Halloween Candy Carb Counts for People with Type 1 Diabetes

Halloween Candy Carb Counts

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When October rolls around, it’s imperative that people with type 1 diabetes have Halloween candy carb counts. Let’s be honest — Halloween kicks off a string of holidays that encourage candy consumption, basically until we hit Easter.

Halloween brings a total array of the chocolatey, gummy, sugary sweets to the forefront of our minds. Then we have Christmas candies and cookies and puddings and pies. And the ever-popular chocolate-a-day advent calendar. We have Valentine’s Day a couple months after that — hello chocolates again! (And those chalky candy conversation hearts — don’t forget those. Did you know they have a Friends version? It’s a thing!)

Then Easter brings us literal baskets full of candies. Jelly beans, of course. Chocolate rabbits. And one of my sister’s personal favorites: Chicks, Ducks, and Bunnies. Thanksgiving is in this timeframe too. While it’s not a holiday overflowing with candy, it sure makes up for it with a focus on recipes involving almost nothing but carbs.

(Now that I think about it, I may have just uncovered how we in the midwest make it through the cold and dead gray winter.)

A Type 1 Diabetic's Guide to Halloween Candy - carb counts included!

Halloween Candy Carb Counts

But this is a post about Halloween, so let’s focus in on Halloween candy carb counts. From Snickers bars to Blow Pops, and Reece’s Cups to Skittles, every kind of candy is up for grabs on this particular holiday.

So the kids have made quite the haul at the local trunk or treat, or by walking around your neighborhood with the bright orange pails for collecting their fair share of sweets. Now, how do we handle this with diabetes in mind?

BONUS: 17 TRICKS TO NAVIGATING HALLOWEEN WITH DIABETES

Let’s take a look at some of the most common candies and their carb counts. (You can download this graphic right below the image.) Be sure to pin this to Pinterest so you can pull it up quickly for easy reference as the holiday approaches. Or use it all year through — candy is candy.

Halloween Carb Counts for people with Type 1 Diabetes

You Can Have Diabetes and Enjoy Halloween Candy

Just because you have type 1 diabetes doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy Halloween and the candy that comes with it. The good new is this: there are ways to go about eating these sweet treats that will actually help you. Let’s take a look at a few ideas to consider:

1. Choose HEALTHIER Candies

If you can find candies with nuts or nut butter, that’s a healthier option than sweet treats that are basically straight sugar. Also, dark chocolate is healthier overall than milk chocolate because it has a lower glycemic index. Nuts are helpful as well. So choose the lesser of the evils when it comes to how hard the candies are on blood sugar management.

2. Remember Timing is Everything

If you eat your Halloween candy on its own, even if you dose, your blood sugars will likely spike a bit, and maybe then fall afterward. Especially if the treat you choose is basically plain or colored sugar. But if you eat your sweet treat on the heels of a main meal with a balanced fat/fiber/protein combination, your blood sugar is less likely to spike. So who says Halloween candy can’t be dessert?

Jack-o-lantern for trick or treat with gummy worms

3. Set Reasonable Limits For Halloween Candy

Choose a couple pieces of candy from the trick-or-treat bowl, and then set the bowl aside. This way you’re deciding up front what you will eat, you can dose accordingly, and you can dose before you eat it. Otherwise, that bowl of candy will be taunting you to eat more. Then you’ll be chasing high blood sugar numbers, and no one wants that. (I feel like this is good advice for everyone, right? Don’t eat the whole bowl!)

4. Watch Your Blood Sugar Levels Carefully

With candies, we will need to watch our blood sugar more carefully than a normal day. Also, consider that some chocolates may have a bit of a delayed effect on blood sugar, so watch it for longer than you think you will need to. It’s important to adjust and dose according to your doctor’s orders on these candy-filled days.

Diabetes Friendly Halloween Carb Counts. Pictured: candy corn

5. Know Halloween Candy Carb Counts

To manage diabetes well, we need to know the carbs we are eating (Halloween candy or not). We need to know what we are putting into our bodies. It’s absolutely vital for stable blood sugars.

WHAT ARE WE FEEDING OURSELVES?

But what about the days when we’re not giving into the temptation of amazingly delicious varieties of candy? Are we giving our bodies the balanced nutrition they need? What are you feeding your body?

It’s a daily decision we make, so find your inspiration. Look up your favorite celebrity chef on social media for ideas. Search on Pinterest for diabetes friendly meals that give you carb counts and are balanced with fat, fiber, and protein to help stabilize blood sugar. Or check out the recipe section of this website for some delicious recipes with carb counts:

apple nachos - a healthy snack for diabetic kids
Diabetic-Friendly Berry Oatmeal Bake
bbq chicken flatbread - a healthy pizza alternative for diabetics

You can also sign up to get emails of new recipes every week from Devotions on Diabetes! Just click HERE and look right under my photo for the VIP list. (And when you do, you’ll get five devotions from my book, “Devotions on Diabetes: A 30-Day Journey to Anchor Your Soul” as an instant download.)

WHAT ELSE ARE WE FEEDING OURSELVES?

Aside from actual food we feed our bodies, what are we feeding our minds and souls? The more time passes and the more time I live with diabetes (more than 30 years now), the more I think what we feed our minds and souls is equally as important as what we feed our bodies. Not only do we need to be physically healthy, but mental and spiritual health should be a priority as well.

I have written about this kind of thing in other blog posts before. Here are just a few examples:

Are you providing yourself with nourishment for your mind and soul, in the same way you provide balanced nutrition for your body?

Psalm 19:14. Pictured: A woman outdoors looking out over the city with arms raised

CHOOSING INTENTIONALITY

Just like choosing the food that will fuel our bodies, we must be intentional about the food we choose to fuel our minds.

This reminds me of a chapter of the book of Deuteronomy just after Moses has given the ten commandments as directed by God. In chapter 6, Moses says:

These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

Deuteronomy 6:6-9

Now if that isn’t instruction to be intentional about God’s message, I don’t know what is!

These verses make it so clear that we are to cling to God’s Word. We are to meditate on His message. We are to write His words to display and see them. And we are to talk about them with others. That is the best fuel for our minds and souls, friend.

REFLECTION

Are you spending time talking with others about your faith and teaching your children too?

Do you meditate on God’s message to us?

Are you writing His words so you can recall them and see them?

Do you read God’s Word to fill your mind with His message?

If you are in need of a resource, feel free to visit our Bible reading plans for a free instant download.

Lord, I thank You for fun holidays we can celebrate with family and friends. I thank You that we have the information we need to care for ourselves medically during these times. But my prayer today is that I would be even more focused on filling my mind with You and Your Word. Help me to be intentional to write it down, talk with others, and feed my mind with Your words over anything else in this world.

PIN FOR LATER

A Type 1 Diabetic's Guide to Halloween Candy - carb counts included!

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Blueberry Protein Pancakes Mix Recipe
Looking for more devotions? Devotions on Diabetes: A 30-Day Journey to Anchor Your Soul is on Amazon

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Kaycee - Devotions on Diabetes

HEY - I'M KAYCEE!

Welcome to my Devotions on Diabetes website! Thanks for stopping by. I've lived with diabetes for 30+ years. And I'm here to provide you with a heaping helping of encouragement while you deal with diabetes and navigate this chronic illness with God by your side.

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