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                Pizza Football Chocolate - If These Are A Few Of His Favourite Things :: Father's Day Gifts
            
                Father's Day is a time to celebrate your father's favourite things and bring them together, along with a huge hug and a few meaningful words of affection. When you're choosing Father's Day gifts you'll need to think up ideas based on his favourite foods and sports and these are two foods and a game which thousands of men seem to love. If your dad lives for football, pizza and chocolate then read on because we're going to tell you some surprising facts and offer you some truly original ideas for Father's Day gifts. 

Pizza

Pizza has one of the worst reputations when it comes to fast-food. Classified by many people as a junk food because of its high carbohydrate and fat content a lot of health fanatics are practically frightened of the stuff. 

Along with a few creative Father's Day gifts you might be thinking of treating your dad to a meal and if pizza is his favourite food then new studies suggest that by sharing a few slices with him, you could be doing his health a small favour. Along with the aforementioned fat and un-complex carbohydrates pizza has a rich tomato topping which contains: lycopeine, beta carotene, lutein, alpha-carotein and beta-cryptoxanthin and according to a cohort study several years ago which involved 48,000 health care professionals the incidence rate of prostate cancer was significantly reduced in men who ate foods high in these nutrients; especially lycopene. 

Pizza contains a lot of lycopene! So whilst you could add inches to your dad's waistline by encouraging him to eat pizza regularly, he could actually significantly decrease his chances of getting prostate cancer. As well as the tomato topping other common pizza ingredients have health benefits too, in fact one article we found said: "Besides lycopene, multiple other nutrients [are good] for enhanced prostate function... [including] saw palmetto, pygeum and garlic extracts... Vitamin D and zinc."

Football

Football related Father's Day gifts are a must buy for footie-mad dads and encouraging his obsession is a good idea for several reasons. Watching football on the telly is never going to make your dad that healthy physically, but the occasional game at the weekends could do him wonders. If he likes a kick about with the boys, he'll increase his activity level enough to stay moderately healthy and, if he just likes shouting at the telly he'll keep his mind active by predicting where the ball will go next and following his favourite players.

Dads who like watching live matches at stadiums have the potential to substantially increase their 'steps' per day (on the days they see a match) by thousands as they pass through turn stiles and walk to and from the car park, train station or bus stop. Walking and playing football are two easy ways for a dad to stay in shape, so keep these things in mind when he's going on about his favourite players! Football could be keeping your dad healthier than you'd think.

Chocolate

Everyone knows there are certain chemicals in chocolate which are really good for your mood. That makes chocolate Father's Day gifts a no-brainer, but did you know that the history of chocolate dates back to about 1000 years BC in a place called Olmec which is now South Eastern Mexico? Or that the ancient Mayans used cacao beans (the beans used to make chocolate) as currency? According to some texts on Mayan culture 10 cacao beans would buy you a rabbit and 100 beans would buy you a human slave. Someone even came up with the idea of making counterfeit beans out of clay!

In ancient times chocolate wasn't as we know it today though, it wasn't in solid bars at all. Back then, chocolate was a decadent drink reserved for nobility. Even in the UK when chocolate was first introduced 'chocolate houses' sprung up which were literally like bars which served hot chocolate. Yum!

The Perfect Gift

So, to conclude our exploration of chocolate, pizza and football what would be the perfect gift to give a dad who loves all three of these things? It may seem like an impossible task but we think we've found just the thing; it's a pizza in a takeaway pizza box made entirely from chocolate and sweets with a candy topping arranged in to a delicious edible football design.

The Footballer's Chocoholic Pizza is one of the craziest Father's Day gifts out there but we love it. Imagine your dad seeing the pizza box and thinking you've ordered him a take away and then opening it and realising it's actually a pizza made out of chocolate and then on top of that seeing that it's got a football theme. What an incredible present!

Related article: For a Father's Day He'll Never Forget (Fathers Day)