Meet The Glowgetter Megan Hallett - author of The Happy Balance

By Megan Hallett @theplantbasedlondoner
29 April '19

Megan Hallett is a Superfood Superstar – nutrition coach, wellness enthusiast, recipe developer and content creator. Oh and did we mention she also writes a hugely successful blog called The Plant-Based Londoner? And that she has also written several Glowcation reviews? When we heard she had written The Happy Balance, a book about hormone health, we had to find out more.

Megan wrote The Happy Balance to explain how hormone health works. From painful PMS to stubborn acne, mood swings to bloating, these are all signs your endocrine system could do with a little love. But where do you start if you want to live your best hormone healthy life? We caught up with Megan to chat hormone health.

Why did you decide to write the book?

Megan I became obsessed with my own hormone health after a PCOS diagnosis left me feeling very confused. Living your best hormone healthy life consists of a number of different principles. From supporting your liver through its detoxification of metabolised hormones, to strategically balancing your blood sugar throughout the day. The food on your plate plays a vital role in both ensuring your body is not only producing the right quantities and quality of different hormones, but that they are sufficiently hitting the target cells to do the job they are supposed to.

The Happy Balance starts putting these puzzle pieces together, making hormone health a little bit less confusing for anyone suffering with various symptoms.

 

We all hear about the importance of balancing blood sugar for our hormone health, but what does that mean?

Megan “The easiest way to approach your blood sugar curve is to take it meal by meal.

Every plate of food in front of you should primarily focus on a quality protein source, then a healthy fat source.

These two macronutrients are essential is preventing an instant blood sugar spike. In excess this can stress out the body and heighten symptoms of both endocrine syndromes (such as PCOS and hypothyroidism) and your everyday annoyances, such as energy slumps.

You’ll also want to ensure you’re getting in a hefty portion of dietary fibre and greens.

This formula is especially important at breakfast time and the easiest way to go about it is a smoothie. You need to make sure it contains at least two tablespoons of fat (nut butters, avocado, MCT oil), a scoop of clean plant-based protein, two tablespoons of chia or flax seeds, and a handful of greens.

What else do you advise?

Alongside balancing blood sugar, it’s so important to focus on supporting your liver too.  In my book, I talk about my everyday super foods for hormone health, more often than not they’re super easy to pack into your meals. And I highly encourage eating seasonally as it is not only the best thing for our planet, but our bodies too.

One of the most reached for staples include liver-supporting leafy greens. Spinach, kale, cavolo nero, chard and mustard greens are all great sources of folic acid, magnesium and calcium.

What about seasons and gut health?

Megan Eating seasonally and locally means your veg is at the very peak of its performance and will nourish your body in the most amazing way.

Ensuring you’re on top of your gut health can do a world of good too. Regular bowel movements can be overlooked, but is absolutely essential to our hormone health. They are the way we dispose of any metabolised hormones that no longer serve us, preventing them from building up (which is the cause of oestrogen dominance, which is more common than you may think).

Take more time over your meals and establish a healthy environment in your gut with fermented and probiotic rich foods that feed the good bacteria, such as sauerkraut, kimchi and coconut yogurt.

What are your favourite recipes in the book?

Megan

My favourite recipes from the book have to be the chocolate heavy ones.

There is a sweet potato chocolate mousse made from only four ingredients, as well as a lovely nut-free salted chocolate tart. I love the ayurvedic dahl recipe, as it is something I make a good few times a week without fail. Finally,  the beetroot and Portobello stew with celeriac mash is a great hearty winter dish. The blueberry and almond loaf with lemon cashew icing is a real winner for me, as it’s low in sugar but ridiculously more-ish – I think I ended up eating the whole thing on the book shoot day!

Can we try your sweet potato chocolate mousse recipe at home?

Megan Sure! I might be biased, but there is a high chance this going to be the most more-ish, drool-worthy dessert you will ever make. With its thick and creamy consistency, it will take every ounce of your willpower to resist scraping it from the blender and straight into your mouth. It’s also not overbearingly sweet, allowing you to eat as much as your heart desires.

This particular chocolate mousse recipe is packed full of nourishing, nurturing ingredients such as skin saviours sweet potato (vitamin E) and raw cacao (antioxidants), plus rich coconut cream that promotes healthy hormone production.

Serves 2–4
Prep: 10 minutes, plus 1 hour soaking and 30 minutes chilling
Cook: 20 minutes

1 sweet potato (about 315 g/11 oz), peeled and chopped into small chunks
4 tbsp cacao powder
3 medjool dates, stoned (soaked for at least
1 hour in warm water)
400 ml (14 oz) can full-fat coconut milk (all the cream on top plus up to 4 tbsp of the coconut milk)

1. Steam the sweet potato until completely soft, in a steaming basket, this should take around 20 minutes or so.

2. Once soft, place the sweet potato in a food processor or blender along with the cacao, soaked dates and all of the cream on top of the can of coconut milk. Gradually add up to 4 tbsp of the thinner coconut milk until your desired consistency is reached. This may take a few minutes to achieve a smooth yet thick mousse.

3. Spoon the mix into ramekin dishes, dividing into either two hefty or four slightly smaller portions. Leave to set in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

To buy your copy of The Happy Balance click here. 

For more on Megan click here.

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