Ingredients

As much as we all indulge in candy each year during the holidays, starting at Halloween of course, I bet none of us knew that eating too much of it could be lethal. Bad for us, yes, but lethal?

Well, according to Reactions, a YouTube channel that explores the chemistry involved in everyday life, it’s actually not that hard to eat too much. First of all, let’s discuss the obvious: too much sugar can cause diabetes, it can cause us to become overweight and it can rot our teeth. There’s nothing new about that information. However, according to Thrillist, it can also cause incurable impotence by the age of twenty-five! Tragic.

So, how much candy is so toxic that it can lead to death? Based on a study by Reactions, an otherwise healthy 180 pound adult (the average American) could potentially overdose on 262 snack size candy bars. Within those 262 candy bars there are about 5.5 pounds of sugar and 20,000 calories. Yikes! Talk about putting your liver into overdrive!

If you think back on your over-indulgent Halloweens growing up, do you think it would have been relatively easy to eat that many pieces of candy in one sitting? I’m not sure my parents would have allowed it, and probably many don’t, but if they don’t know the potential hazards, they just might let their kids get away with it for the sake of being festive.

Now, this is an average 180 pound adult we are talking about, which means the lethal dosage is probably much smaller for kids. The overdose number varies based on the size of the person consuming the candy, so be wary.

And of course, we don’t only indulge on Halloween. Think about all that Thanksgiving Pie or eggnog in winter…What about girls’ nights with ice cream and wine, and breakups?

We can always find reasons to overindulge. And by reasons, I mean excuses. We’re all guilty of it, but now we have a better reason than ever to stop and take a step back. Does anyone really want their obituary to say “death by chocolate?” Actually…that might not be such a bad way to go now that I think about it.

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As much as we all indulge in candy each year during the holidays, starting at Halloween of course, I bet none of us knew that eating too much of it could be lethal. Bad for us, yes, but lethal?

Well, according to Reactions, a YouTube channel that explores the chemistry involved in everyday life, it’s actually not that hard to eat too much. First of all, let’s discuss the obvious: too much sugar can cause diabetes, it can cause us to become overweight and it can rot our teeth. There’s nothing new about that information. However, according to Thrillist, it can also cause incurable impotence by the age of twenty-five! Tragic.

So, how much candy is so toxic that it can lead to death? Based on a study by Reactions, an otherwise healthy 180 pound adult (the average American) could potentially overdose on 262 snack size candy bars. Within those 262 candy bars there are about 5.5 pounds of sugar and 20,000 calories. Yikes! Talk about putting your liver into overdrive!

If you think back on your over-indulgent Halloweens growing up, do you think it would have been relatively easy to eat that many pieces of candy in one sitting? I’m not sure my parents would have allowed it, and probably many don’t, but if they don’t know the potential hazards, they just might let their kids get away with it for the sake of being festive.

Now, this is an average 180 pound adult we are talking about, which means the lethal dosage is probably much smaller for kids. The overdose number varies based on the size of the person consuming the candy, so be wary.

And of course, we don’t only indulge on Halloween. Think about all that Thanksgiving Pie or eggnog in winter…What about girls’ nights with ice cream and wine, and breakups?

We can always find reasons to overindulge. And by reasons, I mean excuses. We’re all guilty of it, but now we have a better reason than ever to stop and take a step back. Does anyone really want their obituary to say “death by chocolate?” Actually…that might not be such a bad way to go now that I think about it.

Bad News: It Doesn't Take A Lot Of Candy To Kill You

As much as we all indulge in candy each year during the holidays, starting at Halloween of course, I bet none of us knew that eating too much of it could be lethal. Bad for us, yes, but lethal?

Well, according to Reactions, a YouTube channel that explores the chemistry involved in everyday life, it’s actually not that hard to eat too much. First of all, let’s discuss the obvious: too much sugar can cause diabetes, it can cause us to become overweight and it can rot our teeth. There’s nothing new about that information. However, according to Thrillist, it can also cause incurable impotence by the age of twenty-five! Tragic.

So, how much candy is so toxic that it can lead to death? Based on a study by Reactions, an otherwise healthy 180 pound adult (the average American) could potentially overdose on 262 snack size candy bars. Within those 262 candy bars there are about 5.5 pounds of sugar and 20,000 calories. Yikes! Talk about putting your liver into overdrive!

If you think back on your over-indulgent Halloweens growing up, do you think it would have been relatively easy to eat that many pieces of candy in one sitting? I’m not sure my parents would have allowed it, and probably many don’t, but if they don’t know the potential hazards, they just might let their kids get away with it for the sake of being festive.

Now, this is an average 180 pound adult we are talking about, which means the lethal dosage is probably much smaller for kids. The overdose number varies based on the size of the person consuming the candy, so be wary.

And of course, we don’t only indulge on Halloween. Think about all that Thanksgiving Pie or eggnog in winter…What about girls’ nights with ice cream and wine, and breakups?

We can always find reasons to overindulge. And by reasons, I mean excuses. We’re all guilty of it, but now we have a better reason than ever to stop and take a step back. Does anyone really want their obituary to say “death by chocolate?” Actually…that might not be such a bad way to go now that I think about it.