Gifts: For health psychos, onlookers, normal people and all points in between
A top to bottom collection of items relating to health, ideas, nutrition for those who might be obsessed with them
I’m a firm believer that health is mostly FREE. You can get 5/7ths of the way to the “top” doing push-ups, hitting steps most days, eating food that does not come in boxes (doesn’t need to be top tier either), getting to sleep before 1 AM, reading, having purpose, getting out of the house and getting some sun. You can. Apples, eggs, potatoes, milk, off-cuts, some greens—push-ups, walking, pull-ups, lunges… just about any book… the end. Straight up subsistence level elite level health. It doesn’t need to be complicated.
But there are things you can add to this foundation that make it deeper—funner—than that. There is literature… knowledge. Lots to read about and learn regarding health and strength—not just form checks but ideas. There are things proper: simple equipment, home health/wellness things, skincare stuff, demon supplements… and penury is fine for oneself but not for others… and so these are fine gifts, to me.
Items below are normal or on the edge things; colleague-level gifts, some for people in your life who you’re close to, some in the middle. Everything listed here is also probably quite swag to buy for yourself… but does that not go without saying?
Affiliates below, all linked are items I believe in or have used
Books (for normals all the way to psychos)
Nutrition and health can be hard to follow as a news story or on social media but the reality of health is far from this. It’s actually not people selling things 24-7… but sober intellectual discussion, laying things out, simple choices. Where health truly exists there is humility and knowledge, room for doubt, space and researched facts. I think, then and now, that the best… way to learn about nutrition and “health” is through BOOKS. Not YouTube videos, not reels, not even Substacks. But BOOKS.
For normal people/cooks who like/are curious about RM: Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon—Classic tier 1 book of recipes and a richness of… eating that is very… that is very open. Lots of country recipes (roe soup, greens), heightened ways to do organ meats (grilled kidneys French style, Sudanese heart kebabs, etc), vibrant normal recipes (gazpacho, ceviche, stuff like that; higher tier), a no-nonsense section on sprouted bread and fermentation… effectively a French cuisine book dressed up as a guidebook on nutrient density and health. Any science in here is incidental, this is a book about FOOD. Author also has a baby care book that’s within that lane. (I only am concerned with the nutrition aspects of these books.) Both are great resources; I play with Fallon’s recipes a few nights a month.
For sickos you know very well: Nutrition and Physical Degeneration by Weston Price—complete nut book, from about 100 years ago, lots of phrenology in here, not exactly for everyone, but simply put… the best and most complete book on nutrition—or perhaps just the one with the most perspective—there is. A foundational text, one of the defining books, frankly, of industrial society (Didion should’ve reviewed this one; it’d have made a difference) a before and after book, a diving board for anyone wanting to eat an “animal-based” diet or nutrient dense foods. I would only gift this to someone you know incredibly well, or someone you’re pranking/fucking with.
For meatheads and aesthetic people: Three More Reps by George Snyder—reprints of an old, incredible set of lifting books from the ‘70s and ‘80s… that boasted then an unmatched sense of design. Simply beautiful (they remind me of the Robert Mapplethorpe bodybuilding pics from the 1980s:
The new books include lots of photos, the same design, same aesthetics and are complemented with training routines of the better/more lit bodybuilders of that era. A lot of variance—Arnold, Dave Draper (who was an artist), Mike Mentzer (who believed in… training less) and Franco Colombu (lots of volume)—in a tyranny of small differences way. A stone classic, helpful, but also definitely the best-looking book about fitness there is. (There is also a more in-depth paperback; the above is a newer addition with a couple extra lifters I believe.)
For anyone frankly: Deep Nutrition by Dr. Cate Shanahan—this is the book I reco to anyone who wants to get up to speed on raw dairy, vegetable oils, dark nutrition and so on and does not know where to start. Just about every influencer/fitness person’s repertoire is taken 90% from this. There are some wild parts in here but it is on the whole an… excellent introduction to the concepts of nutrient density and for lack of better word “healing” foods. It’s all above board, too, really only about groceries. Has meal plans and a valuable index as well. Plus she’s a doctor if that matters to you.
For Russophiles and humane people: Anna Karenina by Tolstoy (Garnett trans)—prob the best book ever written about a chick (by a guy), there are also scenes in here where Kostya does calisthenics:
After walking about the garden, visiting the stable, and even doing some gymnastic exercises together on the parallel bars, Levin returned to the house with his guest, and went with him into the drawing room.
and later on in the book:
“I must have physical exercise or my temper’ll certainly be ruined,” he thought.
Worth noting Kostya is Tolstoy’s stand-in and was Lenin’s favorite character in the book (as he had proto-Marxist tendencies). The truth in both these philosophies and ways of seeing systems I hope is apparent.
More fine books:
For the beginner dark nutrition head: Salt Fix by Dr. James DiNic (this guy’s kind of a gimp on his socials but book is a very helpful explanation and look at why people are salting their water (which one maybe should do))
The Mineral Fix by him is also a good primer on that topic, he’s basically yassified/crossfit Dr. Cate, he has like a dozen of these books, they are nice easy gifts.
For the freak at the edge: The Spinal Engine by Serge Gracovetsky—probably the best book ever written about the body and fitness, or at least the most apostate... it counters much of what we know about strength and movement, and Gracovetsky’s insights are being reflected in the new age of unilateral/spinal flexion strength work out there (you have to dig around for these people). High price on this, out of print, but who can put a dollar sign… on true knowledge? Not me. Also someone bought me this for Hanukkah I would straight up do a cartwheel (likely)/squeeze out a single tear (not likely). (Another, cheaper edition.)
For the corny carnivore in your life (your dad?): Sacred Cow by Robb Wolf—in the bag on some points but a thorough and researched book on well…. beef as… health? It is counter-intuitive unless you read it. Think: Hong Kong vs. American diet. Red meat doesn’t mean mashed potatoes, whiskey and cigs. For context, I align myself with this more or less. Dad book f sure.
For the outsider/someone who actually reads: Body by Harry Crews—definitely and absolutely the single best piece of fiction about bodybuilding there is. As good as any of Crews’ novels, obviously. One of the better books written about Florida as well, and technically excellent (excellent) about the sport. Really just a wonder.
For the aesthete: Brother Iron, Sister Steel by Dave Draper—Draper was one of the best bodybuilders of all time (and definitely the blondest), but this book jumps out as a collection of letters… with serious emotional depth and sense of place. I don’t think you need to be into lifting or health to enjoy this book… the rest of these books are kind of for health-interested people. This I would give to a literary friend who actually gets it… it is… a beautiful and often emotional collection of writing. This is like Anais Nin to me… (Another near-perfect book: Klein’s Bell, which is a compendium of a century-old lifting magazine… it is so, so incredible, it is very inspiring, it is beautiful.)
For the Peater: Heal your Metabolism by Kate Deering and/or The Ray Peat Survival Guide by Joey Lott—Peat is the truth, he is the wisest man since either William Blake or Morrissey and is very misunderstood. But his writing is, to a man, impenetrable; these books each provide a competent introductory guide.
Supplements/stockings
Honestly I don’t think you can give supplements as a gift without coming off like a complete psycho but I suppose these can work as stocking stuffers? Or—maybe—you and your spouse have those black CrossFit wedding bands, in which case decorum is out the window. Either way I suggest:
For the gourmand: Sal Do Mar salt—this is Peruvian sea salt, and probably the best/cleanest you can get if you are doing just salt. It’s not really health coded, it just happens to be healthy.
For someone you know: Magnesium glycinate—hard to get required (or should I say liberal) dosage of Mg in your diet through natural foods (cacao and avocado are good places to start) and so supplementation’s not a bad move. The brand, Pure Encapsulations, is competent and clean enough; 400mg a day maybe, as a dosage, helpful for sleep quality and so on. Actually, I would like to get this as a gift, it’d save me a trip and I use it every day.
Non-freak crap but kinda healthy: Dr Berg’s trace minerals—what little I know about Christmas and stocking stuffers involves practical gift-giving and so this. I prefer mineralization through food but honestly this one is decently clean, quite broad in its coverage, is good enough as far as produced items go… good for copper esp., which is important.
Non-freak crap (Italian): Brioschi lemon heartburn pills—not a weirdo health thing but the like, old school after dinner mint that Italians use after spicy meals, instead of fernet, for digestion. This connotes cosmopolitanism.
Demon Skincare
I’m of the contested opinion that topical skincare is a scam and that 90% of “good skin” is best applied through diet—for men, absolutely, but maybe/probably also for women?… This will/could Uber the beauty industry in a decade; beauty reporters and those in the industry concede much of what’s being sold is severe snake oil. There are two points of context for my claims: one, they haven’t really been tested (if you want to run a six-week skincare diet with me, respond to this email) two, maybe not everything, and three, the dietary items I’m thinking of don’t have much danger or downside. Below, some variance.
For someone you know: Gelatin powder: Imagine giving this as a stocking stuffer but bear with me… if you get like 30% of your protein from gelatin or collagen (functionally the same thing; don’t go nuts here splitting the atom) you will just like literally have very good skin down the line. Scant downside, aside from the tact issue of giving out beef bones as a gift. The grocery equivalent is just buying bones.
Collagen Peptides by the same company (Great Lakes). Some clarity: real peptides you inject in your ass, collagen peptides are not that… they’re a bit less processed than gelatin; both are ground up bones.
Dark fitness soap/wild stocking stuffer: Katialis soap with salicylic acid—effectively Aspirin as soap, an insane exfoliant, used for psoriasis, folks with exczema and so on; it went viral in the Peat sphere a year and change ago (was sold out on Amazon for a week). I used this bar and it was wild… glowing skin. Word from some “skincare people” is to only do a soap like this now and then. I’ll echo that I suppose but what do they know? Also: perfect packaging.
Expensive/classy skin solution: NAD+ powder—jury is out on this and it kind of contradicts my above point about diet, though it probably/half works. This isn’t my beat, but, in a nutshell, NAD+ effectively is a cofactor in ATP production and cellular respiration… which to me is a nerd application of Peat’s mitochondrial thesis. The “biohacking” jury debates whether taking NAD+ direct or a precursor like niacin is better (with TMG), but I’m not really equipped to be authoritative on this; I prefer groceries. A moment, luxury-coded, gifts are for other people. Very regal.
Imagine giving this as a gift: Kiwi fruit (organic)—good way to get vitamin E, prob. should be getting like 2 of these a day, every day, forever. I read in a magazine article that people give chestnuts to each other for Christmas (true?), kiwis can replace them; both are brown and rock hard.
Gifts from Sasha
Great gift ideas as suggested by my friend Sasha.
A Corepower Studio class pack or monthly membership - Love this studio. They have a range of classes including heated yoga + pilates, low impact weight lifting, strength training, etc!
Apres Tea - Beautiful, small batch tea. This one with licorice and fennel is my favorite for promoting digestive health and clear skin.
Onsen Bath Salts - Hot bath detox / mineral mix muscle soak
Foot Massage - At the chic new Spencer's Spa - Focus on shiatsu points and following chinese reflexology, supporting lymphatic drainage, increasing circulation, + energy boosting.
Coconut Butter + Pink Mountain Salt - Great combo for smoothie booster and all around must have in the kitchen
thank you Sasha…
Wellness stuff/big dog gifts
Items below all… improve quality of life, but we might not buy for ourselves. Think self care without the pity element here. So—great gifts.
Fine red light jawn: LifePro Redlight belt—everyone always talks about red light face masks, and those things work and are great (science has caught up to the freaks; salute, within a couple of years even), but belts have an advantage (to me) in that they are more flexible, have a higher density of lights, and are cost-effective. More flexible and better. What I mean is: if red light is so good, why use it only on your face? Are we so vain? And so—good gift too if someone already has a RL mask, which is the industry leader. (This pad works on the same premise as the belt; you can nap on it. And this (JOVS) is my mask pick. It is very expensive—it is the best one but it is laser light.)
Fine water filter: Berkey travel-sized filter—you can truly go neurotic/psycho if you look deep into water and filtration… it can be depressing. For my money, the simplest solution is to sack up and log off and consider a Berkey, which is a very, very strong filter, and has a low cost per cup compared to other competent approved filters (based off the Duke water study a few years ago).
If you think you’re hot shit and want reverse osmosis this is a decent one, it’s the same price.
Good shower filter: Aquabliss 20—I have this one, what’s nice about it is that it gets cheaper by the year, which doesn’t often happen. This one tests competently compared to other ‘premium’ hairstylist/app shower filters, a gift people might not get for themselves. Shower filters are sort of… the soft spot of dark nutrition: we all are on board with drinking tap water, but any hair colorist or stylist (many scientists) will tell you to get a filter if you want to hang onto your treatment. Tap water is bad for your hair. It’s that simple.
Lifestyle
I recommend all-cotton Frette sheets. Can’t beat Frette. This is the Full Size Bar on Halloween of gifting. (They also have a diffusion line that is cotton/luxe.)
Lifting stuff
With the right items you can get very, very far at home. Stuff for people who like to hit the gym or don’t like going to those demon rooms.
For the functional person: Runmax 40 lb weighted vest—Walking with a WV is a good way to crank up bone density, muscle mass and take it easy on your joints at the same time; walking is more important than lifting (both matter), and so this is kind of number one. My suggestion is walk after dinner with it. 2,000 steps. These are branded as like, very male things but I think they’re for everyone. Just get less weight if you weigh less. (Upgrade pick)
For someone pretty in shape to begin with: Nordic stick—for “nordic curls,” which are reverse sit-up that works your hamstrings. (Knees on the ground, heels held down, lower face to the floor.) You have to work up to them—they are very hard. Don’t take up much space, either. Lots of good nordic programs on IG and YT, good stocking stuffer.
For someone who travels/for literally anyone: Exercise bands by some random-ass brand—this is the exact set I have. It is great. You can do like, everything with these. My favorite exercise is scuttling sideways in one like a crab—good for the hips, groin, feet, etc. For an in-depth approach on band work I suggest following Dion Olivier on Instagram. He is a DPT student and personal trainer, he uses bands for his own workouts.
For an outdoorsy person: Parallettes for push-ups—these are great, Mr. Gymnastics type shit, the little wood things gymnasts use in the gym and for push-ups. You can go deeper on push-ups with these, hit different body parts (by moving them), train up to calisthenics (like L-sits) and are frankly a nice, small, thoughtful gift. Made of wood, too, a premium product.
For someone with room: Assault (fan) bike—objectively and probably the best “cardio” workout you can get is on a bike with a fan; the fan creates resistance, and the handles allow for unilateral targeting (think boxing—one side at a time), and builds up real strength (because you use your arms and body on it). Here’s a decent list of good workouts to do (sprints first). It is a way more distilled investment, IMO, than a Peloton.
For someone with a lot of room: Pilates reformer by Frame—in the future we will have workout rooms that are more than clearings; the postural benefits of pilates haven’t been fully broken down by strength nuts, but to me the premise of it is basically hollow body holds but faster, and that’s what gymnastics is based on. So…
Good chin-up bar: There’s the Iron Gym option (drops into the door) and the width-locking one that pushes into the doorway—both are good simple gifts, make sure to check whether your door can rock it, but don’t overthink it.
Good dip stand: These are well-reviewed—and are safety yellow. I wish I had the room… this is a good, if not beautiful, freestanding option.
Odds and ends
Maybe only give this to people you really, really know.
GuruNanda oil pulling kit (coconut)—Jury is out the extent to which oil pulling “works” (proponents say it will whiten your teeth)—wild gift to give to someone (it is wrong to discuss teeth in the home).
Vitamin D lamp—this is the one. Actual (chemically) sunlight for winter, and a very competent gift. I place it in the psycho realm as I am linking to the premium, very real one (Sperti)
Blue light blockers—god tier psycho stocking stuffer here… someone just buy a pair for everyone you know.
A gift subscription to Snake Super Health
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Diabolical list. Just make sure they eat the skin on those Kiwis 🥝 🤑
okay but did you use the katialis soap on your face tho