It’s Halloween – LEARN to skip the TRICKS, and ENJOY the TREATS.
1. It’s a HoliDAY
A) Trick: Despite what the stores say, Halloween is just 1 DAY – and Halloween shouldn’t start CANDY / TREAT week, or season
B) Treat: if you make it one day you can TREAT yourself – enjoy your favorite candy and / or baked goods
2. "Better For You" Sugar
A) Trick: "sugar-free" but made with artificial sweeteners; often time they don’t even taste as good. Or what about when it says "No Sugar Added" (there’s already enough sugar in there, they didn’t need to add more) or "Naturally Fat-Free" (hint hint, there never was any fat in Twizzlers – where this label comes from — but there’s also no Twizzler tree in Nature – nothing natural about it — and it has enough sugar to make a lot of fat in the body if we eat it beyond our 1 day HoliDAY).
B) Treat: naturally sweet (organic fruit), organic fruit-juice sweetened, organic sugar…I like Yummy Earth and Surf Sweets as well as mini-Glee
3. A Scary Environment
A) Trick: buying costumes, plastic bag and decorations that are used once and non-recyclable
B) Treat: recyclable bags –
blueavocado.com and use household goods (pillowcases for bags, giveaway clothes for costumes, food for decorations – pumpkins, apples, cereal and toilet paper / paper towel tubes)
4. What’s the Main Activity?
A) Trick: eating candy? Driving around to houses?
B) Treat: walk, bike, roller blade, games for trick-or-treating and parties
5. What’s Sweeter than Candy?
A) Trick: Using candy as a reward for doing chores, good behavior, and good grades – now there’s a huge negative health trade-off!
B) Treat: A game or toy they want (they can give you candy for it on Halloween night), you can also get them a new toothbrush (
radius.com) and use this as a time to discuss how important teeth brushing is on HoliDAYS as well as regular days
6. All the Colors of the Rainbow Provide Health?
A) Trick: Froot Loops? Skittles? This is not what I mean when I say that nature gave us all our health needs with all the different colors – candies made from artificial dyes? our bodies don’t know what to do with Blue #7 but they know what a blueberry provides.
B) Treat: dyes made from vegetables and fruit
7. Donations "Help" Others
A) Trick: taking the fake food ("bad" candy) to hospitals or homeless shelters – this isn’t really "helping"
B) Treat: make a costume or decoration for a less-fortunate family or donate yours; write / read a "haunted" story at a school (there is that non-profit for entertainment industry)
About Ashley Koff R.D.
Ashley Koff is a registered dietitian (R.D.) who strives to make better nutrition a way of life for all. Koff has the proven ability to demystify the science of nutrition and communicate the importance of a healthy lifestyle to clients in a way that instills loyalty and trust. Never preachy, Koff’s clients truly admire her gentle and patient way of finding the correct and effective nutritional program to suit their individual needs. Her passionate style is effective, resulting in Koff being named by Citysearch as LA’s “Best Nutritionist” three years running.
Celebrity client Emily Deschanel attests: “Ashley is the most knowledgeable nutritionist that I have ever worked with. She really cares about her clients and wants them to have optimum health. Ashley helped me find a way to have lots of energy while working very long days. She's able to work around food intolerances and address different personal nutritional needs. It seems like there is nothing she doesn't know about nutrition.”
Koff launched AKA (
ashleykoffapproved.com) in 2008 as a way to house all aspects of her private practice, nutritional endorsement opportunities, as well as her corporate consulting company (formerly the healthXchange). With AKA, consumers of all demographics can readily identify products that meet Koff’s standards for nutrition resulting in optimal health. Under the AKA umbrella, Koff also offers business-to-business consulting.
Koff is regularly sought after by the most trusted names in nutrition and medicine. She counsels patients on referral from Dr. Andrew Weil (Program in Integrative Medicine) and has served as guest faculty for PIM's fellowships. She is also the exclusive R.D. to patients of integrative medicine guru Dr. Soram Khalsa and receives referrals from the world-renowned Tao of Wellness. “Ashley is an instrumental player in the field of nutrition. I trust she will no doubt transform the industry; she sets the bar for what it means to be an influential and responsible leader in health and wellness,” says Dr. Andrew Weil.
Ashley Koff has authored her own book;
Recipes for IBS (Fair Winds Press 2007), a cookbook and treatment plan for digestive wellness. Several pharmaceutical companies purchased the book as a resource for gastroenterologists worldwide. Koff was also hired by many of the same pharmaceutical companies for television and radio media tours on digestive wellness topics based on the content of her book.
Koff is in demand as a consultant to many authors debuting books next year:
Collaborating with celebrity trainer and fitness icon Kathy Kaehler, their highly anticipated 2009 book on “mom energy” will feature real life makeovers for moms of all ages.
The G-Free Diet: A Gluten-Free Survival Guide (May 2009), written by
The View’s Elisabeth Hasselbeck. Hasselbeck called upon Koff to be her R.D. expert on nutritional information because “her advice is so sensible and realistic, and that's what I want to offer my readers.”
Integrative Gastroenterology (fall 2009), Koff lends her knowledge to Dr. Andrew Weil's textbook look at dietary goals for IBS patients.
Food Cures, the 2008
Reader’s Digest publication that examines food-based remedies for the entire range of diseases and symptoms from A to Z. Koff was a consultant.
AKA’s client list includes entertainment studios, where Koff works to improve the quality of food selections on production sets and locations. In addition, Koff consults with The An Family Restaurants - home to Crustacean Beverly Hills – as they will soon launch new cafes nationwide. The An Family brought in Koff to identify menu items that support optimal immune function. Another client, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, brought Koff on staff as a dietitian from 2004 to 2007.
Koff’s R.D. expertise and extensive client base have led to her collaboration with numerous media outlets including
The New York Times, Reader's Digest, CNN, Shape, InStyle, Yoga Journal, Teen Vogue, Women's Health, Natural Health, Allure, Entertainment Tonight, and Food & Wine. She also sits on the prestigious advisory board at
Fitness magazine.
The daughter of a surgeon, Koff was privy to an insiders look at the art of medicine at a very young age. An intense curiosity, coupled with her interest in preventive healthcare, lead to Koff’s desire to personalize and improve her own health regime. Immediately, she was hooked on a path of dietetic education and independent study efforts to explore the healing practices of the world.
Educated at both Duke and New York Universities, Koff trained at LA+USC and Columbus Children's hospitals. Koff also completed integrative medicine coursework for certification as a certified clinical nutritionist (CCN).
Koff loves to travel and connect with people, learning from different cultures about alternative food and wellness practices. She enjoys comedy and satire, believing that using humor is one of the most effective learning methods – especially when it comes to nutrition. Koff's clients are drawn to her approachability and capacity to personalize implementation plans through a unique method of ongoing evaluation and feedback. They also value her joy of life, sense of humor, and her deep caring for their well-being.
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