Mental health – Do we really need to talk about it?

Well, actually… yes we do. We REALLY need to talk about it.

It’s fair to say that talking about mental health does not necessarily come naturally to most people. In fact, it is quite an unpleasant topic to bring about. However, the chances are you can relate to this issue either by being personally affected by a mental illness or by knowing someone affected by it (e.g. family member, friend, work colleague or classmate).

Last week, Triple J’s Hack program tackled this issue and showed the importance of being open to it. Did you know that the highest percentage of mental illness is in people aged 18-24 years old? That clearly speaks for itself and shows that we should feel comfortable and open to talk about it, especially at university.

If you did not get a chance to listen to the show last week, don’t worry, you can catch up on all of the talks by listening to the podcasts online (highly recommended). Tom Tilley, Hack’s radio presenter, took a very smart approach to discussing the topic (he is just the best). It is super engaging and really interesting, so have a listen!

Click here to access Triple J’s Podcasts.

Immune-Booster Juice Recipe

Feeling low on energy? Need a bit of a boost for your immune system?

Here is a perfect juice recipe full of Vitamin C and lots of other good nutrients to put a smile on your face and help you get on with your day!

Ingredients

2 oranges
1/2 lemon
Piece of fresh ginger (start with a small piece and you can always add more after tasting your juice)
1/4 tsp of turmeric powder – preferably organic
1/4 tsp of ginger powder – preferably organic (optional)
1/4 cup of ice (optional)

Method:

Blend the orange, lemon and fresh ginger in a juicer.
Add in the turmeric and ginger powder. Taste, and decide whether you want to add more.

NB: If you don’t have a juicer, squeeze the orange and lemon by hand and cut the ginger into very fine pieces and simply add it to your juice (or you can omit the fresh ginger altogether and simply replace it with ginger powder instead).

Get some banana bread into you!

Who can say no to banana bread? Really… it is just the best.

But did you know that traditional banana bread recipes use A LOT of sugar which is so unnecessary given the fact that bananas themselves are naturally really sweet. We have come up with our own healthy(ish) banana bread recipe which is low in sugar and also has dairy-free and gluten-free alternatives for those with allergies. So go ahead and try it out!

Tip #1: banana bread is best served toasted with a side of butter and accompanied by a hot drink like a cup of coffee or English breakfast tea.

Tip #2: freeze individual slices of banana bread which you can pull out, toast in a sandwich toaster and enjoy as a nice study treat whenever you need a bit of a kick!

Dry Ingredients:

¾ cup of plain flour (use buckwheat flour for a gluten-free alternative)
½ cup of almond meal
1 ½ teaspoon of baking powder
½ teaspoon of baking soda
1 teaspoons of cinnamon
1 tablespoon of sugar (you can use more if you want, maybe ¼ or up to ½ cup)
Pinch of salt

Wet Ingredients:

3 very ripe bananas (make sure they are very ripe – as in pretty yucky looking – because you will get most of the sweetness from these bad boys)
2 large eggs
¼ cup of milk (use nut milk for a dairy-free alternative)
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup of melted butter (¼ cup of melted coconut oil if you are dairy-free)

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees and line a rectangular loaf tin with baking paper.
In a large mixing bowl, combine all the dry ingredients.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, vanilla extract, coconut oil and apple cider vinegar.
Mash up your bananas and then add them to the wet mixture. Mix well.
Add the wet mixture to the dry and fold through until combined.
Pour the mixture into the loaf tin and chuck in the oven for 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.