Healthy gifts that keep on giving

I know, I know, Christmas is not a time to think about being healthy, or trim and lean, what with all the sinful, big fat eats and treats around, but if you’re still looking around for what present to give to some friends or family, why not give a gift of health?

Of course, you can always give love — it’s guilt-free and calorie-free! But if you’re feeling a little more generous, my friend Jose Angelo Songco, a passionate health advocate who runs Healthy Eats, an organic store and cafe, has put together some wonderful holiday gift baskets given a health upgrade.

For those who love to cook and tinker around the kitchen, there’s the Pantry Starter Basket (P1,500) that’s packed with organic red rice, natural soy seasoning, organic hot sauce, herbed extra virgin olive oil, premium fish sauce, herbed sea salt sampler, and organic vinegar.

For this Christmas, Healthy Eats has a fish offering that includes assorted bottled fish (P2,000) such as bangus in olive oil and tuyong tawilis in lemon basil vinaigrette.

No ifs and baths about it, this one’s for every body: Healthy Eats Bath & Body Basket (P2,500) that includes Proteq natural toothpaste, Argan oil sea salt scrub, aloe vera body soap, Island Basic natural makeup remover, Droplets hand sanitizer, Aloe Derma facial cleanser.

For your foodie friends and family members, there’s the Food Basket (P2,000) that’s got Coco Dolce dark chocolate, organic red wine, tea bags, raw trail mix, muesli, oat meal cookies (stevia sweetened).

“We at Healthy Eats always try to improve the well-being of our discerning clientele who put their trust in us in terms of providing quality organic and natural products not only for themselves but for their families, relatives, friends and colleagues as well,” vows Angelo Songco.

Angelo is proud to share, “We’ve been known to prepare wonderfully wholesome and tastefully assembled gift baskets chock-full of goodies that give both nutrition and taste.”

He tells all his Facebook friends, “For advanced and bulk orders, our ever creative partner Gina S. Yambot can personalize the contents even further by preparing individual gift tags with short information tidbits about the health benefits of the contents. This helps the recipients use and enjoy their booties of organic, natural, super food, probiotic, gluten-free or vegan products, most of which are locally grown and produced to support the Filipino entrepreneurial spirit.”

And here’s more good tidings for the recipients, according to Angelo, “Depending on your budget, taste and preference, and the health concerns or objective of the giver and recipient, we can put products such as low-glycemic sweeteners, gluten-free pastries and snacks, super foods, cooking ingredients, and a lot more!”

With a sweet smile, he quickly adds, “Of course, we still accept orders for cakes and pastries which use coconut sugar suitable for diabetics and non-wheat ingredients for the gluten-sensitive, but still great-tasting and satisfying, of course!”

Healthy Eats is located at G and 2F MediCard Lifestyle Center, 51 Paseo de Roxas corner Senator Gil Puyat Avenue, Urdaneta Village, Makati City. Call 812-7323 or partner Gina Yambot directly at 0917837 4257 for more details.

For its part, Healthy Options, a leading natural foods store, recently gave everyone a sneak peek of its festive holiday gift boxes laden with goodies at its Nutcracker Christmas Gift Show held at two of its largest stores — Glorietta 2 and at Shangri-La Plaza Mall.

The exclusive preview/pre-Christmas show had Healthy Options’ Gold Card members and assorted health buffs enjoying the stores’ hassle-free and friendly atmosphere as customer advisors gladly assisted them in checking out the yuletide boxes.

 A sampling table was laid out for the delighted guests/customers who lost no time trying the palate-pleasing snack items that included quality brands of gluten-free, sugar-free chips, crackers with nuts and seed butter, chocolate-covered nuts, cookies, and other nibbles.

Quite a hit among the non-drinkers were the best-selling non-alcoholic sparkling juices. And for wine connoisseurs, there were delightfully fresh wines from Planet Grapes, such as l’escargot, Clos de los Siete, Cape Dreams, and Five Rows. Healthy Options also boasts its Dream Line Premium, prepared cocktails with five-percent alcoholic content, that got everybody all bubbly and dreaming of a fabulous Christmas. The fruity sparkling drink comes in silver rosé, gold moscato, and silver moscato.

 If you missed this exclusive preview, you can still place orders for the practical and nicely pre-packed Nutcracker Christmas holiday gift boxes, or take your pick from many assorted product finds and customize your own gift boxes, as found in the Nutcracker Christmas 2015 Gift Catalogue. 

The Nutcracker-inspired Christmas boxes include: Clara’s Christmas Box (P2,995), which is laden with gluten-free snacks; The Toy Soldier’s Box (P2,995), which is brimming with sweet yet low-sugar goodies; The King’s Treasure Box (P2,995), packed with delicious low-sodium treats; Sugar Plum Fairy’s Box (P3,995), which is loaded with sumptuously tasty treats; and the Nutcracker Prince’s Box (P6,995) teeming with only the finest goodies fit for royalty. Shoppers may also customize their gift boxes based on their budget.

If you want to give a gift of choice, Healthy Options offers gift certificates in P500 and P1,000 denominations. Healthy Options has stores all over the metro and the provinces. Visit www.healthyoptions.com.ph.