Finding the perfect gift for someone who is health-conscious or following a specific diet can be a thoughtful way to show you care about their well-being. Instead of opting for traditional sweets and treats, consider gifts that align with their dietary preferences and support their healthy lifestyle. Shopping for holiday gifts is at the top of many people’s to-do lists, adopting a health theme for your holiday shopping is a great idea.
Thoughtful Food Choices
For those with specific dietary needs, consider options that cater to their preferences. Discover gifts for those who prefer to eat organic, kosher, gluten-free, keto, or sugar-free. Choose from a variety of gluten-free baskets and boxes including flavorful baked goods and delicious, fresh fruit. Discover a selection of organic gift baskets and sets, perfect for the health-conscious individuals in your life.
Oils and Vinegars
Consider some special oils, such as hazelnut, walnut oil or roasted pumpkin seed oil, for a special flavor treat. Similar to olive oil, vinegar is a kitchen must-have that many people don’t think much about, but should, given that vinegars come in all ages and flavors that can enhance the flavor of food in different ways. When choosing olive oil, look for "extra virgin" or "cold pressed" to ensure you're getting the highest quality.
Healthy Snacks
Instead of gifting sugar-laden sweets, try giving more nutritious snacks! For example, you can roast your own chickpeas or black eyed peas, then store them in a glass jar with your own handmade tag. To do this, drain the canned peas of your choice, dry the peas thoroughly, and toss with plenty of olive oil and sea salt. Add herbs & spices, too, if you want to get creative with the flavor! Then roast at 400 degrees for 20-30 minutes. Nuts offer more protein and healthy fats with far less sugar, making it a satiating and healthy food gift. For a thoughtful gift sure to get lots of use, bundle together a few kitchen favorites.
Dark Chocolate
Looking to give a gift that’s still sweet, but comes with more health benefits than the usual platter of cookies and baked goods? Forego the flour and opt for dark chocolate, which - depending on the brand and cocoa percentage - offers a wide range of complex and delightful flavors.
Read also: Diet-Friendly Presents
Kitchen Tools and Gadgets
Tools that make healthy cooking a joy, not a chore are always a welcome gift.
- Cookware: A Caraway Fry Pan or a cast iron skillet are great options.
- Knives: Preparing vegetables is much more enjoyable when you’re working with a sharp knife, and it’s safer too! A nice 6 or 8-inch chef knife makes a great gift. The Milk Street Nakiri is a slim, lightweight Japanese knife is specifically designed for slicing and dicing all manner of veggies. The thin blade easily cuts into carrots, onions, and more.
- Blenders: Consider the Ninja Fit hand-held blender to make smoothies, homemade guacamole, and hummus. For smooth protein shakes on the go, choose a stainless steel, BPA Blender Bottle to avoid any harmful materials.
- Multi-Cookers: The Ninja Foodi is a slow cooker, pressure cooker, and air fryer all in one. The Instant Pot is another great option.
- Kitchen Shears: Some good kitchen shears are essential - great for snipping herbs, opening food packaging, cutting chicken backs.
- Grain Mill: For the bread maker or person in your life that likes to do most things from scratch, the KitchenAid Grain Mill is an attachment for a KitchenAid mixer.
- Salad Spinner: Not just a relic from earlier decades, salad spinners are great for making the task of cleaning vegetables easier - and it’s a great way to get kids involved with food prep.
Utensils and Accessories
Most of us own at least one of the basic kitchen utensils - including a wooden spoon, rubber spatula, and flat spatula - but sometimes it’s helpful having more than one on hand. The Smiley Wooden Spatula is handcrafted in rural Pennsylvania, Jonathan’s Spoons are a favorite in cooking circles. Made from sustainably harvested wild cherry wood, the 12-inch-long spatula has an angled head, which is ideal for scraping the bottoms of pots and pans. Like all wooden utensils, it should be hand-washed and dried completely, and occasionally treated with an oil or other wood conditioner.
The Farfalloni Pasta Pot Grips are two oversize, heat-resistant silicone “pasta” bowties fit over pot handles for safe carrying. They are dishwasher-safe and just slightly ridiculous.
Made with brushed stainless steel, these 8.66-inch-long, dishwasher-safe Sori Yanagi Stainless Steel Tongs are nicely proportioned for serving, and they’re available with or without perforated sides.
The Hightide Metal Book Stand might look diminutive, but it can certainly hold up some serious tomes. Inspired by mid-century modern design, the stand comes in four colors (cherry red, forest green, pale yellow, orange), and it has three adjustable angles, for smaller or larger books or a tablet.
Read also: Keto Gifts for Every Occasion
Hand-carved from olivewood in Umbria, Italy, every Verve Culture Italian Olivewood Bowl is unique: The shape and grain patterns depend on how each artisan fashions an individual piece of wood.
Tableware
Everyone knows the benefits of skipping soda, and having beautiful glasses to drink out of makes water all the more alluring. This gift is simple and useful - and versatile.
Available in nine delightful colors, this neat Bee House Zero Japan Ceramic Butter Dish comes with a dainty, stainless steel knife that fits in a thin slot between the lid and the dish lip.
Constructed from a single piece of stainless steel, for extra durability and strength, each sleek Material The Table Knives sports an elegant sloping shape with a curving lip where the blade meets the handle. These knives come in four muted colors - the multicolored Willow set is particularly giftable.
Other Kitchen-Related Gifts
- Spice Bundle: The Yamatsu Tsujita Spice Bundle includes the classic Shichimi Togarashi, a brighter Yuzu Shichimi Togarashi, and a Sansho Powder (pulverized, slightly numbing green peppercorns).
- Ice Bucket: A reissue of Sergio Asti’s 1972 design classic, this 100-ounce Heller Asti Ice Bucket has a liner for keeping ice insulated, and it comes in three colors (kelly green, red-orange, and white).
- Apron: The Mi Cocina Classic Apron also embodies the style of an of-the-moment denim workwear jacket. It has six double-layer belly pockets, with plenty of room for a phone, a Thermapen, and more.
- Yuzu Tree: Delight the gourmand in your life with their very own Fast Growing Trees Yuzu Tree, so that they may (eventually) grow their very own yuzus.
Books and Cookbooks
- The Easy Everyday Mediterranean Diet Cookbook is full of flavorful inspiration! It’s a beautiful cookbook and the recipes are budget-friendly and most take less than 30 minutes to make.
- The Everything DASH Diet Meal Prep Cookbook, is a great gift for those who love to cook and are mindful of heart health. With a meal prep focus, the cookbook has 200 recipes and includes chapters with freezer meals, make-ahead snacks, and staple meal prep components so that you can easily combine ingredients to make a healthy meal in a flash!
- Toby Amidor's cookbook is excellent, highlighting this one specifically in the round up given the time of year and the focus on immune health.
- This is now my go-to book whenever I’m in the mood to bake! I’ve been very happy with the results of each of the recipes I’ve tried, and it’s great to know the nutritional benefits of whole grains are present in each recipe. King Arthur Flour is such a well-established brand and I know I can rely on the recipes they create.
- The 2nd edition of The Mind Diet is a book to have! She does a great job explaining the science behind brain health and how we can use nutrition and lifestyle choices to support a healthy brain.
- The New York Times’s Cooking Page-A-Day Calendar winnows down overwhelming choices by delivering a pull-off recipe each weekday and one on the weekends.
- Atomic Habits is a book that our nutritionists repeatedly recommend.
Supplements
You know you’re adulting when you’re excited to get a bottle of supplements as a gift.
Read also: Taste of the Mediterranean: Gift Ideas
- Collagen: Key Collagen powder.
- Magnesium: Magnesium is involved in every cell interaction in your body and brain.
- Protein: My high school and college age nephews are always excited to get their protein-packed gift from their favorite dietitian/aunt!
Fitness and Activity
Encourage your loved ones to move, groove, and stay active with gifts that make their workout feel more like fun and less like a chore. Every step counts - especially during the holidays, when time for exercise is at a minimum.
- Yoga mat: Help your yoga-loving friend perfect their downward dog with a non-toxic, eco-friendly mat.
- Therapy Ball: For the friend who’s always on the move (and sometimes feels it), a therapy ball is the perfect tool to help them knead out knots and relieve tension.
- Tumbler: Keep them hydrated in style. Opt for a lead-free, bpa-free version like the Owala Stainless Steel Tumbler that is still the trendiest way to stay hydrated!
Self-Care Gifts
Gifts focused on self-care, such as massages, acupuncture, or yoga accessories. Everyone deserves a little extra TLC.
- Massage Gift Card: Treat them to a well-deserved rest with a gift card to their favorite massage therapist.
- Lavender Essential Oil: Give them a moment of calm with a bottle of organic lavender essential oil. Perfect for diffusing, adding to a bath, or dabbing on their pillow for a better night’s sleep.
- Sauna session gift card: Sweat out some toxins!
- Spa Day Gift Box: Help them melt the stress away with a personalized spa day gift box.
- Non-toxic candles: Set the mood for cozy nights and self-care sessions with non-toxic candles.
- Comfort and Cozy Accessories: Who doesn’t appreciate a soft, weighted blanket, cozy socks, or an herbal neck wrap?
- Wellness Journals and Planners: Help them stay organized and inspired with a wellness journal or habit-tracking planner.
Experience-Based Gifts
Experience-based gifts are the perfect way to show you care, while giving them memories that will last a lifetime. Think beyond the box (literally) and make their holiday extra special.
- Guided Nature Hike or Outdoor Adventure: Surprise them with a guided hike or an outdoor experience like kayaking, paddle boarding, or rock climbing.
- Art Class: Help them get artsy and de-stress at the same time with an art therapy class.
- Gardening Workshop or Community Garden Membership: Perfect for the plant parent or outdoor lover in your life, a gardening workshop or community garden membership lets them dig in, get their hands dirty, and grow something (besides their ever-growing to-do list).
- Cooking Class Gift Card: From Instant Pot basics to global flavors, Nutritional Weight & Wellness has classes that will make them a kitchen pro.
Other thoughtful gifts
- Reusable Storage Bags: Reusable silicone bags, like Stasher bags, come in a variety of sizes and fun colors. Save their snack stash and support the planet with these colorful, eco-friendly, and BPA-free bags.
- Sleep Mask: Starting with simple steps can help, including wearing a basic sleep mask to block out the light.
- A Single Orange: In centuries past fresh oranges were scarce, so around holiday time it was a treat to be given one as a gift. Nowadays many people carry on the tradition by gifting someone a single orange.
- During the holidays when everyone is on the go, sometimes giving your loved one the gift of time can be the best gift of all. In this case, you can take something off their plate by putting something on their plate - a thoughtfully prepared dinner, cooked in your home or theirs.