Get Your Daily Serotonin Blast in Australia’s First Happiness Cafe

As everyone takes on paleo diets and embraces kale and cacao like they're going out of style, it can be easy to forget the real purpose of good nutrition. No, it's not to impress people with buzzwords or nom on superfoods as a fashion statement — it's about your health and happiness. In an effort to bring this message back to the fore, Australia's first "happiness restaurant" has opened in Melbourne.

With chemicals on their mind and delicious fruit on their plates, Serotonin Dealer has swung open the doors of their Madden Grove establishment, Serotonin Eatery, in Richmond. In case you missed that class in high school biology, serotonin is a chemical released by your body that produces the feeling of happiness. There a number of ways you can increase your serotonin levels — get a good night's sleep, maybe grab a little sunlight, cut down on your coffee and booze — but it's also got a lot to do with your food. Despite what you may secretly hope, a big binge at Maccas isn't going to make your body very happy. What we really crave is raw, chemical-free, plant-based foods.

This is what Serotonin Eatery will be focusing on. "I don't believe in diets," says founder Emily Arundel. "I believe that everyone should just be aware of what they are putting into their bodies and make the right choices to lead a healthy life."

Accordingly, Arundel's cafe will serve fresh juices, smoothies and fibre-rich treats for breakfast, lunch and weekly set dinners. But it won't stop there. With personal trainers and yoga instructors on site for daily morning classes, Serotonin Eatery will be an interactive, inclusive one-stop health shop — a welcome effort to curb Australia's climbing rates of obesity, depression and anxiety.

Find Serotonin Eatery at 52 Madden Grove, Burnley. Open Wed-Fri 7am-4pm and Sat-Sun 8am-4pm.

Images: Didriks via photopin cc, Serotonin Dealer.