Article reprinted from Pure Facts October 2003, Vol. 27, No. 8
Last year one mom posted this note on the Member's Board:
How did everyone do with Trick or Treat? I have been half-heartedly following the diet and had a pretty good improvement in my son and then last night we went trick-or-treating and today he has been a holy terror! That was my true test that this diet does work!
Here are some of the replies she received:
- "Halloween was great for us. We talked a few days before and
agreed that my son would go trick-or-treating but not eat the candy;
he would give all of it to me (and into the trash!) and I would buy
him a videotape he wanted. In fact, we just got back from the store
and will be watching the tape tonight."
- "This was our first Halloween on Feingold so I was a little
anxious. We went to the Parks & Recreation Halloween festival. It
was awesome because almost all of the booths had a choice of toys
or candy for prizes.
"The kids had big treat bags of mostly toys. I also gave them 5 cents for every piece of candy so they got a couple bucks to spend on something really good. I think it's a new family tradition."
- "It's amazing. After trick-or-treating for an hour my son received
absolutely NOTHING he could eat!"
- "I made homemade marshmallow ghosts with cookie cutters and
they turned out great. Then I took some cocoa and mixed it with the
sugar and made brown bats. They are soooo cute and taste yummy."
- "My daughter loves to trick or treat but wouldn't TOUCH the
candy! But she made sure she COLLECTED more candy than the other
kids in our group. She was greedy as can be, but she knew there was
really good candy waiting for her when she finished."
- One mom reports the family had fun trick-or-treating at an event
hosted by their local Whole Foods Market. The children brought home
natural candies, snacks and trinkets.
- Another mom sent this story: "My daughter has been on Feingold for almost 3 years; Halloween
is now about everything BUT candy.
"When we began Feingold she missed everything, but as time goes on, things get easier. Each step we took away from the crud they put in so much food, she got more indifferent to the things she `couldn't have.'
"This Halloween she did all the activities at school. I always make treats for room parties so that one of the things offered to all of the students is `clean' and OK for her. This way she's not left out.
"When they had a candy-filled pinata in the class party and SHE broke it open, she filled her shirt front with candy and took it to the teacher to put in the class goody bag! Handed it right over no big deal.
"We trick-or-treated through our neighborhood that night. She took her whole haul to school for the teacher. I made sure I had a few `clean' treats for her and gave her non-food trinkets -- cute little Halloween things, and she loved it. One thoughtful neighbor prepared a little treat bag just for her.
"The candy is no longer an issue. It's kind of weird because 3 years ago I would not have believed this, but it just isn't a big deal any more, and hasn't been for a long time. Maybe it's partly that her brain functions properly now so she handles things better. Maybe it's also that kids are resilient and they get over missing things. But the point is, there's a big shining light at the end of the tunnel and it's your child's smile!"
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