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.

The post Foodspotting Friday: Sugar Can Kill You appeared first on EcoSalon.

In our post-Halloween sugar malaise, some of us might be cursing the bags of candy left in our cabinets. And yes, those bite-sized bits of chocolate, caramel and nougat (you can see where my head is), are perfect to satiate a craving. Or two. Or five. Because the real problem occurs when, after denying yourself candy over and over again, you wake up ten minutes later surrounded by a candy-wrapper massacre and chocolate smudges on your face similar to what you sported as a five-year-old.

And that’s when the guilt sets in. For some, it’s a mental recalculation worthy of a NASA space shuttle liftoff. Did I really need that third/fourth/fifth piece? How many pieces make a whole candy bar? Then it’s the inevitable sugar crash that comes when you feel like your face is covered in cobwebs or think that your bed would make a great desk. It doesn’t, and you will sleep. Probably an hour past your deadlines.

So, yes, there is a definite psychology behind sweets. Some people can eat away with nary a thought to blood sugar levels or waist lines, while others can mentally torture themselves as if trapped in a bad action movie on loop. Candy can make one mental. Unless we are diabetic and understandably required to monitor our sugar levels – why do some of us do this?

And certainly, there are different levels of self-torture. For some of us, it’s just about a simple lack of joy in candy. For others, it is much more serious. An estimated 8 million Americans suffer from eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia, while 40 percent of women recently surveyed said they are dissatisfied with their bodies. So it’s no wonder many of us perform mental gymnastics faced with candy.

It’s time – way past time – that we realize an all important truth. There’s happiness to be had in sweets! New research shows that there are secrets to sugar without self-shame. And maybe, just maybe, taking the “danger” out of candy makes it a little less scary to some.

Feast on these facts next time you’re slapping your own hand out of the candy jar. Psychology Today recently reported on some of the positive aspects of candy, and the news was sweet. According to one multi-decade study by the Harvard School of Public Health, otherwise healthy people who indulge in occasional candy live longer than people who didn’t. Chewing gum can help your brain re-shift focus. And another study shows that people who regularly eat chocolate have a much lower risk of heart disease.

Sure, we don’t want to make consuming a bag of candy part of our daily routine. An excessive amount of sugar is never going to be good for you, no matter how happy you are eating it. But constantly denying ourselves and monitoring every gram of sugar that goes into our mouths isn’t healthy, either. And clearly, it isn’t working for anyone. So let’s vote to restore the fun in candy – and elect to be healthier, happier adults!

Image: ciana13

The post When Candy Is Good for You: The Psychology of Sweets appeared first on EcoSalon.

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

The post Halloween Hangover? 5 Tips to Avoid the Scary Stuff and Stay Healthy appeared first on EcoSalon.

I imagine in your health consciousness you’ve given up Jell-O as a dessert choice, but you probably have an occasional use for gelatin to thicken jams, jellies and pie fillings. I’m not sure if you ever considered where gelatin comes from, but it’s far from vegan. That nondescript white powder sold as Knox is extracted from the bones, connective tissues and organs of animals. Many people are surprised to learn that something as seemingly innocuous as a gummy bear is not a vegetarian food.

The plant kingdom saves the day. Agar is a colorless, flavorless gelatin-substitute that comes from seaweed. Carrageenan (you probably recognize that from food labels), comes from the sea vegetable known as Irish moss. As you experiment with these gelatin substitutes, note that agar creates a firmer thickening, while carrageenan is a little more liquid. And pay attention to labels when buying candies, jams, yogurts and snacks. Often, vegetarian options are available if you look.

Now thank the plants and carry on with dessert!

Image: Bethany L King

The post Ecosalon Recipes: Gelatin Substitutes for Vegetarians appeared first on EcoSalon.