The holiday season is a great time to buy gifts for those who are near and dear to you. This year, consider giving gifts that promote wellness and health. Plus, a healthy holiday gift sends the message that you truly care about the recipient! Here are some great gift ideas that promote the healthy benefits of eating, cooking, exercising, and relaxing.
- Food baskets filled with lots of healthy foods. Make your own gift baskets that are packed with fruit, nuts and spices which are high in antioxidants and can help protect one’s health. You can even take that overabundance of last summer’s garden produce stored in your freezer and make homemade low-sugar or low-fat jams, breads, or sauces and add them to the basket, too. Another idea is to fill a basket with high-quality extra virgin olive oils (many are flavored) and different kinds of balsamic vinegars; these can aid in healthier cooking.
- The gift of tea. Fill a gift box with all kinds of flavored organic teas along with a glass teapot to make the tea in. Research shows that antioxidants in green tea trigger more fat loss among exercisers.
- A dark chocolate escape. Who doesn’t like chocolate? Give a box of high-quality dark chocolate (at least 70 percent cocoa) that is full of antioxidants and good for the heart. It can also help block the breakdown of fat and carbohydrates and can curb cravings for salty and sweet foods.
- Accessories that can help someone cook healthier meals. Hot gift items that encourage healthy cooking are crock pots, rice cookers, vegetable steamers, juicers, and even non-stick skillets that make healthy fare like egg-white omelets and stir-fry meals easy to cook.
- A gift certificate to a healthy class. There’s no greater way to empower people on how to make healthier cooking choices than by watching a master drum up innovative, healthy meals. The best part is that afterwards, you get to share the meal with the others in the class! Or, give the gift of good fitness. Give a gift certificate to a series or yoga, Pilates, kick-boxing, or other fun fitness class.
- Gadgets to exercise by. Pedometers are a great gift for people to help them calculate and keep track of how many steps they make in a day, which promotes daily exercising. You can even include a filtered water bottle along with the pedometer to encourage more water consumption. Another idea is a set of resistance bands that come in all strengths for leg, arm and hip toning and strengthening—and if your gift recipient is a frequent traveler, another bonus is that resistance bands also fit easily into a suitcase. If you’re looking for a great gift for the fitness fanatic, give a heart rate monitor for aerobic workouts.
- Ahhhhh… a gift to relax by. A gift certificate for a massage or another relaxing spa treatment gives a loved one a chance to release stress and feel pampered. Give the gift of stress reduction this holiday season!
From all of us at Health Advocate, we hope you have a happy, safe and healthy holiday!
