This Diwali, Ditch the Mithais and Gift Someone Better Health

This Diwali, Ditch the Mithais and Gift Someone Better Health

This Diwali, look to alternative gifting options that are not only unusual but also healthy.

Want your gift to stand out in the assorted crowd of dinner sets, gadgets and the likes this Diwali? Follow the spirit of giving in the right spirit and make it a health-giving gift. Also enough of packed mithai dabbas. Really!

Here are 10 unusual gift suggestions to boost your loved ones well-being:

A Bicycle

A bicycle is not only great for your health but also for the planet’s health! That’s a win-win.

Heard friends talk about how they used to love cycling when they were young? This Diwali make sure you bust their excuse of not owning one – by gifting them one.

Health Payback: When they cycle they will expend calories instead of boring fuel – an absolute win-win! Plus they’ll gain mental peace, besides saving money and netting a complete body workout. It is a healthy, low-impact exercise that can be enjoyed by people of all ages.

Also Read: Kids Who Cycle and Walk More, Less Likely to Be Obese: Study

A Pack of Green Tea

Green Tea is a great source of antioxidants. They also often come in cute and quirky packaging, making them great gifts. 

Know someone with a bad caffeine fixation? Help them break their habit with some health-giving green tea.

Health Paybacks: The antioxidants found in green tea help boost metabolism, slow down the rise of blood sugar after eating (prevents high insulin spikes and the resulting fat storage), improve the ratio of good cholesterol to bad cholesterol in the body and also function as effective anti ageing agents.

Also Read: Need More Reasons to Drink Green Tea? It May Help Fight Superbugs

Brain Healthy Spices

A gift box of assorted spices makes for a great gift that will help boost brain health and also give you an aromatic kitchen.

To all the cooks on your list, spice up their life with a gift of brain healthy spices. Put together a gift box of sage, saffron, cinnamon as well as herbs like thyme, oregano, basil, rosemary, and marjoram, and put in a recipe book too that details dishes made using these. Or better still give them a Herb Garden Kit so that they can spice up their cooking with fresh herbs grown right at home (a pretty pot, soil, plant food, and herb seeds).

Health Paybacks: All of these herbs and spices are loaded with polyphenols, phytonutrients, antioxidants and have anti-inflammatory properties. These are great for our brain's health too.

Also Read: FitQuiz: How to Use Herbs and Spices to Treat Winter Ailments? 

A Frisbee

A Frisbee makes for a simple yet thoughtful gift to urge your loved ones to step out and get active.

Who doesn’t love to play frisbee! It’s an excellent contact sport, and a frisbee is light, compact and can be carried everywhere.

Health Paybacks: Running, jumping and throwing are combined to give the body a complete workout from head to toe. Plus it improves agility, speed, reflexes, and can be enjoyed and played by all age groups. Besides, it’s just plain fun as it boosts your mood and leads to the production of endorphins and other happy hormones.

Also Read: Staying Active in Midlife May Depend On Mental Well-being: Study

Gift a Holiday

If someone you know is working too hard, a travel package may be the ideal gift to help them unwind.

This Diwali, gift good times to your loved ones. With the holiday season starting, there are interesting packages that you could choose from. You could also opt for holiday gift vouchers.

Health Paybacks: A vacay is a time out for the mind and body both, and they’ll thank you loads when you give them this opportunity to take a break and get away from the city dread.

Also Read: Vacation Time! 7 Ways to Avoid Weight Gain This Holiday Season

A Bunch of Microgreens

Gift a basket of health with these miniature versions of your regular healthy greens that are packed with 40 times as much vital nutrients. 

With these a little goes a long way. Microgreens are young seedlings of edible vegetables and herbs harvested less than 14 days after germination. They are usually about 1-3 inches long and come in a rainbow of colors. They are used as a garnish, can also be tossed into a salad or eaten by themselves as a mini-salad.

Health Paybacks: Microgreens definitely provide more nutrition than their counterpart mature leaves. Some like red cabbage, cilantro, and radish contain up to 40 times higher levels of vital nutrients than their mature counterparts. They have abundant Vitamin C, are loaded with beta carotene and are often good sources of Vitamin E and K.

Also Read: Green Thumbs Up! Why You Should Skip Gym and Go Gardening Instead

Basket of Whole Grains

Get your loved ones to make the switch from refined grains to whole grains with a gift basket of assorted grains.

Do your friends and family a favour and convert them to brown foods. Gift them brown rice, red rice, whole wheat pasta, couscous, oats, assorted whole grains flour and quinoa. Once they get a taste of it, they’ll never revert to refined ever again.

Health Paybacks: Whole grains are an excellent source of complex carbohydrates, fibre and B-vitamins. The fibre in these helps in maintaining a regular bowel movement, prevents cholesterol build-up and maintains the blood sugars.

Also Read: Here’s Why You Must Include Whole Carbs in Your Daily Diet

Go to the Seed

Gift a box of super food AKA edible seeds that come with a multitude of health benefits.

Giving seeds as a Diwali gift is a great way of familiarizing someone who doesn’t already eat them. Put together an assorted lot of sesame, flax, pumpkin and the likes and gift your loved ones brilliant health.

Health Paybacks: These are extremely small, compact yet very potent and deliver magnified health benefits: from heart health to lowering blood pressure and blood sugar.

Also Read: Know Your Seeds: Small Things, Big Benefits 

The Home Truth

Feel like your festivities are incomplete without sweets? Opt for gifts of homemade sweets and confectioneries. 

Sometimes the best gifts are those you can sink your teeth into. People just go nuts over homemade chocolate covered cherries, chocolate dipped spoons. Get hold of these recipes, make them and gift with love.

Health Paybacks: Homemade gifts ensure pure stuff, and will keep them safe from unnecessary additives preservative, colourants etc.

Also Read: A Diwali Without Gaining Weight? Before the Sweets, Have Karela!

Gift a Kitchen Makeover

Gifts of kitchen appliances like soup makers and sprout makers could help ease your loved ones into healthier food choices.

Gift a health-giving kitchen appliance. Choose from a soup maker (to help them make a delicious soup in a jiffy), a sprouts maker or a steamer.

Health Paybacks: A soupmaker will boost their veggies intake while a sprouts maker will help increase their consumption of health-giving micronutrients and enzymes. Meanwhile, a steamer will help them cut their fat intake and make delicious steamed dishes (dhoklas, idlis) that cut calories from their meals.

(Kavita is a nutritionist, weight management consultant and health writer based in Delhi. She is the author of Don’t Diet! 50 Habits of Thin People (Jaico) and Ultimate Grandmother Hacks: 50 Kickass Traditional Habits for a Fitter You (Rupa).)

Also Read: Want to Stay Fit This Diwali? Follow These Simple Tips