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Prepare one 25cm x 25cm square of puff pastry on a clean dry surface.

Using a grater or microplane grate the oranges and 30g of the chocolate over the puff pastry to completely cover and sprinkle over the chia seeds evenly.

Take opposite edges of the pastry and roll them towards each other to meet in the middle. Brush a little egg down the centre to stick the two halves together. Carefully place onto a tray and put in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to chill and harden.

Preheat the oven to 200C/400F.

Remove the roll from the fridge and, using a sharp knife, slice it into 1cm pieces. Lay each piece on a lined baking tray. Brush with the beaten egg. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes until crisp and golden-brown.

Remove the palmiers from the oven.

While palmers are cooling, melt chocolate over a double boiler. To do this add an inch of water to a small pot, bring to a low simmer, sit a metal bowl on top, careful to not have the water touching the bowl, add chocolate to melt. Dip half of the palmiers in the melted chocolate.

Serve and enjoy.

Looking to make a vegan version? Replace the egg with olive oil spray and use vegan pastry sheets and vegan chocolate.

Cut one 25cm x 25cm square of puff pastry on a clean dry surface.

Add tomatoes to a food processor, pulse to a chunky paste.

Spread the tomatoes over the puff pastry to completely cover right to edges and sprinkle over the rosemary and chia seeds evenly.

Preheat the oven to 200C/400F.

Remove the palmiers from the oven and serve.

Looking for a vegan swap out? Replace the egg with olive oil spray and use vegan pastry sheets.

Anxiety disorders are the most common mental disorders, affecting one in four Australians at some stage in their life. Anxiety can come in many different forms and can have a significant impact on day-to-day activities for those suffering from it, affecting concentration, sleep and the ability carry out ordinary tasks at work, home or school.

Those who suffer from severe anxiety will usually require professional medical help, and we would never intend to replace the advice of your doctor or psychologist*. But, for mild-to-moderate levels of anxiety, making changes to diet and lifestyle can make a real difference. Just like there are foods that harm or help our bodies, there are foods that harm or help our mental health.

Dark Chocolate:

The mood-boosting effects of chocolate have been touted for quite some time, but more recent research has shown a particular link between dark chocolate and anxiety. And here’s why:

Polyphenols
A 2013 study in the Journal of Pharmacology showed that a special compound found in cocoa called polyphenols can positively affect anxiety and enhance calmness.
Serotonin
Low serotonin is one of the leading causes (and outcomes) of anxiety. Dark chocolate provides large amounts of Tryptophan, an amino acid that also works as a precursor to serotonin. So, it’s possible that by ingesting more dark chocolate, you’re improving your serotonin levels.
Mood Elevation
Another ingredient in chocolate is theobromine — an ingredient that studies have shown can have a positive, mood elevating effect on those that ingest it.
Magnesium
Dark chocolate also contains high amounts of magnesium. Studies are starting to show that magnesium may be one of the few nutrients that has a noticeable effect on anxiety. People often take magnesium supplements, but getting your magnesium through food is considered a much healthier overall option.

Darker the better
It’s important to note that these benefits are only found in dark chocolate. Milk chocolate has almost no nutritional value, contains very little of those all-important nutrients mentioned above, and contains high levels of sugar that can actually lead to worse feelings of anxiety!

The closer you get to pure dark cocoa (preferably sugar-free) the more benefit you will see. We know that dark chocolate can be bitter, so try starting with a percentage of around 75% cocoa while your tastebuds adjust. We love Loving Earth’s Organic Dark Chocolate and 85% Dark Chocolate blocks.

Other diet tips to improve anxiety:

Drink more water. Many studies have found that dehydration affects up to 25% of those with persistent stress, and dehydration is known to cause more anxiety.
Look for foods rich in magnesium, vitamin B12 (and other B vitamins), zinc, and antioxidants
Avoid eating foods that contribute to anxiety, such as fried foods, high glycemic carbs, refined sugars, and alcoholic beverages.

Each year, the World Health Organisation (WHO) chooses a topic of particular importance to focus their efforts on for World Health Day: an international communication campaign designed to raise awareness and encourage change in our global approach to health.

The focus for this year’s World Health Day, on 7 April 2019, is universal health coverage.

Universal health coverage is WHO’s number one goal. Achieving it would mean all people having access to the quality health services they need, when and where they need them, without financial hardship.

Progress towards this goal is being made in countries in all regions of the world. But, millions of people still have no access at all to health care. Millions more are forced to choose between health care and other daily expenses such as food, clothing and even a home. About 100 million people are pushed into extreme poverty each year because of out-of-pocket spending on health.

At The Chia Co, we believe that health is a human right — and it’s time for health for all.

To make health for all a reality, we need to ensure that all individuals and communities have access to high-quality health services so that they take care of their own health and the health of their families. But what does this really mean? It means supporting skilled health workers in our own communities, and better enabling them to provide quality, people-centred care. It also means encouraging our policy-makers to commit to investing in primary health care. Health is a political choice, and we need to make sure it is considered in all government policies.

Learn more about World Health Day and how you can get involved.

If you’re anything like us, those precious extra minutes of snoozing in the morning seem like no brainer! And how is it that you are never more comfortable than when that alarm goes off?!

Studies show that snoozing before we get up for the day is pretty standard practice, with more than half of people ages 25-34 hitting snooze daily. Unfortunately, hitting that snooze button might be leaving you more tired than you think.

If you snooze, you lose

Leaders in this science say we go through sleep cycles that last around 45 minutes and if you’re snoozing for additional periods of just nine or ten minutes at a time, you will never get back into any meaningful rest. This REM sleep is really important for our brains to properly rest and form new memories. Not getting this quality sleep can have consequences to our physical and mental health.

What’s more, recent research has shown that hitting the snooze button can extend the period of grogginess —called sleep inertia — we feel upon first waking. If you are woken towards the end of your sleep cycle, like when your alarm first goes off in the morning, your sleep inertia tends to last for up to 30 minutes as your brain adjusts to the waking-up process. But, when you hit the snooze button and go back to sleep, the next time you are woken by your alarm (usually just nine minutes later!) you are only at the start of a sleep cycle. And being jolted awake at this time can cause sleep inertia and grogginess that can last for up to four hours.

Want to become a morning person? Here are our top tips to making getting out of bed that little bit easier:

Get to bed earlier

Experts recommend all adults should be getting between 7-9 hours of quality sleep each night. Getting enough sleep will not only replenish your energy levels and set you up for a productive day ahead, but it can also help manage your hunger levels, maintain your immune systems and retain memory.

Don’t use your phone as your alarm

Ideally, we’d all wake up naturally every morning. But, let’s face it: most of us don’t have that luxury. Using your phone as an alarm clock usually means it’s next to you as you sleep, potentially buzzing or lighting up as notifications happen throughout the night, and interrupting your sleep. Sleeping with your phone next to you also lead to the temptation to keep looking at your phone in bed, which can make it harder to nod off. So, keep the phone out of the bedroom and instead use a clock alarm. Even better, placing it on the other side of your room will force you to get up and out of bed to turn it off, making it much easier to resist that snooze button!

Get outside

Going outside in the morning sun and getting that first breath of morning air is an invigorating, energizing way to wake up. Exposure to natural daylight first-thing can have a huge impact on your levels of serotonin and cortisol, leading to a better-regulated body clock, better quality sleep at night, and improved mood. So, take your morning coffee (or lemon water) out onto your porch for a few mins of early morning light. Or, if you’re feeling particularly energetic, use this period to get out for an early morning walk or run!

In moderation, meat is a great source of protein and nutrients. However, the downside is that most of us are eating much too much meat and dairy. This takes a nasty toll on our digestive and cardiovascular health, as well as our land, oceans and climate.

Launched by Paul, Mary and Stella McCartney in 2009, Meat Free Monday is a not-for-profit campaign which aims to raise awareness of the detrimental environmental impact of eating meat and to encourage people to help slow climate change, conserve precious natural resources and improve their health by having at least one meat-free day each week.

Going meat-free for just one day a week is an easy way to make a sizeable reduction in your annual meat consumption. Need a little push? Here are three key reasons why you should pledge to go meat-free on Mondays:

For the environment
You’ve heard it before, but we’ll say it again: meat production is a leading cause of climate change, water depletion, soil erosion and most other environmental problems. By choosing to eat our vegetables and grains directly, instead of using them to feed the animals we eat, uses far less land and water. This is one of the main reasons that the UN has said that a global shift towards a vegan diet is vital to save the world from the worst effects of climate change.
For more nutrients
On the one day you don’t eat meat, you’ll most likely be including higher amounts of other foods into your diet, like vegetables, beans, legumes, nuts and seeds. This means you’ll be giving your body a once-per-week boost of a wide range of nutrients, minerals and fibres you might not be getting otherwise.
For your heart health
We’ve long been told that diets high in red meat are linked to cardiovascular health. Now, new research is uncovering even more ways that red meat can increase our risk of heart disease, including heart attack and stroke — and it’s not just about fats and cholesterol. The Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine at Cleveland Clinic’s Lerner Research Institute has established that bacteria in the gut is also a key player in red meat’s effect on heart disease risk. So, do your heart a favour and reduce your red meat consumption today.

The best news is that eating clean and green has never been easier or more delicious! Here are just a few of our favourite meat-free meals:

Most parents will already know how important it is to limit screen time for kids. But have you ever stopped to think about what implications all that scrolling, clicking and watching might be having on your own health?

From work to socialising, and from phones to laptops to tablets, we rely on our devices for almost every aspect of our lives. The average Aussie adult spends 46 hours per week looking at a screen and checks their phone every ten minutes.

Too much screen time can contribute to a range of psychological and physiological problems. Rates of depression and anxiety in young people globally have risen by more than 70% in the past 25 years, while Dr Richelle Mayshak from Deakin’s School of Psychology believes the use of social media sites like Facebook and Instagram may be associated with feelings of inadequacy or reduced self-esteem.

What’s more, looking at a screen for extended periods of time can cause strained, dry eyes, blurred vision, and headaches. Studies have also linked heavy computer and smartphone use to increased sleeping issues, with the blue light from digital devices shown to suppress our melatonin: an important sleep-promoting hormone.

Switching off

Now, don’t get us wrong – we love technology! It makes our lives so much easier and has enabled us to connect with each other in a myriad of new ways. But, in the same way that we might limit our enjoyable-but-unhealthy food and beverage habits, it is important to take a mindful approach to the amounts of time we spend swiping and scrolling.

Switching off altogether is unrealistic (and unnecessary) for most of us. Finding your balance can be as simple as setting some boundaries and establishing more ‘screen-free’ hours into your day-to-day. Here’s a few ways to incorporate more time away from screens:

Make your bedroom a phone-free zone
Here, you should be focusing on calm and relaxation, spending quality time with loved ones, and getting 8+ hours of restorative sleep. But for many of us, smartphone and tablets play an all-too-prominent role in this space. According to a 2018 Deloitte survey, 11% of Australians check their mobile phones immediately when they wake up, 12% do the same before they go to bed, and a shocking 30% of Australians check their mobile phone in the middle of the night. Give your brain the break it deserves and leave your phone out of the bedroom, you’ll be amazed at how better you sleep
Take a screen-free lunch break
By the middle of the day, chances are you’ve already spent a solid three or four hours glued to a screen. Lunchtime is a great opportunity to give your eyes and brain a break by closing your laptop and switch your phone off. Instead, use this time to take a walk outside, catch up with a friend (in real life!), and eat your lunch while reading a book under a tree.
Digital detox weekend
Patchy network coverage used to mean that country weekends were typically screen-free, whether we liked it or not! But nowadays, you might need to be a little more deliberate about switching off that phone or leaving that laptop at home for a few days. A whole weekend off-the-grid might seem like a lot to begin with, but trust us, you’ll likely get used to it within a few hours and find yourself really enjoying the experience. Connecting with the world around us, and focusing on the ‘now’ is a lot easier when you’re not plugged into social media feeds. The best part is, you’ll return from your weekend away refreshed, recharged and with plenty of photos to upload.

Here we go again: Another year, another viral workout trend taking over your Instagram feed! From the first jogging craze to the 80s aerobics buzz, fitness has always been dominated by fads. But, while most of the weird, wild, and wonderful workouts don’t stick around longer than a few ‘refreshes’ on your content reel (we’re looking at you, goat yoga!) some bigger-picture trends do have an ongoing impact on the workout world.

Here are just a few of the top trends predicted to impact the way we sweat in 2019:

1. Shorter workouts

Um, yes, please. With the daily advances in scientific understanding around how our muscles and bodies respond to exercise, experts are predicting that our workouts are going to become even more focused on bang-for-buck. Different forms of exercise, short burst “sprints,” shorter HIIT classes, and quick functional sessions are likely to have us working harder — but for just 15mins, rather than those hour-long gym slogs.

2. Work and working out will merge

As the line gets ever blurry between work-and-life, we are likely to see the merging of workspaces with workout spaces. Think advanced gym studios taking residence within corporate office buildings, so suits can get their sweat on between meetings. Similarly, fitness studios might begin adding more areas where people can hop on their laptops and work, post-workout. Sound like you? Check out spacely’s list of Top Co-Working Spaces for Fitness Fanatics.

3. HIIT with a twist

HIIT itself might not be anything particularly new, but what we will continue to see this year is a rise in the HIIT hybrid classes. Think fusions between HIIT with traditionally slower, strength and stretch based workouts like yoga, pilates and dance, which are just a few of the 32 classes on offer at new fusion studio, Total Fusion.

4. Sports brands and team workouts

From model workouts, to training alongside your favourite athletes on the Nike Training Club app, the crossover between celebrity and fitness fads is here to stay! This year, we’re likely to see a rise in brands and sports teams collaborating with fitness facilities to bring workouts to their fan base — like the Dallas Cowboys-branded gym in Texas, and the Spartan gym in Miami

5. Mental health more important to fitness than ever

The past year saw mindful running take the world by storm, with Headspace and Nike teaming up to create their now famous guided runs. Meditating is no longer just for yogis; as we begin to learn more about the connection between our mental and physical wellbeing, you can expect to see even more meditation-based workouts hitting the mainstream.