It’s a big part of what makes the holiday fun, and completely abstaining from Halloween treats sounds like torture.
However, some candies are worse than others.
Much of what makes certain candies so unhealthy is their high amount of added sugar.
Added sugar is theworst type of sugar you can eat, and the American Heart Association recommends a limit of 36 grams per day for menand 25 grams per day for women.
In their full-sized forms, many of these candies exceed or approach that limit in a single serving.
While “fun size” varieties are more common on Halloween, those little treats can still back a shocking amount of sugar.
3 Musketeers
Although 3 Musketeers bars are often marketed as lighter way to enjoy chocolate, the nutrition facts tell a different story.
A single serving contains 262 calories and 25 percent of your daily saturated fat.
But the most shocking aspect of its nutrition profile is its astronomical sugar content, 40 grams per serving.
That’s more than a can of co*ke!
Remember, the American Heart Association recommends a limit of 24 grams of added sugar per day for women and 36 grams per day formen.
A single Fun Size 3 Musketeers still packs 10 grams of sugar, though the smaller option is obviously still superior here.
Twizzlers
Marketers trumpet Twizzlers as a fat-free snack, but that doesn’t count for much when they’re super high in sugar
A single regular-sized Twizzler contains 5 grams of sugar, and most people chomp down on way more than one.
The Filled Twists are even worse.
Two Twizzlers Strawberry Lemonade Filled Twists pack 19 grams of sugar.
Twizzlers are also almost totally devoid of protein and fiber, so they’ll do very little to fill you up.
Butterfingers
Even Fun Size Butterfingers are pretty junky.
A single Fun Size bar contains 8 percent of your daily saturated fat and 8 grams of sugar.
But if you can limit yourself to just one Fun Size bar, you should be fine.
But if you cave and go with the regular size, you’ll be consuming 11 grams of fat and 28 grams of sugar.
That’s a formula for obesity.
Mounds
Don’t get tricked by this treat.
Although Mounds contain coconut, they’re not a healthy option.
A single serving contains 258 calories and 24 grams of sugar.
It also packs an astounding 11 grams of saturated fat, the same amount you’d find in 22 Chicken McNuggets.
You’re better off eating real coconut and a little dark chocolate.
Learn what type of dark chocolateactually offers health benefits, because it’s probably more specific than you think.
M&Ms
M&Ms seem relatively harmless.
They’re just little disks of chocolate encased in a sugary shell.
But one serving of M&Ms contains 30 grams of sugar and 30 percent of your daily saturated fat.
Not only that, M&Ms get their distinctive bright hues from artificial dyes.
A growing amount of research shows that artificial dyes might negatively affect a child’s behavior.
The Peanut Butter M&Ms are honestly a slightly better option, offering 8 fewer grams of sugar yet two more grams protein.
Whoppers
The top two ingredients in Whoppers are sugar and corn syrup.
Each individual Whopper contains over a gram of sugar, and an entire 18-piece serving containing 24 grams.
Seven grams of saturated fat is an additional strike against these chocolate balls.
No fiber and no protein also makes Whoppers exceedingly easy to gorge on.
Milky Way
Milky Way bars are a triple-threat of sugar.
Each bar contains nougat, caramel and milk chocolate.
Those three ingredients push the sugar total to an absurd 35 grams per serving.
That’s roughly equivalent to 9 mini powdered donuts.
Outside of America, Milky Way bars are known as Mars Bars.
Reese’s Pieces
Although they have a distinctive peanut butter taste, Reese’s Pieces are a whole lot worse for you than standard peanut butter.
One serving contains 200 calories and 21 grams of sugar!
They’re also far from natural—the ingredient list includes corn syrup, partially hydrogenated oils, dextrose and a bevy of artificial colors.
However, like peanut butter, Reese’s Pieces do contain a decent amount of protein and fiber.
A pack doesn’t quite achieve what you’d find in an average serving of smooth peanut butter (8 grams of protein and 2 grams of fiber), but itdoes come close.
That’s better than nothing, but the extreme amount of sugar means this candy certainly shouldn’t be a regular part of your diet.
Baby Ruth
Just because they contain peanuts doesn’t make Baby Ruth a healthy protein bar.
It also contains 275 calories and 32 grams of sugar.
7 grams of saturated fat aren’t ideal, either.
Just go eat some regular peanuts, instead.
Take 5
It’s a fairly new candy compared to others on this list, but the Take 5 bar has serious nutritional issues.
One serving contains 210 calories and 11 grams of fat.
But the biggest issue is the 18 grams of sugar.
If you’re itching to try a Take 5, make sure to take just one.
Reese’s Halloween Peanut Butter Pumpkin
Reese’s pumpkins are a Halloween staple.
But just one of these suckers contains 16 grams of sugar.
The only mildly redeeming quality is the four grams of protein.
You’re better off eating some real peanut butter.
Mike and Ike
Mike and Ike candies are little more than sugar, corn syrup, and some artificial flavors and colors.
Unsurprisingly, that formula equals some pretty dreadful nutrition facts.
A small box, the size that’s often passed out on Halloween, contains 13 grams of sugar.
Other than that, there’s really not much else here.
Zero fiber, zero protein, zero vitamins, and barely any minerals.
Junior Mints
Junior Mints might seem like the single most innocuous candy on this entire list.
They’re basically just a breath mint, right?
How bad can they possibly be?
As it turns out, pretty freaking bad.
A single 12-piece serving packs 25 grams of sugar.
The recipe is basically just sugar, corn syrup, chocolate, confectioner’s glaze and peppermint oil.
Starbursts
Starbursts are about as far removed from a recognizable natural food as you can get.
The first three ingredients are corn syrup, sugar and hydrogenated palm kernel oil.
One pack of Starbursts delivers 240 calories, 34 grams of sugar and 4.5 grams of saturated fat.
Combine that with the fact it also has zero grams of dietary fiber and no protein, and Starbursts rank as one of the worst things a person canput in their body.
Just eat some real fruit!
Fun Dip
Fun Dip might be fun to eat, but it’s not fun for your body to process.
I know I just said Starbursts are about as far from a natural food as candy can get, but I think I have to actually crown Fun Dip with thatdubious honor.
Even the small “Treat Size” version of the candy (which is what most trick-or-treaters will likely find in their bag) packs 11 grams of sugar.
This candy is basically just dipping a stick of sugar into a pile of flavored, colored sugar.
Nerds, which are also produced by Nestle, are also essentially just pure sugar repurposed into a fun shape.
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