---

To balance out the sugary offerings at Halloween gatherings, these orange-and-black recipes are perfect for any sophisticated Halloween affair.

Ingredients:

6 large eggs

1 jar roasted red peppers, patted dry and roughly chopped

2 tablespoons mayonnaise

2 tablespoons Greek yogurt

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

½ teaspoon red wine vinegar

¼ teaspoon paprika

1 pinch sea salt

1 pinch activated charcoal powder, for garnish

Directions:

1. In a medium saucepan, cover eggs with cold water. Bring to a boil. Then remove from heat, cover, and let stand for 10 minutes. Drain and rinse eggs under cold water until cool.

2. Peel the eggs and cut in half lengthwise. Remove the yolks and transfer whites to a serving platter.

3. In a food processor, add the yolks, red peppers, mayonnaise, yogurt, mustard, vinegar, and paprika. Season with salt. Pulse until smooth.

4. Mound yolk mixture in each egg-white half. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve, then sprinkle with activated charcoal.

---

Satisfy afternoon candy cravings with these chocolate-covered bites. Almond butter, oats, and flaxseed contain healthy fats and protein, which balance out the sweetness of honey and chocolate. A mix between truffles and energy balls, they’re also the perfect pre-workout snack.

Ingredients:

¾ cup old-fashioned rolled oats

¾ cup pumpkin puree

¼ cup raw honey

¼ cup almond butter

½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1 tablespoon ground flaxseeds

Sea salt

1 3½-ounce dark chocolate bar, melted

¼ cup cacao nibs, finely chopped

Directions:

1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, combine the oats, pumpkin, honey, almond butter, pumpkin pie spice, flax seeds, and a large pinch of salt.

2. Using damp hands, roll the oat mixture into balls, about 1 tablespoon each. Arrange on the prepared baking sheet. If they’re too soft, cover and refrigerate for 15 minutes.

3. Working one at a time, dip each ball into melted chocolate, using a fork to lift it. Tap gently to remove excess chocolate and place on the baking sheet. Sprinkle the tops with cacao nibs.

4. Transfer the baking sheet to the freezer and wrap in foil or plastic. Freeze until solid, at least 30 minutes or up to 1 week.

---

This duo of dips is made with anti-inflammatory ingredients. Switch up regular hummus with these two versions of the healthy staple. The black hummus uses black tahini, chickpeas, and cumin. The orange one is made with turmeric and slightly sweet butternut squash.

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Makes: 2 cups each black and orange hummus

Ingredients
1 15½-ounce can chickpeas
½ cup black tahini
2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 garlic clove, chopped
¼ teaspoon ground cumin
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Toasted sesame seeds, for garnish

Ingredients
2 10-ounce packages frozen butternut squash, thawed and drained
¼ cup light tahini, such as SoCo Tahini
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 garlic clove
1 teaspoon turmeric
Sea salt
Za’atar, for garnish
Extra-virgin olive oil, for garnish

Ingredients
Whole-grain crackers, for serving
Crudité, for serving

Directions
1. Make the black hummus: In a food processor, pulse the chickpeas with the black tahini, lemon juice, garlic, and cumin until smooth. With the processor running, slowly drizzle in the oil until combined. Season with salt and pepper. Scrape into a serving dish. Drizzle with more olive oil and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Or store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to five days.

2. Clean the food processor bowl. Then add the squash, tahini, lemon juice, garlic, and turmeric. Pulse until smooth. Season with salt. Scrape into another serving dish. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with za’atar. Or store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to five days. Serve with crackers and crudité.

---

Working out provides a host of body benefits: cardiovascular fitness, muscle tone, and—luckily for the well-conditioned—wiggle room for a sweet tooth.

“For a fit body, a candy bar will be pretty uneventful. Bits of sugar and fat will be processed, broken down, and shuttled off to cells. No biggie. The person will go and eat a nutritious dinner and move on,” says Ryan Andrews, R.D., a fitness, and nutrition coach.

The problem, then, isn’t one sweet, but the snowball effect of handful after handful. “It’s hard to give an exact number and say, ‘once you’ve hit this threshold, you’re officially overdoing it,’” says Andrews. But in general, he estimates 50 grams of sugar and 50 grams of fat in one concentrated, candy-filled dose is too much, even for an athletic body. (Two classic candy bars like Butterfingers or Milky Ways would put you over that sugar figure and almost halfway there in fat.)

“When we over-consume food beyond our needs, some negative things can start to happen,” Andrews says. “When that food is highly processed, like Halloween candy, it might be even more problematic.” Below, nutrition experts explain the physiological fallout of going hog-wild.

Your Brain: When sugar hits your tongue, the brain sends a message to the pancreas to produce insulin, a hormone that signals cells to either absorb sugar as energy (or glucose) in the muscles or store it in the liver, says Kristin Kirkpatrick, R.D., manager of nutrition services at Cleveland Clinic Wellness Institute. Your brain then activates its reward system and levels of dopamine increase, which may be what’s telling you to eat more of the sweet stuff, she says.

This can lead to skewed perceptions of reward and hunger in the brain, says Andrews. (Even if you’re full, you might keep eating.) “Over time, it can create a reward cycle and reliance on sugar to improve mood.”

Your Bloodstream: Excess fat, sugar, and sodium from sweets can increase blood volume, making your blood more concentrated, says Andrews. “This means higher blood pressure, which is bad news for vessels, kidneys, eyes, and the heart.” It might also limit how much urine you produce—which means you’ll hold onto extra fluids, he says.

Ultimately, the flood of fats and sugar must go somewhere, says Andrews. “Once cells have what they need, sugars can be converted to fats, and incoming fat can be stored away—as fat.”

Over time, if there’s constantly too much glucose circulating (from a high-sugar diet), cells’ sensitivity to insulin can weaken or they can stop responding all together. That can morph into type 2 diabetes, Kirkpatrick says.

Your Heart: If you’re eating dark chocolate—which has caffeine—you may experience an energy burst and your heart may start to beat faster, says Kirkpatrick.

Ingredients matter, too. For example, Andrews adds: Dark chocolate with coconut offers decent nutrients (like fiber, iron, magnesium), contains less sugar, and has good-for-you monounsaturated fats. A Kit-Kat is low-quality chocolate, dairy, and sugar. “The fats in coconut and dark chocolate are less likely to promote heart disease and more likely to be processed by the liver for energy,” says Andrews.

Your Immune System: After such a high dose, your immune function will likely be compromised, making you more susceptible to an illness, says Andrews. (When the bacterial balance in your gut is out of whack—see above—your entire immune system can be dialed up or down.)