14 Healthy & Useful Christmas Gift Ideas!

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Christmas and the Holiday season normally goes one of two ways….

1. Healthy, happy and inspired! Taking you into 2018 with a fresh vision for yourself (and hopefully for all humanity!), OR
2. It’s a pig out fest and you’re left wondering how you put on so much weight and feel more frumpy than ever before.

Let’s help you make your journey into 2018 a #1 this year and not a #2 (no reference to toilet jokes here!).

Here’s our list of 14 Healthy Christmas gift ideas to help you fill the stockings with goodness, and inspire your family and friends to even greater health and happiness!

1. Healing Essential Oils

 

I feel like Aromatherapy was popular in the 80’s, went into decline in the 90’s, and is now all of a sudden making a resurgence under its new guise ‘Essential Oil Therapy’. But the plant extracts (and their infinite intelligence) have always been there. It’s like it has just become awesomely trendy.

I interviewed an Australian Aromatherapist and Essential Oil expert Kim Morrison for FMTV the other day on Healing With Essential Oils and Creating Your Own Home Medicine Chest. Some of her absolute top oils she couldn’t live without include Frankincense, Lavender, Orange, Peppermint, Ylang Ylang, Eucalyptus and Tea Tree. Some of our favorite brands include Twenty8 (Kim’s Company, Australian based), Doterra (US & Int) and Young Living (US & Int.). 

But if you had to ask which oils I would recommend you buy then I would have to stand by brands and companies which are 100% certified organic and our favorite in this space is Epigenetic Labs (now known as Organixx).  This brand was founded by the guys from The Truth About Cancer series and they truly care about purity, organic certification and making their products available at an affordable price.  They are available in the Bare Essentials 3 pack, Five Finest Esentials, and Total Health Essentials 12 pack.

2. A New Blender

Blending is like juicing but way more old school! It’s all about retaining the fiber and making those delicious almond butter, banana and protein smoothies or green machines to kick the afternoon slump. Everyone knows how to use one but be careful, it’s a ‘gateway appliance’ and can lead to purchasing a juicer and slow cooker (see below!). Our favorites include the ever popular Nutribullet which we have at home and Vitamix 5200 (pictured above) which we use in the Food Matters office daily!

3. Inspirational Magnets

So maybe you’ve seen some of our documentaries in the last few years and decided to give healthy eating a go, then discovered that it actually works!!! Well now you can stay inspired and keep on track all year long with the Food Matters Inspirational Magnets.  Vibrant images and inspirational quotes help you think twice about your food choices whenever you open the fridge!  Available in the Food Matters store.

4. An Instant Raw Pasta Maker!

Spiralizing veggies (particularly zucchini) is one of the funniest pastimes and a great way to keep kids entertained. It also helps you get more raw, living foods into your diet and get used to the idea of replacing gluten-laden pasta with green goodness!!! Seriously delicious and easy to prepare. Available on Amazon here. 

5. An Instant Yoga Tote

Make your walk to your next yoga class easier by using this awesome yoga mat tote, without zippers or velcro and just the handles. Assembles in seconds and doubles as a yoga strap to assist you getting deeper into that pose you love (to hate).

6. A Healthy Recipe Book That Stands Up By Itself! 

We’ve got a new recipe book out and, to be honest, I absolutely love it! Being in the food and health space, I’ve read hundreds of health and recipe books (there are some great ones!!!) and I can honestly stand with my hand on my heart and say this is one of my favorites. Now that I’ve finished my shameless self-promotion rant let me avail you of the epic finer details… wait for it… it stands up on your kitchen bench by itself (like every good recipe book should!). Available on Food Matters.

7. Your Own Personal Cold Pressed Juice Bar

One of the most common questions we get here at Food Matters is ‘what juicer should I buy’. My first response is always dust off and use the one you’ve got. But if that’s broken or you’re in the market for the first time then it’s time to go cold pressed! We’ve personally used 10’s of juicers over the past years (doesn’t sound like many, but 100’s would definitely be a stretch despite it sounding way cooler) and the one we use (and have at the office and house and Mum’s house) is the Hurom. These guys are the original inventors of the upright cold pressed slow juicers and you’ll get 20-50% more from your precious fruits and veggies through this machine. You can shop for this juicer on Food Matters.

** Read our Juicer Buying Guide here and learn about the pros and cons of each type of juicer.

8. The Essential Oil Craze Is Here!

A beautiful addition to any home or office, this "best-seller" ranked diffuser fills your space with the healing benefits of essential oils. I don’t yet have one myself, but it’s on my Christmas list and I'm hoping to find one under the tree. Twenty8 Signature Diffuser 

9. The New Fast Food (Cooked Slow)

While fast food reigns supreme, slow cooking is thankfully making a resurgence. Make meals in seconds in the morning (well, prepare them in seconds and they cook for hours) and come home to a healthy and delicious meal. It’s the ultimate winter feel-good machine. I’ve used this Cuisinart version before and like the ceramic bowl (as opposed to Teflon, not healthy) but the lid and handles are not oven safe, so keep it in the slow cooker (through experience).

10. Kris Carr’s Crazy Sexy Juice Book!

Nicknamed the ‘thriving wonder woman and animal rescuer from the land of flowing rainbows & waterfalls’ by me, Kris Carr is the real deal. She’ll show you how to make juices and smoothies sexy, fun and delicious and her new book is a treat for the senses. Get it, you won't be disappointed. Available on Amazon.com and bookstores in the know.

11. The Ultimate Yogi Gift

Yes, it’s true. It exists. Such a cool idea from My Custom Yoga Mat

12. Your Foot’s New Best Friend! 

Laurentine swears by her little wooden foot roller. In fact, sometimes the noises she omits when rolling on it make me feel a little un-needed. Anyway, before that goes further, try one for yourself.

13. For Cooking, Not Drinking Of Course

If you’ve seen me talk, you’ll know that in one of my points I'm a proponent of ‘going out, drinking wine and having fun’... but before you judge me, you’ll need to know the other 8 points to have that in context. This glass looks like a lot of fun and It’s just what you need for those warmer winter dishes that come to life with a splash of wine reduced with garlic, thyme, rosemary, mushrooms… hang on, don’t get me started. 

14. Help A Child In Need Get Lifesaving Nutrition

Every year Vitamin Angels helps provide lifesaving nutritional supplements to children and mothers in developing countries. Vitamin A, the most commonly deficient nutrient, is most easily replenished and costs less than 25 cents per child per year. This can help correct the most common cause of preventable blindness and death. Expand your vision of health beyond yourself this year and give to a company and charity we wholeheartedly support and donate to regularly.

Did I Miss Any Gift Ideas? Let Me Know In The Comments Below.