Table of contents for Issue 220 in WellBeing

In 1901, sponge divers were diving off the wreck of a merchant ship that had sunk in the first century CE, 2000 years ago, as it passed between Crete and the Greek Peloponnese making its way toward Rome from Asia Minor (modernday Turkiye). The ship sank just off the Greek island of Antikythera. Among other items, the divers eventually noticed fragments of corroded brass. Subsequent decades of archaeological work have established that these brass pieces were part of an intricate device that has become known as The Antikythera Mechanism. The mechanism was originally encased in a timber box about 30cm high and is comprised of 37 gears connected to dials, pointers and handles. The gears all fitted into a space that was only 25mm deep and the entire mechanism was…

Omega-3 deficiency may raise women’s Alzheimer’s risk New research from King’s College London and Queen Mary University of London suggests that omega-3 fatty acid deficiency may help explain why women are more susceptible to Alzheimer’s disease than men. The study analysed blood plasma from 841 participants, including those with Alzheimer’s, mild cognitive impairment and healthy controls, examining 700 individual lipids using mass spectrometry. Researchers found a marked reduction of unsaturated fats, particularly omega-containing lipids, in women with Alzheimer’s compared to healthy women. In contrast, men showed no significant differences between healthy and affected individuals, indicating sex-specific lipid changes. Women with Alzheimer’s also had increased levels of saturated “unhealthy” lipids. These findings highlight the potential protective role of omega fatty acids in women’s brain health and suggest dietary intake from fatty…

Spinach (Spinacia oleracea) is an edible annual flowering plant thought to have originated in ancient Persia and then introduced to India and China where it was known as the “Persian vegetable”. The earliest written record was in China around 647 CE and, by the 12th century, spinach was a popular vegetable in the Arab Mediterranean. Its popularity in England and France in the 14th century was due to it appearing in early spring when there were few other vegetables available. Nutrition Spinach leaves contain a wide variety of nutrients including chlorophyll and carotenoids (precursors to vitamin A) and important eye nutrients such as lutein and zeaxanthin. Spinach is also an excellent source of vitamins A, C, K and folic acid — a 100g serving contains 20 per cent of the…

Songbirds have been studied for some time because, as adults, they can lay down new neurons as they learn new songs. This is a process called “adult neurogenesis”, and it was first described in the 1980s by a researcher named Goldman while studying neuroplasticity in canaries. Goldman and others soon identified that proteins such as brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) allow this to happen by causing progenitor cells in the brain to differentiate and produce neurons. These researchers showed that BDNF and another protein called Noggin (NOG) when given to adult mice would cause the same neurogenesis. The same process was then shown to operate in primates and, guess what, that includes humans. Just like canaries learning a new song, adult humans can lay down new neurons. We know that in…

We are drenched in external stimulation. The average adult now encounters thousands of ads each day, scrolls for hours on social feeds and — according to one study — consumes the equivalent of 34GB of information daily, the weight of a novel, before nightfall. News cycles, marketing messages and constant notifications blur into a background hum we mistake for normal. Yet intuition doesn’t shout. It arrives differently, as a single note rising above the static, the body’s way of saying here is your truth. It is, as Australia’s renowned psychic medium David The Medium describes, “An energetic reaction in the body … a deep knowing that cuts through chaos with clarity.” But what is this knowing, really — and where does it come from? Understanding intuition Beneath the whisper of…

Aries March 21–April 19 Symbol Ram Ruling planet Mars Catchphrase “I am.” Aries, 2026 is the year you reimagine yourself, regenerate your social profile and reinvent your modes of communication. With Saturn in Aries this year, fixing problems, helping and keeping up with the demands of your life may seem all-consuming. Welcome to hard work! Yet, Neptune is also in Aries for years, opening windows to your imagination, assisted by Uranus and Pluto. These Air/Fire harmonies fan your flames, extend your visionary capacity and reconfigure your repertoire. Venus visits Aries from March 6 to 30, firing up pleasant new connections, new priorities. At the Aries New Moon on April 17, regeneration gets real, with six planets aligned in Aries. From May 21 to June 17, you extend your creative potential,…

What if beauty could be as regenerative as nature itself? Circular beauty is reshaping the industry by turning waste into resource — from upcycled ingredients such as tomato seed oil to refillable packaging and conscious rituals that honour both skin and planet. At its heart, this movement reflects a shift in consumer mindset — away from excess and towards thoughtful, purposeful choices. Discover how this new wave of innovation is redefining sustainability and why the future of beauty lies in closing the loop. What is circular beauty? At its core, circular beauty reimagines the industry’s traditional linear model — buy, use, dispose — and instead asks how every stage of a product’s life can feed back into the cycle. It’s not just about minimising harm or reducing waste — it’s…

Just as plants sprout in spring, flourish in summer, harvest in autumn and rest in winter, our bodies and minds move through similar phases. In traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), wellness is encouraged by living in harmony with the natural rhythms of the environment around us. Each season carries its own energy, influencing important health factors, from the foods that nourish us to the way we rest and move. Living in harmony with these seasonal shifts can work to preserve balance, strengthen our resilience to illness, help balance emotions, improve digestion and enhance our overall energy, allowing us to feel more grounded, adaptable and well. These ideas were first recorded in classical texts such as the Huangdi Neijing, The Yellow Emperor’s Inner Classic, written more than 2000 years ago. This text…

There are moments in life when things end. Perhaps with warning, it appears as a whisper, a roar or a rumble. Maybe it sideswipes us out of nowhere on a mundane Tuesday … a thunderous clap, an explosion, a force decimating everything in its wake. It may be self-inflicted or thrust upon us: we quit, are made redundant, our relationship ends, the house is engulfed by (literal or metaphoric) flames. Or as the world changes at a lightspeed pace, becoming increasingly complex, so do we. We wake up one morning not recognising ourselves, a stranger in our bed, knowing deep in our bones what we must do. We must start again on purpose, with purpose. It’s time to whip off the ill-fitting pyjamas, strip the bed and replace with fresh…

Darwin has its heart-stopping “jumping croc” river cruises, but nothing excites me more than the idea of sleeping under the stars in a place more densely populated by estuarine crocodiles than anywhere else on earth. Just 150km from Darwin’s five-star waterfront comforts, the prodigious Mary River covets a landscape of mind-boggling size and beauty: lilyfringed lagoons and vast, verdant floodplains, dense monsoon forests and mangrove-fringed tidal reaches that lure big crocs in from the Arafura Sea. Safeguarded as a national park, the Mary River Wetlands gathers a fan club of anglers, walkers and wildlife watchers, but this sanctuary — I quickly discover — is a primitive place to dwell. Our family sets up a rustic home base at Shady Camp, stacking firewood and shaking out camp chairs, then heads for…

Postpartum can be a wild mix of beauty and exhaustion. We test how Land Lab’s Mother Dose supports recovery, replenishing energy with sciencebacked nutrition and Indigenous wisdom. After welcoming my second baby, Arley, into the world, I found myself in that beautiful, blurry and deeply depleting postpartum period. Between sleepless nights, an RSV diagnosis and the heart-exploding joy from watching my oldest hold my newborn, I decided it was time for extra support — in supplement form. This wasn’t my first postpartum rodeo, and I learnt the hard way that keeping my essentials — hydration, wholesome food and quality supplements — was key to staying grounded in the haze. I’d been careful with my nutrition throughout pregnancy but once the meal train stopped and the grandparents left, the realisation of…

It is hot. You are hot. The neighbour’s dog is hot. Every plant in your garden is hot. Some plants will delight in the heat. The bushfire summer of 2019 gave us our first crop of dates: I’d assumed our climate was too cold for dates, though the foliage tolerates frosts. The bananas did wonderfully, as did the Kei apples, which are not really an apple, but a type of desert plum from the dryer parts of southern Africa. The skins are tough, but inside the flesh is sweet and luscious, even as the roses wilt. Unless your garden is mostly sun loving, it will need some help to look its best, or even just survive. The obvious solution is water. Water yourself, and the kids, as well as the…

A young woman in her 30s presented at the clinic with a range of symptoms. She had been to several doctors and given various pain relief medications but had not found an answer that explained her symptoms, therefore no specific solutions had been suggested. As such, apart from pain relief for headaches, nothing had improved — and in fact was getting worse. She was a successful, entrepreneurial young woman who had set up and been running a very successful computer business for many years, but was finding that her health had been deteriorating so much she was having difficulty managing the business. She was very distressed with the changes. On discussing her symptoms, she had a range of interacting issues, which included severe headaches (the pain relief medication helped) and issues…

Between 541 and 530 million years ago, there was an explosion … of life. This was the beginning of the Cambrian era and it was a period of unrivalled evolutionary expansion when many of the phyla of complex organisms that exist today came into existence, but it was not the beginning of life, not by a long shot. LUCA is the acronym-based name given to the Last Universal Common Ancestor, the organism that is the ancestor to every living thing from bacteria to blue whales. There must have been a LUCA because all cellular life shares a genetic code for making proteins that is based on just 20 amino acids. All cellular organisms also use adenosine triphosphate (ATP) to store and release energy. The question is when did LUCA exist…

True wellness is a returning, a remembering that we are not separate from life but part of its glorious grand design. Last night, as I was putting my baby to sleep, I listened to Neil deGrasse Tyson’s interview with Steven Bartlett on The Diary of a CEO. In it, deGrasse Tyson explains that humans and mushrooms have more in common with each other than either we or mushrooms have with green plants. This means we are more like mushrooms than mushrooms are like plants! He goes on to add that there are molecules that have gone in and out of our lungs that are now in China being breathed by other people — and that those molecules can even be traced as far back as the time of Jesus. Jesus…

The effects of seasonal rhythms Animals, including humans, have evolved biological clocks that adjust physiology and behaviour — such as hormone release, metabolism, sleep, immune function and reproduction — to seasonal changes. Researchers at Nagoya University in Japan found that these seasonal shifts also affect drug metabolism, alcohol tolerance and carbohydrate processing. Studying rhesus monkeys over a year, they mapped the expression of more than 54,000 genes across 80 tissues and identified “seasonally variable genes”, which influence the effectiveness of many common medications. Mouse experiments showed that alcohol tolerance changes with the season: winter-reared mice recovered faster from intoxication, indicating higher vulnerability in summer. The study also revealed sex differences in carbohydrate metabolism, with female monkeys peaking in winter and spring, which may help extract energy from limited food but…

Trigger warning: This story contains themes readers may find upsetting. The third child, the overachiever, the girl with an autoimmune disease — of all the things I am, I never thought I’d be the domestic violence victim. It was a term I’d reserved for vulnerable women. I didn’t think victims looked like me. But abuse doesn’t care if you come from a loving family, if you’re outspoken or if you’re “not the type” to let a man treat you badly. Sometimes it seeps in, through jokes that sting, slammed doors put down to a bad day, compromises you make to keep the peace. Sometimes it’s sudden, a violent act you never saw coming. However, it finds you, naming it feels like swallowing glass. Suddenly, you are the statistic you never imagined…

Megan Dalla-Camina’s heart pummelled as she raised her hand among a sea of around 300 dinner guests. At 34 years old and as a successful marketing executive, Dalla-Camina was an attendee at a women’s leadership conference, where a male presenter, from what she describes as “one of the big business magazines”, was presenting the latest “Power 100 list”. But something was wrong. Something was missing. “Have you ever had one of those moments when you can feel yourself standing up and you’re like, ‘No, no, sit down!’” recalls Dalla-Camina, smiling. “I stood up and said, ‘What’s the definition of power used to compile this list?’ And he’s fumbling and stumbling to come up with an answer. Then I said, ‘And where are the women?’” It was — and arguably still…

Autoimmune diseases are sweeping the globe. Around one in 20 Australians has an autoimmune diagnosis, though this may be underestimated. Globally, their prevalence is rising by about 12.5 per cent annually, ranking autoimmune disease among the fastest-growing health concerns. Western medicine has historically emphasised treating physical symptoms of autoimmune disease, often through prescription drugs. While medication provides pain relief to many autoimmune disease sufferers, new research suggests we may be able to reverse and even heal autoimmune diseases. A key part of this approach for many people is improving mental wellbeing. Why inflammation goes rogue All autoimmune diseases involve inflammation. Inflammation is normally a short-term response to injury or infection, but when unresolved, it becomes chronic and attacks the body’s own tissues. This results in various symptoms, some common to…

Leafy Berry-Burst Summer Salad Serves: 6-8 ¼ purple cabbage, shredded or finely sliced1 cucumber, chopped in small squares2 x ½ punnet berries of your choice1 handful water spinach1 handful baby spinach1 handful baby romaine lettuce1 cup fresh mint leaves1 cup fresh basil leaves1 cup coriander leaves½ cup fresh mung beans1 tbsp sunflower seeds3 diced shallotsCracked pepper, to tasteSalt flakes, to taste Lemon Honey Mustard Dressing ½ cup avocado oil½ cup apple-cider vinegarJuice 1 lemon1 tbsp raw honey1 tsp freshly grated ginger1 tsp seeded mustard1 tsp Dijon mustardSprinkle salt & black pepper Optional Toppings: Goat’s feta and poached chicken Roughly chop the ingredients using a mix of fine and bulky chopping styles and combine in a large bowl. Add all the dressing ingredients in a jar. Shake until combined and pour…

What if your health didn’t demand more time, just smarter moments? Finding time for fitness can seem daunting but the secret to fitting fitness into your life isn’t about hours — it’s about intention. Research consistently shows that just 20 minutes of targeted exercise each day for 20 consecutive days can significantly boost your physical, mental and emotional wellbeing. This approach emphasises quality over quantity, making fitness accessible, sustainable and highly effective for avid wellness enthusiasts. Biologically, the human body is designed for efficient movement. Scientific studies reveal that even brief, consistent exercise sessions stimulate mitochondrial activity — the cell’s powerhouses — enhancing energy production and metabolic efficiency. Moreover, 20 minutes of moderate-to-high-intensity activity can activate the sympathetic nervous system, improving alertness and mood through the release of endorphins and…

For something savvy Big Small Talk Hannah Ferguson And Sarah Jane Adams In Big Small Talk, Hannah Ferguson and Sarah Jane Adams serve up a refreshing blend of politics, pop culture and personal insight. The intelligent duo refuses to treat any subject as too serious or too silly. Whether it’s unpacking major news headlines or dissecting TikTok trends, the hosts bring smarts, wit and real-life curiosity to each episode. What sets this podcast apart is its ability to speak to young listeners who want to understand the world and their place in it. The tone is conversational and just like chatting with friends, yet the content is grounded in critical thinking: big-picture systems, everyday culture and the ways they collide. If you’re someone who toggles between reading the news and…

Dear Rachel, I’m single and would like to meet someone however I feel exhausted by modern dating. Apps feel superficial, ghosting is constant and I’m starting to wonder if I’m the problem. How do I stay hopeful without feeling jaded? It makes complete sense that you feel exhausted. Modern dating is an environment that often works against the skills required for long-term, healthy relationships. Apps are built on speed, novelty and quick, surface-level impressions, the opposite of what predicts real connection. When you’re someone who values real connection, depth and authenticity, it’s easy to start internalising the mismatches as a personal failing. But this is probably not a “you” problem. It sounds like an environmental mismatch. When you step into the world of dating, it can be helpful to understand…

I’ve long been fascinated by the bright orange-yellow turmeric rhizomes stacked at my local supermarket. Turmeric (Curcuma longa) belongs to the Zingiberaceae family, along with ginger and galangal. The active compounds responsible for turmeric’s distinctive colour and medicinal qualities are polyphenolic curcuminoids, particularly curcumin. Curcuminoids have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anticancer properties and have also been shown to support liver health, lower cholesterol and reduce platelet aggregation. Beyond medicine, turmeric has long been used as a flavouring spice, dye and cosmetic. Traditional uses Traditionally, turmeric has been used to treat peptic ulcers, although, interestingly, one study on mice found that large doses of turmeric oil might cause gastrointestinal ulceration. It is also used to ease pain and inflammation in rheumatoid arthritis, and in Asian medicine to treat skin, lung, liver and…

Scorpio From January 7 to 17, Water-Earth harmonies involving the Sun, Venus, Mars and Jupiter become a vehicle to accelerate your hopes and dreams. A creative burst, support from others, unexpected help and rich insights will all fuel your desires through January and February. January 19’s New Moon seeds clearer communication, as Venus sweetens close connections. February 2’s Full Moon releases new vocational energy, while Venus enhances romance and creativity from February 10. A new family emphasis begins on February 17’s New Moon. Scorpio’s low profile is unlocked, to reveal hidden aspirations. A once-in-a-lifetime wakeup from Uranus is making its final call, for three months. All relationships can benefit. Sagittarius Happy family dynamics and healthy finances are top of your list as January 2026 unfolds. A grounded practical approach enables…

January Sydney Festival January 8–25, Sydney, AU Sydneyfestival.org.au Fringe World Festival January 21–February 15, Perth, AU fringeworld.com.au February Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month February, AU ovariancancer.net.au FebFast February, AU febfast.org.au REDFEB February, AU heartresearch.com.au/redfeb World Cancer Day February 4, Global worldcancerday.org Valentine’s Day February 14, Global Feastival February 13–15, Falls Creek, AU fallscreek.com.au/feastival March Endometriosis Awareness Month March, Global endometriosisaustralia.org The Water Challenge March, AU waterchallenge.org.au Jump to Cure Diabetes March, AU jdrf.org.au/get-involved World’s Greatest Shave March, Global worldsgreatestshave.com International Women’s Day March 8, Global internationalwomensday.com Brain Awareness Week March 10–14, Global  brainfoundation.org.au/brainawareness-week/ What we’ve been up to Precious moments Kate has returned to the WellBeing desk after a juicy, nourishing and long maternity leave welcoming her beautiful baby boy, Arley. Deep dive Editor Kate recently attempted (read: struggled) her first…

You will have heard the saying, “Never look a gift horse in the mouth.” It’s an ancient saying, dating back at least to the writings of St Jerome in the fourth century CE. I don’t know if Jerome had any especial equine knowledge, but I do know that although I’ve heard this saying a thousand times, I had never really thought about it until recently. One of the things that I do when I am not writing The Spoonful is to churn out a podcast or two. Podcasts are like puppies, every second person has one and you think to yourself, “Hey, I’d like one, too.” I have a producer who I work with, I have identified him by telling you that, but for the charade of anonymity here, let’s…

Bacteria breathing electricity Researchers led by Rice University have discovered how some bacteria survive by producing electricity instead of using oxygen. The study found that these microbes rely on compounds called naphthoquinones to move electrons out of their cells in a process known as extracellular respiration. This mechanism allows bacteria to thrive in oxygen-deprived environments, such as the human gut or deep-sea vents, functioning like tiny living batteries. Researchers paired advanced computer modelling with laboratory testing, demonstrating that bacteria grown on conductive surfaces could keep thriving while releasing electricity. This finding resolves a longstanding mystery in microbiology and suggests that this survival strategy may be widespread in nature. The findings have major implications for biotechnology and clean energy — from improving wastewater treatment to creating bioelectronic sensors for medicine, pollution…

Nightmares are so common that they have slipped into our descriptive lingo. “The traffic was a nightmare”, “My hair is a nightmare”, and “God, Kevin is a nightmare in meetings!” are just a few examples of the way you have probably used the word to describe some of life’s events. The fact that the word nightmare is so common in our parlance is reflective of how pervasive the phenomenon is in our sleep. According to the Australian Sleep Foundation, between 10 and 50 per cent of children have nightmares, while between 2.5 and 10 per cent of adults experience them. Nightmares are prolific in both our experience and our language, so it is worth thinking about what they are, where they come from and how to remedy them. Dark dreaming…

WellBeing reader Gift Mbay used herbs, acupressure and breathwork to heal his chronic migraines. I still remember the morning I awoke to a migraine so fierce it felt like my skull was splitting open. It had been building quietly overnight — a dull pressure behind my eyes — and then it erupted into blinding intensity. Light became a razor, sound a cacophony and every breath sent shockwaves through my temples. I collapsed onto the cool tile floor, praying for relief. For more than a decade, that kind of suffering dictated my existence: missed gatherings, abandoned plans and the constant shadow of dread. Prescription medications offered temporary reprieve, but their benefits came at a hidden cost. Grogginess clouded my mornings and rebound headaches arrived like uninvited guests when the drugs wore off.…

Motivation, resilience and confidence are the byproducts of your willingness to simply act, when that is the last thing you want to do. In the same way turning on the ignition kick-starts the engine of a car, we all need that initial boost to inject energy into our being to speed toward our goals. The “why” or reason for our mission could be seen as the firing gun at the starting line and while that bang is the essential shot to the system, the follow-through is what it takes to last the distance. Motivation operates on both conscious and unconscious levels, compelling or activating behaviours and responses where levers range from biological needs, material demands or desires, personal aspirations or ideological values, as well as social influences or pressures. These…

Red light therapy has moved from the world of biohackers into mainstream wellness. It promises benefits for skin vitality, pain relief and whole-body rejuvenation. Clinics and spas offer a range of treatments and at-home devices are becoming widely popular. With the growing buzz also comes confusion on what works and what’s just marketing hype? Knowing what the science supports can help you make an informed choice about the place of red light therapy in your wellness routine. Cellular power Red light therapy (RLT), also called photobiomodulation, is a treatment that uses specific wavelengths of red and near-infrared light to interact with the body’s cells. “RLT uses specific wavelengths to boost cellular energy, reduce inflammation and promote healing,” says Reine DuBois, Integrative Naturopath and Clinical Director of The Health Lodge and…

Dance therapy, also known as dance movement therapy (DMT), has become a powerful tool to improve mental health. It combines the physical advantages of exercise with the emotional outlet of creative expression. Though people have used dance for healing and bringing communities together throughout history, experts started to recognise it as a formal therapy mode in the mid-20th century. Now, it stands out as a strong but often ignored way to boost mental wellbeing. You don’t need any prior experience to try it, you just need to be open to moving your body. The science of dance and the brain When we dance, our brains light up in ways that scientists are still trying to understand. Brain scans reveal that dancing turns on many parts of the brain at once,…

“What started as a small experiment quickly became a ritual we both looked forward to.” Face Dunk takes the centuries-old practice of coldwater therapy and reimagines it for modern life. More than a skincare step, it’s a mindful reset — a simple, sensory practice that grounds the body, calms the mind and leaves the skin glowing. We sat down with Face Dunk father-and-daughter duo, Ian and Isla Roche, to find out more. Tell us, what is Face Dunk? Face Dunk is a modern take on an age-old ritual. At its core, it’s an ice facial designed to refresh the skin and calm the mind but reimagined with science and care. We’ve created a way to experience the benefits of cryotherapy at home without the shock or the mess that usually…

Have you ever enjoyed a meal so much that you want to consume it repeatedly? I like to call these my hyper-fixation meals. These are the kinds of meals that feel comforting and familiar, the sorts of dishes that you tend to make and eat repeatedly for days or even weeks. Hyper-fixation meals have become a talking point in wellbeing circles lately due to their soothing role in everyday life. In my nutrition clinic, one of my foundational principles is to focus on diversity when it comes to food and, in particular, optimum gut health. While dietary diversity has brought with it so many benefits for your health, the practice of returning to a favourite meal can also bring with it a sense of reassurance and restoration. I often see…

I don’t think I’m the only one who’s enthralled by watching sports. Grace, power, courage and guile expressed in extraordinary acts of transcendent athletic brilliance. Our transient admiration for these moments of superhuman execution might even allow us to merge with these exceptional athletes, a psychological state that Freud theorised as “our embrace of the superego”. This might, in part, explain our fascination for these seemingly magnificent humans. In 2026, all our doubts and ambivalence about sporting achievements are about to be put to bed. Enter the Enhanced Games, where athletes will be able to juice themselves up to the gills without sanction and without being required to tell us what they’re taking. The plan is to stage an Olympic-style event in May 2026, fittingly in Las Vegas, where athletes who…

Summer Vegetables Asparagus, beans, capsicum, celery, chillies, cucumbers, eggplant, lettuce, okra, onions, peas, potatoes, radish, sweetcorn, watercress and zucchini. Fruit Apricots, avocados, bananas, blackberries, blueberries, cherries, figs, grapes, melons, limes, lychees, mangoes, mangosteens, nectarines, oranges, papaya, passionfruit, pawpaw, peaches, pears, pineapple, plums, rambutans, raspberries, red and black currants, strawberries and tomatoes.…