Eat your feelings: Cafe in Melbourne serves food specifically created to make your gut produce more serotonin to make you happy

Emily Hazell, 26, Melbourne, was diagnosed with depression at age 21.


Threatened with antidepressants, she started researching natural cures.

This is when she discovered the link between food and serotonin.

This led to her founding the Serotonin Eatery in Melbourne in 2015.

At age 21, Emily Hazell, now 26, was deep in the throes of depression.

From paleo to vegetarian, and even a strict fruitarian phase, she had tried every eating trend going.

But it wasn't until she was threatened with a course of antidepressant medication by her doctors that Ms Hazell contemplated turning down a different route.

Five years ago, Ms Hazell instead started researching natural ways to lift her spirits.


This research culminated in the opening of her cafe, the Serotonin Eatery, in Melbourne, in 2015.


The Serotonin Eatery offers a menu rich in happiness-boosting foods. From banana flour pancakes to the cafe's famous 'nutrition bombs', everything the Serotonin Eatery serves is colourful, healthy, and, most importantly, mood-improving.

Serotonin, a chemical made in the gut, has been linked to happiness, and its building block, tryptophan (a basic amino acid found in many foods), plays a key role in transporting and storing nutrients in our bodies.

'I haven't looked back since I adopted this way of eating and life,' Ms Hazell tells Daily Mail Australia.
'My weight hasn't changed at all in five years, I'm happier overall and it's completely changed the way I look at food and exercise,' she says.

And if the Melbourne cafe is to be believed, thousands of other people agree with her plant-based, tryptophan-heavy way of life, too.

'Every meal we serve at Serotonin Eatery has at least five colours,' Ms Hazell says.

'We use a lot of complex carbohydrates - rice, sweet potato, quinoa etc. Our nutrition bombs are filled with them,' she says.

'I believe the optimum amount of fruit and veg everyone should have each day is ten pieces,' she continues.

'When you marry that with 23 minutes of exercise daily, it has been proven that you can alleviate depression and stabilise your mood.

'The Serotonin Eatery isn't just a cafe, either. With a gym next door that holds a variety of classes and training sessions, as well as monthly talks and events, its visitors have access to educational nights and exercise facilities, too.

'There are always talks and events and collaborations on,' Ms Hazell says.

'In the future, we'd love to expand and move to Sydney - somewhere like Bondi or Manly I think. Byron Bay is high on the list, too.'

When it comes to her own daily diet, Ms Hazell is religious about looking after herself: 

'I have banana smoothies with eight bananas in them for breakfast,' she says, adding that if you have a busy diary it's important that you get the right amount of nutrients and calories from your meals.

'When people look at things like our nutrition bombs, they often think "oh, that's too much food", but what they don't realise is that it's good food, and you need more of that than you think. 

'When people eat our meals, they don't complain of feeling overly full or bloated. Rather, they are content.'

As well as the tryptohan-laden banana flour pancakes, which are made entirely from mashed bananas and banana ice cream, Ms Hazell says her smoothies and delectable desserts are also very popular.

The cafe regularly release new items regularly, such as Thursday's raw, sugar-free, vegan chocolate mint Magnums, which have already gone down a storm with the customers.

'I've wanted to create a cafe since I was 18 years old - I even wrote a business plan once!', Ms Hazell says.

'So it's been fantastic to work with nutritionists, experts and doctors to make that dream come true.
'Our meals are designed to leave your mood stabilised,' she explains.

'The meals are low in sodium and white sugar (we do use lots of natural sugars, though). The average Australia eats around nine times more sodium than is required for good health. 

'Our idea is that every meal we serve is so healthy you could eat it every day for the rest of your life.'

Source:  By Sophie Haslett for Daily Mail Australia

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3691429/Cafe-Melbourne-serves-food-specifically-created-make-gut-produce-serotonin-make-happy.html

This is such a coincidence as I am busy right now reading William Bloom's Excellent book 'The Endorphin Effect' - well worth the read - Hope one opens in London

Coventry boffins say they've found the secret to happiness... and it's something you might not expect

Yet another reason to get your five a day folks 

Boffins at Warwick University reckon they have unearthed the secret to happiness – eat more fruit and veg.

New research from the university suggests eating up to eight portions a day can make you happier.

The study is one of the first major scientific attempts to explore psychological well-being beyond the traditional finding that fruit and veg can cut the risk of cancer and heart attacks.

Happiness benefits were detected for each extra daily portion of fruit and veg up to eight portions per day.

And the reason could be linked to antioxidants with current research suggesting a connection between optimism and carotenoid – a pigment found in plants – in the blood.

The researchers concluded people who changed from almost no fruit and veg to eight portions a day would feel an increase in life satisfaction equivalent to moving from unemployment to landing a job.

And the well-being improvements happened within 24 months.

Warwick’s Prof Andrew Oswald said: “Eating fruit and vegetables apparently boosts our happiness far more quickly than it improves human health.

“People’s motivation to eat healthy food is weakened by the fact that physical-health benefits, such as protecting against cancer, accrue decades later.

“However, well-being improvements from increased consumption of fruit and vegetables are closer to immediate.”

The study followed more than 12,000 randomly selected people who kept food diaries and had their psychological well-being measured. The authors found big positive psychological benefits within two years of an improved diet.

It follows the five-a-day mantra which the NHS says is based on advice from the World Health Organisation. The global body recommends eating at least 400g of fruit and veg a day to lower the risk of serious health problems such as heart disease, stroke and some cancers.

The work is a collaboration between the university and the University of Queensland.

Dr Redzo Mujcic, research fellow at the University of Queensland, said: “Perhaps our results will be more effective than traditional messages in convincing people to have a healthy diet. There is a psychological payoff now from fruit and vegetables – not just a lower health risk decades later.”

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Source:  By Catherine Lillington

http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/health/coventry-boffins-say-theyve-found-11581142