered Pop Rocks

Octopus Jelly Candy

Piruleta

Strawberry Nerds Mojito

Candy Bar Waffles

Chocolate Covered Green Apple Candy Corn

Savory Bacon Mints

Cheesecake Lollipop Tree with Bubble Gum Whipped Cream

In Foodspotting Friday we highlight one of Foodspotting’s – or our own – top picks from our Foodspotting guides. Be sure to check them out and tip us off to your own favorites in our Readers’ Picks guide. Want to start spotting food on your own? Join Foodspotting and take part in the food spotting revolution. It’s visual, it’s positive, it’s global and we are in love with it.

Images: ZanyLibra, Sara, Stacy, karamat, Amy Cao, Carlos Sanz Ramirez, Sarah, Jamie, Charles, Keith Kendall, Heath W.

Cake Boss is a suspenseful, action-packed series, all about cake. Cake! White or dark filled, spongy or dense, gooey, nicely decorated cake. Will it make it to the city fete on time despite the impossible last minute change orders? Will the nitwit nephew Anthony drop the platter and be made to pay a heavy price? Sorry. It’s just cake.

Still, we care enough about the drama to make dirty ice and fondant household words. Humans who once cheered for Betty Crocker are throwing sophisticated cake designing parties with the works, competing for best decorations while impersonating dough boy icon, Buddy Valastro, who provides the sweet inspiration. He’s the boss! Yep, superman now wear a chef’s coat and a pompadour and wields a rolling pin. I guess Marie Antoinette was onto something. The people won’t have as much fun with bread.

And so, the phenomenon has taken the boutique cake concept a step further to transmogrify the tiered and frosted celebratory dessert into interactive iced sculpture. After all, it starts with an artist’s sketch, just like real art, and ends with a cavity and a pound or two.

But no matter how you slice it, the short-lived presentation (a band of Italian men trotting into a 50th anniversary with a giant cake shaped like an accordion) is followed by mounds of waste (big sob), not to mention what goes into the super size daily batter: vats of eggs, pounds of butter and countless bags of sugar.

The adorable host, who boasts that winning combo of artistic genius and serious addiction to chocolate, convinces us there is a great demand for the extravagant custom cakes he builds best. But we all know as reality shows go, there is an ultra fine line between reality and half-baked plots hatched by producers. Rod Serling called this middle place the Twilight Zone. Heidi Klum calls it Project Runway.

On Cake Boss, we’re led to believe customers demanded a colossal Roman Coliseum, a kitschy and slimy aquarium, a vast USA train town and an upscale botanical garden. When delivered, the truly masterful creations had recipients dizzy headed with delight, drooling like mad Pit Bulls over a delicious Pug puppy.

Meantime, I’m done with the twenty questions. The edible train cars forged from something labeled cereal treats and human figures carved out of modeling chocolate don’t look like a food group to me. Seriously, would you swallow a giant sugar diamond Buddy carved for a man who proposed at Carlo’s Bakery via a custom cake? Didn’t his girlfriend think something was fishy in Hoboken when the bright camera lights hit her?

Alright, so we can agree much of the hit show is staged, and we can also admit the awesome cakes are not sustainable museum pieces (freezing the top of the wedding cake for a year doesn’t count).

I suppose you could argue Buddy’s job is to sell cakes and his customers must decide whether to donate leftovers to the needy – people who still appreciate Betty Crocker but won’t turn up their noses at a slab of red velvet cake, molded into a six-foot hero sub sandwich.

The good news from a desperate recession standpoint is the made-in-America cake biz is thriving (Buddy is getting set for a new book tour) while keeping a sizable kitchen crew of kin out of the unemployment lines. Hey, that’s what famiglia does!

The bad news is the white powdery substance being peddled by the Boss is considered the most harmful legal drug for the body. Just keep it under wraps, kids. If the other bosses in the hood find out, they may want to take over Carlo’s Bakery, and viewers who have witnessed Buddy’s  four older sisters in action, know it could get hella ugly. I’m not ready for the spin-off show, Cake Boss Wars. Are yooze?

Images: Derek Purdy

The Corn Refiners Association has applied to change the name of high fructose corn syrup to “corn sugar” – gee, I wonder why?! According to a NY Times article, proponents of the change believe that this name more accurately reflects the nature of the syrup noting that the substance contains the same components as table sugar. The industry is worried that people have been misled by the name high fructose corn syrup and because of the current stigma now attached to the it, many food manufacturers are removing the syrup entirely from their products.

Granted, this is basically a PR stunt. While the term “high fructose corn syrup” may be misleading when comparing the substance to sugar, the public’s awareness of the prevalence of sweeteners in processed food products in general is a good thing. Changing the name to “corn sugar” does not alter the fact that a vast amount of food products sold in this country contain large quantities of sugar, whatever its form. If the basic chemistry of the sweeteners is the same, then perhaps the name change could help consumers’ overall awareness of sugar in their diet – regardless of where it comes from.

Still, the controversy over high fructose corn syrup remains, whether considering the health of individuals or of the planet as a whole.

“We do what we must, and call it by the best names.”-  Ralph Waldo Emerson

Image: normalityrelief

There are more loopholes and lawlessness in the world of beauty than flies on a bacon-covered cupcake. Seriously, someone might as well be spackling green paint on cans of oil for all the falsely organic stuff out on the shelves. As we may have mentioned once or twice, you need a PhD to determine what’s organic, what’s natural, and what’s a toxic waste dump disguised as face cream.

So what to do? We know to avoid parabens (preservative linked to cancer,) phthalates (solvent linked to reproductive issues,) petrochemicals, sodium laurel sulfate, and anything with fragrance in it. But what about all the other chemicals we see? We can spend our days plugging product ingredients into the Skin Deep database.

Let’s start with one of the most essential beauty products, the scrub. Sure, we can pick up a scrub at your local Whole Foods. (And consider our review of several popular products here.) But why not step into the kitchen and make it ourselves? Our faces and bodies are covered with dead skin cells and the best way to send them off into the afterlife is to use a good scrub. So check out our two favorite recipes for scrubs you can mix up in your own kitchen.

HONEY NUT SCRUB

Courtesy of Narine Nikogosian’s “Return to Beauty”

Nikogosian reports that walnuts are “packed with beta-carotene, vitamin E, and alpha-linolenic acid which help your skin stay soft, smooth and supple.” Like the sweet stuff? Honey helps slough away dead skin cells.

Mix 1 teaspoon of finely-ground walnuts with 1 teaspoon of honey and 1 teaspoon of lemon juice. Mix well. Massage this gently over your face for five minutes. Focus on your T-zone (chine, nose, and forehead). Rinse with warm water.

BASIC BROWN SUGAR SCRUB

Eating tons of sugar? Not so good for your skin. But using it to exfoliate your dead skin away? Nothing’s sweeter than that. A brown sugar scrub can give you the same results as a gentle chemical peel.

Purchase a bag of brown sugar. The dark the better, as light sugars tend to dissolve quickly. Add two tablespoons of water to a small bowl of sugar, but be sure it is not enough to dissolve it. Wet your face. Using circular motions, work the sugar over your skin. Leave the paste on for ten minutes. Then rinse.

Image: avlxyz

We wish more of you in the spotlight would bask in the green light, including Olympic poster boys, platinum-capped rappers and Hollywood idols who consume our fascination. What they own, where they live, what they drive, what they wear, what they eat: It drives our popular culture.

Imagine the potential impact of the young and wasteful who make the choice to get on board the eco movement beyond peddling torn tights and alternative energy fluids like Red Bull.

True, not every ingenue puts herself on the line, like Hayden Panettiere, who traveled to the Japanese village of Taiji to protest the dolphin slaughter. And not every handsome screen idol can fill Leo’s shoes, lending his support to countless causes, like the upcoming Christie’s International Green Auction to raise mega bucks for four non-profit environmental organizations.

We don’t judge the slackers harshly because, well, the dangling adverts and chauffeured SUVs are hard to pass up. But we urge the following stars to try out for a more worthwhile role, that of sustainable spokesperson for a hurting planet.

Shaun White Red Bull and Target Line: Adverts Not Medal-Worthy

The world’s best uber-snowboarder and top money maker can make a huge dent by being more selective about endorsements, promoting healthy, sustainable products. But Shaun White has aligned himself as an extreme Red Bull energy drinker (should we drink it to board like him?) and a line of boy’s wear at Target to name a few. Some of the garments are cotton (and not organic) but the sweats contain a lot of plastic polyester. This would have been a great chance to score a green eco line, a hot move for sure. After all, his Target advert made the screen at Times Square. That’s power!

Sean Kingston: My Super 18 Reflective of Phat-Pack Lavish Cribs and Bling

The five pound gold watch says it’s time for Sean to green his act. Perhaps a casualty of MTV Cribs and other entertainment flaunting the lavish lives of the rich and blung, the rapper’s idea of  a birthday is staging a Super 18 bash at Jungle Beach in Jamaica with his entourage, iced in $100,000 of new jewelry and adding a new car to his fleet. The native of Kingston could do so much more to send the right message. Conspicuous consumption? Zzz.

Lindsay Lohan Has Holes in Her Eco Story

Perpetually in trouble (last stint was falling into a patch of succulents), Lohan is adding hand bags to her questionable 6126 fashion line, which also includes green leggings. She needs to go the way of Project Runway’s Leeann Marshall and others who are investing in green that is more sustainable than trashy. In this case, Mama may actually know best because Dina Lohan launched an eco-friendly toothbrush that might get more support that the 6126 hose. Lohan should really get on board the green bus with true commitment, forgoing the junk food and drugs and getting healthy to set an example for her fans.

Miley Cyrus Needs to Deliver that Eco Line without Inconsistencies

“I’m a vegetarian but I hate vegetables and eat pasta everyday,” she was quoted saying, as thousands of young fans listed with baited breath. Great. One day she is reaching out to recruit green teens. The next she is swapping out her Toyotoa Prius for a Mercedes SUV. Ecorazzi says Miley blames the recall but the truth is her dog outgrew the hybrid. This is a mega rich, red hot star who has cashed in on her Hanah Montana products – most of them cheesy polyester girl’s wear sold at Sears, Walmart, Macy’s and other big box stores. Even her Target bedding (what kids breathe in nightly), is filled with toxic textiles. Why not use the good stuff, Miley? You would be even richer when it comes to promoting healthy living.

Team Beckham: Gas-Guzzling Cars, Real Estate, Mega Miles, Sugar Adverts, $1.5 million Shopping Sprees

One critic of the soccer star went so far as to accuse him of “causing global warming.” That’s because the family man (Victoria and three little forwards), reportedly among other accusations, owns a fleet of 15 cars (including an Escalade) and racked up more than 250,000 frequent flier miles last year. And he can spend the money he earns to bend. According to MSN, he spent a cool three grand to fly his pampered bulldog pup in luxury from England to Beverly Hills through a VIP service that included special care. He also has endorsed high sugar products, a no-no for athletes and greenies alike. Then again, wife Victoria is said to own $2 million in Hermes Birkin bags, and reportedly dropped $1.5 million shopping for a single season in Milan, claiming “shopping is like a drug.” Yep, that’s why most of us stay away from Via Montenapoleone when in Milan.

Images: alacoolb, Style News, Ecorazzi, Infobarrtell, Addict, Hauteliving

My New Year’s resolution? When the clock struck midnight, I vowed to cut my sugar intake by eliminating sweet treats like cookies, chocolate and soda from my diet.

On the first day of 2010, I ate strawberry yogurt for breakfast, snacked on a granola bar before lunch, sipped on vitamin water and enjoyed a savory serving of pasta for dinner. At the end of the day, I was feeling pretty good about my fresh start. That is, until I read the labels. As it turns out, I had consumed almost 100 grams of sugar (more than twice the recommended daily amount) in this so-called attempt at eating healthier.

This whole debacle prompted me to do some research on sugar-packed snacks that masquerade as health foods. Here are the most deceiving culprits:

Breakfast Bars

Sure, they may have less sugar than a glazed doughnut, but breakfast bars (shown above) aren’t nearly as healthy as you may think. Nature Valley’s Vanilla Yogurt Granola Bars and Nutri-Grain’s Cereal Bars cram 13 grams of sugar into a single serving. Being organic doesn’t make Health Valley’s Cereal Bars any better; they’ll even get you one gram closer to your daily sugar limit.

Vitamin Water

A bottle of vitamin water fuels your body with much more than just a dose of nutrients. That burst of energy you feel upon taking the last sip is just a sugar high in disguise. A 20-ounce bottle of Glaceu’s Vitamin Water or Snapple’s Antioxidant Water contains more than 30 grams of sugar. Take some vitamins and drink a glass of water, instead.

Cereal

Every time you walk down the cereal aisle, you say “no” to Tony the Tiger and refuse to go cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs. But even cereals that trade in a colorful mascot for wholesome claims can pack one sugary punch. Take Kellog’s Smart Start Strong Heart cereal. Despite its misleading name, one cup contains a whopping 14 grams of sugar.

Spaghetti Sauce

Just because you don’t taste the sweetness doesn’t mean there isn’t sugar lurking somewhere beneath the maters. Believe it or not, there are 14 grams of sugar in a half-cup of Newman’s Own Tomato and Basil Sauce and Bertolli’s Vineyard Marinara. Mama Mia!

Bran Muffins

You choke down every last bite of a bland bran muffin with your morning coffee and pat yourself on the back for making your fiber quota. Whoa there! Don’t be so quick to equate lack of flavor with nutritional value. There are over 20 grams of sugar in a bran muffin from Starbucks, and those from your local grocer probably aren’t very far behind.

Dried Fruit

Fruit is already naturally sweet, so why would dried fruit contain an excess of added sugar? Don’t turn to logic when debating what snacks to buy; just stick to the facts. There are 26 grams of sugar in a single serving of Ocean Spray’s Craisins and 30 grams of sugar in the same amount of Sun-Maid’s Natural California Raisins.

Juice

Tip of the day: although labels like “all natural” and “100% juice” sound healthy, it would be a wise choice to just ignore them. Despite the wholesome promise of such statements stamped on the carton in big, bold print, a serving of Langer’s Apple Juice contains 26 grams of sugar and the same amount of Minute Maid Orange Juice follows close behind with 24 grams of sugar. You are better off just eating the fruit and sipping water.

Flavored Yogurt

Yogurt is hailed as one of the healthiest foods you can eat. It’s known to boost your metabolism and even improve your immunity. On the other hand, it can also push you over the limit for your daily sugar intake. Just to put it in perspective, a 6-ounce container of Yoplait Strawberry Yogurt is crammed with 27 grams of sugar. Your best bet? Stick to plain yogurt and add slices of fruit for flavor.

Instant Oatmeal

There’s just not enough time in the morning to make it from scratch, it’s so convenient to have each serving prepackaged, it’s much more flavorful than plain oatmeal”¦ Yeah, yeah, yeah, I’ve heard (and used) every excuse in the book. But these justifications still don’t change that fact that a serving of Quaker’s Flavored Instant Oatmeal can contain as much as 14 grams of sugar. If you must do instant, hung for the natural, low sugar options.

Bottled Iced Tea

There are 26 grams of sugar in 8-ounces of Coca-Cola, while the same amount of Snapple Lemon Iced Tea contains 24 grams of sugar. Enough said.

It’s easy to overlook the high amount of sugar in seemingly healthy foods, but a quick visit to Sugar Stacks is sure to set you straight. This eye-opening site feature images of food and beverages with sugar cubes stacked next to them to represent the amount of sugar in each item. For more information, check out Sugar Shockers on Web MD.

Image Credits: Flickr: yujai, graciepoo, Deb’s Designs and Creations, disneymike, erincooks, Yes Becky, Rhadamon, vigilant20, Marni Molina, fred_fred

Mmmm. CANDY! Just smell the bowl full of those darling, little bars of CANDY. Just look at those chewy bites of CANDY!

Now, walk away. That’s right. Walk away and no one will get hurt.

Halloween is really one of the hardest nights to stay disciplined, to focus on staying healthy and stick to your local, organic fare and not endorse one night a year when it’s okay for kids to rot their teeth and poison their bodies with sugar and trans fats.

We get hundreds of visitors to our suburban-esque San Francisco hood and once the bell starts ringing, it tends to get frenetic. You can’t spend the evening just bobbing for organic apples but you can make some changes in your holiday routine.

Here are some good tips for staying focused for a  healthier Halloween:

1. Plan ahead pumpkin head!

Eat a really big, healthy dinner around 5 p.m. Give your kids a good dinner, too. Usually they’re too excited to eat, so just threaten them: No green stuff, no brown stuff. Growing up, we always had chili dogs on Halloween, but no one will eat that anymore. A veggie pizza is yummy and filling, and toss a massive salad for yourself and your friends. And don’t forget, many good foods stem from the pumpkins you carve, i.e. delicious and beneficial dried seeds, soups and desserts. Pumpkin is one of the super foods!

2. Pluck fruits of the vine, Frankenstein

Here’s something novel. Buy healthy treats to give away so if you have a few it won’t hurt: Organic fruit snacks, like the new ones from Amy’s,  Fair Trade organic dark chocolate squares, Z-bars. Don’t get carried away and give out toothbrushes, though. Everybody hates neighbors who give out toothbrushes. They deserve to get tee-peed.

3. Keep a Healthy Stash, Monster Mash

Keep a healthy, beat-the-blues treat aside for yourself, such as an organic dark chocolate bar, a bowl of fresh fruit or popcorn. I don’t know who made up the rule that giving away candy means you can’t snack on healthy treats throughout the night. Popcorn is high in fiber and I like to season mine with a bit of Cayenne pepper. Look out!

4. Slurp to your heart’s desire, thirsty vampire

Drink tons of water all night (from your reusable bottle, of course). Keep a water bottle by the front door, and keep sipping. Staying hydrated is a surefire way to keep up your energy throughout this high energy night, and to keep yourself from eating unhealthy foods that will just make you feel lousy in the morning  – you know, that Halloween hangover.

5. Sit on the porch and stay present

This is a great night to interact with neighbors, neighbors we are usually isolated from during the busy work week. Pull up a chair on the front steps with your bowl of healthy giveaways and haunt your old friends. It’s good for the spirit!

Top image: Doug88888

Image One: Organic Authority

There are times when watching what my husband calls “the idiot box” is the only option for kids who can’t jump on a bike and go exploring outdoors. But it is an option with more health consequences than we thought, according to a new study on 111 children ages 3 to 8 published in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine.

We all know kids tend to become obese watching too much TV due to the tendency to snack mindlessly, but these results found the more kids watched, the higher their blood pressure, no matter the weight of the kid. In fact, of all forms of inactivity examined by researchers in the U.S. and Spain, being glued to the tube was the worst.

“These results show that sedentary behavior, and more specifically television-viewing, is related to blood pressure independent of body fat or obesity level,” says Dr. Joey Eisenmann, a kinesiologist at Michigan State University and one of the study’s co-authors.

During the course of one week, the children tested wore accelerometers, instruments that record the body’s acceleration in a vertical plane – sitting results in a score of zero, and walking and running produce progressively higher scores.

Anything under a score of 50 per day was listed as sedentary. The children were sedentary for five hours each day, and 1.5 of those hours were spent in front of a TV, computer or video game, on average.

Researchers found when they broke down screen time by activity, TV-viewing had the strongest connection with higher blood pressure. Kids watching from two to five hours of television each day had systolic and diastolic blood-pressure readings (the two numbers that indicate pressure caused by blood pumping from the top and bottom chambers of the heart, respectively) that were five to seven points higher than those of children watching less than half an hour of television a day.

“These results show that TV-viewing really is the worst of all possible sedentary activities,” says Dr. David Ludwig, director of the Optimal Weight for Life Program at Children’s Hospital Boston, who was not part of the study. The American Academy of Pediatrics says children under two should not watch any television and that older children should limit their viewing to one to two hours per day.

So what makes TV less healthy than playing video games or surfing the Internet?

Among the explanations: children may be downing sweet and salty junk food while lying around and this can push up blood pressure readings; watching too close to bedtime can stimulate their brains, interfere with hormones and cause them to miss precious hours of sleep; missing sleep can lead to weight gain and hypertension because the metabolism doesn’t recharge and renew itself overnight; and content of commercials encourages overeating of the wrong types of food, which can be habit-forming throughout life.

In previous studies involving the same group of children, about 20% had developed prehypertension or hypertension – often because of weight gain.

So what is a healthy dose of television watching for children? Like everything else, moderation. One show after homework, a Saturday morning cartoon after a soccer game. And try to replace good movies with harmful commercial television packed with ads marketed to the most vulnerable viewers.

Image: Aaron Escobar