An animated photo of kids in costumes trick-or-treating outside.
You don’t have to swear off Halloween to stay sugar safe. (For Spectrum Health Beat)

Every year, we’re swamped with warnings about overindulging at Halloween.

That tempting bowl of candy by the front door for the trick-or-treaters. The kids’ goodie bags.

Hmm…what did they get this year? The leftovers at work.

Rather than a “Don’t do” list, let’s look at this from a different perspective.

Spectrum Health’s Gregory Deines, DO, who specializes in diabetes care and management, shares a few thoughts about what you and your family can do in regard to eating sweets and avoiding spooky blood sugars.

Dr. Deines’ suggestions:

1. Yes, eat some candy, but in moderation

Try portioning out 100 calories worth of candy and limiting yourself to one portion a day (or even less). Sometimes just a taste of the sweet is all we want anyway.

After a few days or a week, get the candy out of the house. Take it to work or a group function, throw it away, or donate it to Operation Gratitude.

2. Eat your treats in combination with less sugary foods

For example, pair a small bag of Raisinets with a small handful of almonds.

Even small sweets can have a big impact on blood sugar. The high sugar content in candy packs a powerful punch on blood sugar levels, causing those levels to spike upward, but then drop almost as quickly.

Consuming candy with a non-sugary food will help level out that spike and drop.

3. Earn some of those treats

In other words, get moving.

A 175-pound person would require 10 minutes of cycling to burn off the calories from just one Reese’s peanut butter cup, which has 90 calories, 5 grams of fat, and 10 grams of carbohydrates.

A more active lifestyle helps balance the scale.

This doesn’t mean we need to join a spin class, but increasing our activity could include simple actions. Enjoy an extra 15-minute walk, take the stairs a few flights instead of the elevator, or get outside and rake those rapidly falling leaves. It all helps.