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Heart Research UK Healthy Tip - Healthy Halloween

Heart Research UK Healthy Heart Tip, written by Dr Helen Flaherty, Head of Health Promotion at Heart Research UK.

Halloween is approaching fast and the shops are filling up with spooky costumes, decorations, pumpkins and sugary treats. It can be difficult to avoid overindulging on sweets and chocolate at Halloween, but there are some healthy swaps you can make.

Before you head out to buy bags of sugary and fatty Halloween treats, why not consider celebrating Halloween in a healthier way. Here’s some ideas to help you enjoy a healthier Halloween.

Whizz up some ‘vampire blood’ smoothies by blending strawberries, raspberries and blueberries that are packed full of antioxidants to keep your heart and arteries healthy.

Pumpkin is high in fibre, vitamins and minerals and low in calories. When hollowing out your pumpkin lantern, save the flesh to make tasty pumpkin soup and call it ‘witches’ brew’. You can find many more healthy pumpkin recipes online: https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/pumpkin

Swap some of the sweets for ‘bat droppings’ of dried fruit and unsalted nuts and give your little monsters a boost of vitamins, minerals and fibre, as well as plenty of energy to run around in their scary costumes.

Buy Halloween-themed toys, puzzles, magazines or stationery to give the kids, instead of sweets and chocolate.

Heart Research UK
Proud to stand out from the crowd, Heart Research UK is the charity dedicated to your heart. They inspire and invest in pioneering medical research, ground-breaking training and education, and in communities to improve their heart health for themselves. For over 50 years they have driven advancements in the prevention, treatment and cure of heart disease to benefit patients as soon as possible.

You can find more healthy tips, recipes and advice at heartresearch.org.uk.