Fall News

It’s October, and Naturopathic Medicine 
Awareness Week!

The US Congress just this year passed a resolution naming this week (October 7-13) 
Naturopathic Medicine Awareness Week. Pretty great that Naturopathic medicine 
is making big enough headlines for a week of public interest/awareness! Pretty 
amazing to share part of the month with breast cancer awareness. And maybe a 
little ironic to start the month with Naturopathic medicine awareness and end it on 
Halloween!

What do you do for Halloween? Gone are the days when one could pass out apples 
or carrots in place of candy—people worry they will have been tampered with at 
worst, and at best they are scorned in favor of the commercialized, over-processed, 
candy all our kids covet and crave. How do you still have fun with your kids and not 
sugar them up until they have a major melt down or worse?

1. The Halloween fairy visits some kids and leaves an inedible present in 
exchange for Halloween candy.
2. In some families, kids collect candy but don’t eat it.
3. Especially in neighborhoods where everyone knows each other, families can 
make healthier sweets to hand out.
4. To avoid the candy crazy altogether, folks hand out pencils or other small 
toys. 
5. Some parents figure it’s just one night per year.

In my opinion, the wonderful parts of Halloween are the dressing up, the being out 
past bedtime, the wandering the streets that are crisp with late fall rotting 
leaves and spooky pumpkins, and of course knocking on foreign doors with the 
canned plea, “Trick or Treat!” I try not to buy candy I wouldn’t eat—which means, 
for me, no food dyes and minimal (if any) ingredients I don’t recognize, and no 
gluten. Ideally no dairy either. I like making my own sweets best, though admittedly 
I still don’t know how to package it so that a trick-or-treater would find it appealing 
fare. (See below for some of the recipes I like!) 

My main concerns with this spooky holiday are few, but disturbing all the same. 
Candy sales start in September now, two whole months of junk sneaking in to our 
days! And that feeds straight into pie etc. for the month of November which then, 
of course, barrels forward to the December holidays. That’s almost 1/3 of the 
year dedicated to various forays away from “what we think we should be eating.” 
I do object to the over-promotion of unhinged sugar/high fructose corn syrup/
unknown ingredient-ed/ food dyed “food” consumption. It’s no wonder our bodies 
and waistlines can hardly keep up, and it doesn’t promote good values about food. 
(For instance, candy in fact is not food, contrary to popular belief.) When you’re 
preparing for the holiday, either on the doling out of treats or the wandering around 
with costumed children, consider whether or how you might change the tradition to 
have a positive outcome/message. At the very least feed your kids and healthy meal 
with protein and vegetables before they head out on the block!

Back to Naturopathic Medicine Awareness Week—at Stowe Natural Family 
Wellness we’ve started a Facebook page for posting interesting articles about 
health, well-being, Vermont or other interests, and office news. We welcome your 
visit-- “Like” us and pass us on to friends!  We’re a small office with a lot to offer our community; thanks for being a part of it!

Check out these links to read more: 
 http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/inner-source/201310/naturopathic-medicine-week-naturopathic-doctors-recognized

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/amy-rothenberg-nd/naturopathic-medicine-week_b_3908527.html

Other News:  We are excited to welcome Karen, our new front desk assistant! She’ll 
be filling in on Wednesdays and Thursday afternoons, so listen for that 
new friendly voice when you call in!  

Sweet Recipes… to die for (only on Halloween!)!

Fudgey Babies 
(Delicious truffles that help you get your essential fatty acids!):
http://www.elanaspantry.com/will-the-real-fudge-baby-please-stand-up/

Almond Goji Berry Truffles 
(Bright red centers are eerily frightening! Chock full of vitamin C, beta carotene and 
iron, if you can believe it!):
http://www.nourishingmeals.com/2011/02/almond-goji-berry-truffles.html 

Chocolate Coconut Clusters
(Citrus-y delicious!)
http://www.elanaspantry.com/orange-chocolate-coconut-clusters/

Halloween Jokes, for a chuckle or groan:

Q: Why didn’t the skeleton cross the street?

A: He didn’t have the guts!

Q: How did the monster predict his future?

A: He read his horror-scope!

Q: What spook lives in the Hundred Acre Wood?

A: Winnie the Boo

And lastly, 

Q: What is in the red blood cells of monsters:

A: Hemo-goblin!

May you have a delicious and spooky end of the month!!

In Health and Humor,

SNFW Practitioners and Staff