Halloween Strategy

Halloween presents a difficult challenge for the diabetic child – exactly what is the carb count of all that candy from around the neighborhood? Our solution to this problem is rather straightforward – replace the candy. Our son trick-or-treats around the neighborhood, but then at home we separate out all the candy that we can’t find the carb count on. Having earlier bought bags of his favorite snack size candy bars (and getting the carb count off the package) we simply replace the ‘unknown’ candy with an equal amount from our own stash. The neighborhood candy goes back in the bowl to be handed out to trick-or-treaters, and our son still gets his full sack of candy.

He will slowly eat his way through that candy over the next couple of months, as we put one or two pieces in with his snack each day.

We also bring a piece of candy with us to give him half-way through trick-or-treating, to counter all the activity of walking.

The following is a list of candy carb counts we have collected over the years. Please be advised that manufactures can change their product size and nutritional makeup at any time, so please check individual websites and packages for up-to-date nutritional information!

All candy bars are Fun Size unless specified and numbers represent grams of carbohydrate.

Starburst - 4g per chew

M&M’s - 10g

Spree (8 pieces) - 14g

Baby Ruth - 12g

Twix (mini) - 6g

(full) - 37g

Butterfinger - 15g

Almond Joy - 11g

Mounds - 11g

Hershey Bar - 10g

Snickers - 12g

Payday - 10g

Woppers - 5g

Reece’s mini bite - 4g

Hersey kisses - 3g

mints - 5g

butterscotch - 4g

dots - 3g per dot

Kit Kat - 9g

Reece’s - 12g

Milky Way - 14g

milk duds - 5g per dud

Laffy Taffy - 6g

Kissables - 10g

Nerds - 1g weight=1g carb

Swedish Fish – 15g

Tootsie Roll - 4g each small; 10g large

Sugar Daddy - 11g

Tootsi pop - 15g

A&W - 6g

Skittles - 20g (.75oz)

Restaurants

Eating out in restaurants can be a tricky proposition with Type 1 Diabetes. While it is a great treat, it is difficult to know exactly how the food is prepared. A dish of pasta at home and a dish of pasta at a restaurant can have wildly different carb counts. Luckily, it has gotten a lot easier lately, with restaurants frequently posting their nutritional information online, or ready to supply the info at the table. Here are a few tips and resources we’ve discovered for eating out:

Research first: more and more, it is becoming easier to find carb counts online for restaurants. Glancing at the kids menu online can prepare you for what to expect.

Arrive early: You may need to wait for a table, and then for your server. And you will have to wait for the food – so give yourselves time. When we find ourselves short on time, we just ask that the kid’s meal be brought first, as soon as it is ready.

Avoid Fountain Drinks: Diet sodas are not always! Because of the way fountain soda systems are hooked up, we have found that diet sodas from a fountain can frequently spike our son’s blood sugar. We usually order an iced tea and sweeten it with Splenda at the table. We have also brought Crystal Light To Go Packs and mixed his own drink from his water glass. Sometimes a waiter will give us a surprised look, but that is easily remedied with a quick explanation.

Restaurant Effect: No matter how accurately we have measured restaurant food – our son was always high after eating. We soon started adding a little insulin on top of his food carb count, just for being restaurant food. We generally add one more option (15 grams worth) of insulin to counter this effect.

Keep a Journal: If you frequent certain restaurants, keeping a journal of the meal and it’s effect on blood sugar can be very helpful for next time. Remember to record your child’s blood sugar from the next morning as well. We find with some restaurants that our son needs additional insulin overnight to help with digestion as well.

Carry a Scale: We carry a pocket-sized scale (purchased off Amazon.com) to aid in calculating carbs once the meal has arrived.

Calorie King: This book has proved indispensible to us on many occasions: http://www.amazon.com/CalorieKing-Calorie-Carbohydrate-Counter-2010/dp/1930448279/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1277828182&sr=8-1

Collapsible measuring cups: http://www.amazon.com/Progressive-International-5-Piece-Collapsible-Measuring/dp/B0016KOH1G/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1277828274&sr=8-1

Restaurants are not off-limits with diabetes, it just takes a little more care, and be prepared to use a lot more insulin!