24 Products That Promote Health and Wellness - Consumer Reports (2024)

CR’s Health & Food Team Favorites

Everyone in CR food editor Trisha Calvo’s family is getting a bottle of this vinegar in their stocking this year. Says Trisha: “This versatile vinegar is great on salads but also on roasted carrots or beets, in a marinade for chicken or fish, or as a mixer for cocktails. A blend of tangerine purée and white wine vinegar, it’s bright, sweet, and citrusy, and has just enough tang to enhance the flavors of the ingredients in your dish. Even better: Unlike other fruit vinegars I’ve seen, it has no added sugars.”

When it comes to mental wellness, one of my favorite things to recommend is playing a good board game. Hear me out: It’s a ready-made excuse to gather with both longtime friends and new ones (it’s a great way to skip past awkward small talk), and it forces you to stop your doomscrolling. Hues and Cues is a great option for board game enthusiasts and neophytes alike, involving guessing colors from a wide palate of options from a player’s one- and two-word clues. It takes just a few minutes to learn, and I can guarantee that hilarity will ensue.

Trying to cut back on coffee? Our team leader, Lauren Friedman, swears by this bold blend of Irish black tea and says it offers a pick-me-up close to that of coffee. It brews quickly, too, and is strong enough that you’ll probably want to add at least a dash of milk.

Our food editor, Trisha Calvo, loves this brand of fruit preserves. They’re made with no added sugars, and Trisha says you don’t miss it: “The sweet flavor of the fruit comes out rather than just tasting sugar.” The preserves are great on toast, swirled into yogurt, on a cheeseboard, or as the J in a PB&J. The trio set, with strawberry, blueberry, and peach flavors, makes a perfect gift.

These days I never pass up an opportunity to evangelize about heirloom beans. During the first year of the pandemic, my partner expressed a desire to learn how to use beans better in cooking. I’d grown up eating my mom’s ham and bean soup, but I didn’t know much beyond that, and my research led me to Rancho Gordo, a purveyor of heirloom beans. I ordered him a gift set that included a book on heirloom beans and recipes for each variety, and from then on we were hooked. You can absolutely tell that these are superior to grocery store beans both in taste and texture. If the idea of cooking beans from scratch makes you balk, the Rancho Gordo method demystifies the process, turning boiling beans into a positively meditative practice. I’ve found that these beans cook a lot faster than grocery store dry beans, too. (There’s no need to soak them beforehand either!) The bean guide included in this gift set has plenty of tips and tricks, plus lots of unfussy recipes that let the beans shine.

For Eco-Conscious Home Cooks

For Friends Who Like the Finer Things

If the coffee-lover in your life is looking to get into making their own espresso at home, the Breville Bambino Plus is a solid starter option at a price well below many higher-end machines. Our evaluators found it to have a simple interface, compact footprint, and the ability to produce great-tasting espresso with every use.

Your foodie friend should be delighted by this olive oil, which CR’s evaluators awarded high marks for both quality and taste. It has a robust and grassy taste with herbal notes and would pair well with spicy food, beef, lamb, and bold-flavored vegetables like arugula or broccoli.

For Exercisers and Meditators

This absorbent cushion yoga mat offers a nice balance of features, with a good amount of cushioning, very grippy top and bottom surfaces, and a quick drying time, according to CR’s tests. It comes with a carrying strap, so you can easily tote it to class. It’s also significantly less expensive than many other absorbent cushion yoga mats.

For Friends Who Need Better Sleep

For people who struggle with waking up in the early morning, the shorter days of winter can be a challenge, even when daylight saving time isn’t in effect. A sunrise alarm clock employs the power of light to trigger your circadian system into waking you up gently. The JALL model we evaluated earned high marks for how easy it is to set up and use, and for its many features. Bonus: It costs less than some other models.

This unassuming mask proved to be an Editor’s Choice in our evaluation of sleep masks. It blocks light effectively for a variety of head shapes, feels comfortable on the face, and is easy to adjust.

For Aspiring Indoor Gardeners

Mushrooms are packed with health benefits. And growing them with this North Spore mushroom kit requires just a spritz of water. In our evaluation, it took eight days for them to start growing and two additional days before the blue oyster mushrooms were ready to harvest. Our taste testers deemed the resulting fungi to be juicy.

Our evaluators found this tabletop garden device to be especially easy to set up and take care of, a plus for folks without the greenest of thumbs. Its capacity is small, just three plants at a time. But even that can make a good introduction for folks looking to get started growing their own leafy greens at home.

For People Watching Their Blood Pressure

For Wintertime Vacationers

Wish a friend a bon voyage with something sweet so that they’re not tempted by overpriced plane snacks. As our testing has revealed, dark chocolate can be contaminated with heavy metals. This Taza bar is one of the safer choices and makes a great gift for anyone on your list with a love for chocolate.