Huel - Any experiences

Why, just eat food. Better and/or less.

Sainsburys (and possibly other supermarkets) sell it so suggest trying a bottle or two from there.
I found it really didnt agree with me (stomach ache/cramps) but have seen some claims you need to slowly increase consumption. Didnt taste good enough to try though.

Yuck is all I can say. And why?

We use it sometimes. Handy for lunch when we just cba to make something. It's easy and you know how many calories etc... you're getting. I wouldn't use it for every meal or anything but I do like it. I don't eat much meat and very little diary so things like quick sandwiches tend to be pretty boring anyway.

It's the noise you make when you "take" it. Just eat better, I've gone for a raw veg smoothie. Basing it around gazpacho.

I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes following COVID for a third time, so i had to lose weight quickly to place it back into remission.

I used the Huel Edition Black coffee caramel flavour meal replacement powder as a meal twice a day, 40g of plant based protein but only 18g carbs, it was great at what i needed if for, to be able to count calories easily, to have a high protein, low carb diet and have a complete macro/micro nutrients in diet.

Always mix with almond milk, it is so much nicer than with water and put in blender or similar.

Had that for breakfast and lunch, then proper low carb meal at tea.

No i have shed the weight, but still need to keep a lowish carb lifestyle, I use their protein powder a lot, the Complete Protein vanilla flavour which is 20g protein and no carbs, i mix it with 50g of jumbo oats, sprinkle of chia seeds and 150ml almond milk and leave it overnight, add some greek yoghurt and berries and it has fuelled many a 100+ mile ride.

It doesn't replace a good diet and it is expensive, but it is an easy way of knowing exactly what you are putting in your body, handy to take to work too.

It's by the far the healthiest 'quick thing' you can grab in seconds. Not everyone can be or wants to be a chef preparing super healthy meals three times a day. I mean well done, if you do, but besides the work of actual prep it takes planning, skill and knowledge to do. And sometimes that's just more thing that sometimes people just cannot handle. So if it's a choice between Huel and a sausage roll, which is better?

Don't pile onto threads like these being all superior. It really grates tbh.

yup, lived on it during work, 3 meals a day for perhaps the last 6 or 7 years, cheaper than lunchtime shop runs
balanced
i have the shakes for breakfast and afternoon, nad one of hte hot meals at lunch, 1200 cals and pretty much smash whatever i fancy to eat after that at home

A mate at work did it and he did shed a lot of fat / bit of weight. He was a fit guy to start with but at 50 got himself almost to the point of looking shredded as well as still being able to bench 100kgs / deadlift 150kgs etc.

He found he followed it to the book for a while then just used the lunchtime shake mainly - had a porridge breakfast (50grams of oats with water) and sensible normal food evening meal.

He’d tried Herbalife and it messed with him too much digestion wise. My wife does a bit of Herbalife but she can’t stick to 2 meals a day replaces with shakes - she just ends up feeling too hungry.

Just as another idea I’ve had a lot of success with the ‘Lose It’ app which helps you track calories. It really makes me think about what I’m eating / doing.

You could use an app like that (free version is fine) and use something like hurl as your lunch so you keep that meal quick and easy / controlled calories.

I then changed from standard (sugary) breakfast cereals to 60 grams of oats made with mostly water. To make it taste more interesting I found skinny food company breakfast syrups are useful. Make it taste better but zero calories.

Another tip is a good snack when you want something sweet is sugar free jelly. Almost zero calories.

When I was consistently doing the travelling part of my travelling salesman’s role, it was hand to have in the car if lunch was difficult to find. But whole foods are much better IMO.

I did try it at home but it left me hungry enough to want a sandwich afterwards which kinda defeated the object.

Someone at our club used it when he turned 50 and decided he needed to use the timber,along with riding his bike.

5-6 years on he's half the man he was and getting national level podium places in his age group at CX

Tinned soup works pretty well for me for lunch. Loads of variety and it's cheap at 50p a tin. Sainsburys have a really good range of own brand soups, particularly the Love your veg range. Get a microwaveble mug with a lid on and your good to go (providing you've got a microwave!)

I really rate it. Have used the Black Edition (various flavours) for breakfast most days for years now. Actually quite like the taste! It's not even that expensive, about a quid a serving I think, way cheaper than grabbing a meal-deal etc if that's the alternative for lunch and as said, very quick to prepare.

But whole foods are much better IMO

Proper food far more interesting. Life is too short. Ride more is the answer.

Ride more is the answer.

You can't outride a bad diet.

It is not proper food. Its an expensive and nutionally poor way of reducing calories

Its an expensive and nutionally poor way of reducing calories

i thought the whole point of huel was that it wasnt nutritionally poor?

my fave lunch - mama tum yum noodles - is defo nutritionally poor!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0017v6v

Radio 4 were cautiously complementary.

When you eat food a big part of the nutritional jigsaw is emzymes that are produced when chewing, Huel may have all the nutrition in it but most of it just comes out the other end.
More meaty goodness in a sausage roll.

The point of enzymes produced whilst chewing is to help break up lumps of food. If you’re eating lumpy Huel, you’re doing it wrong 😂 Plenty of enzymes etc in the digestive system to break Huel down. I will concede there’s more meat in a sausage roll though, given that Huel is vegan 🙄

and if the £1 a meal is correct, not that expensive either. Might give it a go.

and if the £1 a meal is correct

id argue, not nutritionally poor, and not a way of reducing calories
just a simple way of managing them, at approx 400 cal per serving
this is not meal replacement
all it is is vegetables and grains dehydrated at the end of the day.

It's fine, I had the vanilla'y one mixed with a bit of instant coffee every day for a while. Lost a fair bit of weight and it was fine. Tasted like coffee milkshake.

The only thing I'd say is the texture was slightly gritty due to the seeds etc (though mine was an older version than the current one).

For the "why not just eat less", yes, true, but for whatever reason I found it easier to resist the temptation to top up my lunch with crisps or whatever knowing that I should only be having the shake.

I use it a few days a week for lunch when I can't be bothered to make something or I'm in the office for my one day a week. Started using it to control my salt intake, amazing show much salt is just in the bread with a sandwich even before the fillings. Mixing Huel up in a blender and/or leaving in fridge for a few hours really helps reduce any powder/gritty texture.

Use it for lunch, when I first started gave me chronic shits, turns out I was a little sensitive to the flavourings, went plain and just blend in fruit, been banger ever since.

It is not proper food. Its an expensive and nutionally poor way of reducing calories

Do you actually know what's in it?

I don't drink it, and have no plans to - it doesn't appeal - but I don't like people making ill informed statements.

Tinned soup works pretty well for me for lunch.

I like soups but there's nowhere near enough calories in a tin of soup for me. One of those 500ml pots of some hearty pulse based soup from the fridge is much better but they cost more. And that's basically what Huel is anyway.

I'm in; have to buy 2 bags so have ca 35 meals worth at £1.70ish; could have saved 10% on that by subscription.

Lunch meal currently is a Tesco meal deal at £3.50 so I'll be slim, rich, basically irresistible!!

Their subscription business model and human nature means that there's usually a steady supply of unopened bags on Ebay for a fraction of the normal price.

I use it for lunch when I'm in the office, otherwise it's a filthy sausage and egg sarnie from the snack van down the road, I'm a bit of a lost cause when it comes to healthy eating.

I use it 4 days a week for lunch usually with some fruit. Tried the hot meals one once, rice based, but not very palatable, more like rice soup than the tasty dish on the packaging.
I've not tried there newer pasta meals which look quite tasty, so sticking with the black edition powder for now. As mentioned tastes better made with oat/almond milk and chilled before drinking.

I’ve not looked heavily into it but if constantly eating processed food is bad, how is this good?

How about just eating normal food instead?

I’ve not looked heavily into it but if constantly eating processed food is bad, how is this good?

I don't think anyone except Huel is suggesting it's perfect. Point is that it's really quick and easy, and if you can't manage real food it might be a good option. As in Kryton's example, fairly sure it's better than a Ginster's pasty from a petrol station.

I bought Huel Black Edition Strawberries & Cream plus another flavour I can't remember + a box of bars. The Strawberries & Cream is just vile, OK I'm a bit of a fussy eater but I couldn't force myself to drink it - the initial taste is reasonable but it's got a weird after taste and the consistency when just mixed with water via shaking in the bottle (as per instructions) is horrid. I can see whizzed up in a blender and if made with almond milk or something it's probably palatable.

The bars I got half way through one and threw them out

I've not tried the other flavour drink yet (mostly as it will be confirmation I wasted £90 if I can't stomach it either). I might try it using a blender and some fake milk variant though.

I think the concept itself is fine, yes it's expensive and yes with a bit more effort you can achieve the same with natural ingredients but the whole point is I'm lazy and plan poorly so having something reliable in the cupboard I can make for lunch to hopefully stop me snacking on biscuits instead would be a bonus

if constantly eating processed food is bad

This is the ingredient list for a Huel Powdered Cinnamon Swirl

Flour, Pea Protein, Ground Flaxseed, Brown Rice Protein, Tapioca Flour, Natural Flavourings, Sunflower Oil Powder, Micronutrient Blend*, Medium-Chain Triglyceride Powder (from Coconut), Stabiliser: Xanthan Gum, Acerola Cherry Powder, Emulsifier: Sunflower Lecithin, Kombucha Powder, Sweetener: Sucralose, Bacillus Coagulans.

This is how Ultra Processed Foods is defined (by the Beeb)

Long list of ingredients, some of which you can't recognise as food, or aren't commonly found in a kitchen at home. High fat or sugar content (Huel TBF do better than most here) and aggressive marketing and branding.

There's quite a few studies that have shown that eating UPFs is not great long term, and there's quite a bit of study about the weight re-gain people experience after stopping using meal-replacement diets.

I don't think I'd want to have one everyday.

yup the pasta's are pretty good.. the macarno cheese has a nice savoury depth to it, and ive recently started on the chicken (flavour) and mushroom which is good.
the rice based can be hit and missgetting the right ratio.. especially as the powder which makes the sauce tends to settle in transit...
just checked my order history, ive been living off the stuff in work since Jan 2016.
definitely not for everyone, and some flavours definitely dont work out for everyone. It will also make you quite regular...

Long list of ingredients, some of which you can’t recognise as food, or aren’t commonly found in a kitchen at home.

I don’t think I’d want to have one everyday.

there’s quite a bit of study about the weight re-gain people experience after stopping using meal-replacement diets.

I don't think Huel is meant for weight loss, but for "busy people on the go".

Well quite. I don't.

I agree with you, there's processed (butter and porridge oats for instance; are both processed food) but then there's shit straight out of Dexter's Laboratory. The problem with Huel (and things like it) is that while there may be a long list of macro-nutrients, whether your body can take them up - because they've been processed, is another matter all together. The evidence seems to suggest not.

So what are you eating?

And your example of bread: you can make it with four ingredients - Processed, but add in all the shelf stabilisers and fats and sugars into supermarket bread (made via the Chorleywood method) - Ultra processed

there are several “levels” of processed foods, some are much worse than others.

This. Most food is processed. Or as it's often referred to, "cooked." It's not inherently bad for you, what's unhealthy is if they're loaded with sugar and salt or lard. Do we suppose burgers just plop out of cows when we open them up, or that spaghetti is harvested from pasta bushes?

This is how Ultra Processed Foods is defined (by the Beeb)

Badly?

My sister lived on nothing but processed “food” via a nasal tube for three months. Ok, she didn’t have any say but it works. The point is it’s balanced with known nutritional content. Huel will be the same.

All that marketing needs to be paid for. Son 2 tried it for a while. Nice T shirt. I’ve had it a couple of times. For lunch it’s fine. Like the idea of adding almond milk.

for “busy people on the go”.

I believe that can be a side-effect, yes.

And your example of bread: you can make it with four ingredients – Processed, but add in all the shelf stabilisers and fats and sugars into supermarket bread (made via the Chorleywood method) – Ultra processed

... so what?

 or that spaghetti is harvested from pasta bushes?

What, wait, are you telling me that the documentary on this VERY subject was peddling falsehoods? To whom do I complain?

yup processed needs to be taken with a literal pinch of salt..

a free range chicken slaughtered and its meat butchered and made into bread covered nuggets is very different to a monstrously grown anti-biotically fuelled chicken which has its meat removed by scraping and chemical actions and made into a chicken nugget.

What, wait, are you telling me that the documentary on this VERY subject was peddling falsehoods? To whom do I complain?

Esther Rantzen, if memory serves.

yup processed needs to be taken with a literal pinch of salt..

I'm totally stealing that. 😂

… so what?

Eating ultra processed food for a long time is associated with some quite suboptimal conditions and outcomes. Scientists have said

Eating ultra processed food for a long time is associated with some quite suboptimal conditions and outcomes. Scientist have said

"Associated" or actually proven? What conditions? Which scientists?

People say lots of things, many of which are followed by "do your own research" or, pertinent to STW, "makes you think." You might well be correct, but you're going to have to do better than "yes but chemicals" or that really long word that's a fear of long words.

awwww, do I have to?

Well, no. But that's generally how science works.

Here's on from NLoM so actually not total shit

They say in the abstract:

of 43 studies reviewed, 37 found dietary UPF exposure associated with at least one adverse health outcome. Among adults, these included overweight, obesity and cardio-metabolic risks; cancer, type-2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases; irritable bowel syndrome, depression and frailty conditions; and all-cause mortality. Among children and adolescents, these included cardio-metabolic risks and asthma. No study reported an association between UPF and beneficial health outcomes. 

I haven't got time to read the article until later but what does 'exposure' mean? I mean, any reasonable person would I think assume if you have an UPF meal once then your outcome will not be anything like someone who survives on microwave meals permanently.

Is me replacing my Tesco meal deal with a Huel 3 or 4 lunchtimes a week going to be a significant difference. I'll still be having porridge or a couple of eggs for breakfast and most of the time a 'raw ingredients' meal at dinner time?

They say in the abstract:

Save me the work and tell us what the definition of 'ultra processed' is please?

It's not something I'd buy, but have considered it many times, because the marketing is relentless.
It's always tempting, more convenience in life always is, and that is what is being sold. It isn't 'better' than good food, that's a pointless debate. They're selling convenience, and its heavily marketed that way.

I'm not a chef, but I am busy, but everytime I consider this product I can't allow myself to do it, why? Because convenience/easy/lazy is the root cause of my problems (especially diet), so why would I encourage that? It takes no more planning, effort, skill to throw a salad and some tuna/chicken in a box each day for my work lunch, than to buy and prep Huel. After work twice a week I drop in on the supermarket to pickup the few fresh things I need. I prep the night before. I get up slightly earlier to take the lunch out of my fridge, put it in a 'personal' sized cool box, and take it with me to work.

I may or may not be eating better by eating real foods (I genuinely don't know, or care) but I am practising good habits, and a bit of personal discipline, daily. And I can't 'buy' that.

I genuinely believe a constant drive to make life 'easier' is the cause of a lot of the problems in our lives/society, and I'd be a bloody hypocrite if I didn't question my judgement when considering certain products. I'm no saint, I am lazy as ****, but I'm trying to resist that.

Just my take, and I fully respect other people have different opinions. We're all grown ups, make up your own mind, and remember to be grateful for the fact we have the luxury of choice. 🙂

Save me the work and tell us what the definition of ‘ultra processed’ is please?

It's in the introduction, 4th paragraph down starting with NOVA.

This is a long read, I'll come back to it.

... it's probably also worth a separate thread rather than derailing this one any further.

Not everyone can be or wants to be a chef preparing super healthy meals three times a day. I mean well done, if you do, but besides the work of actual prep it takes planning, skill and knowledge to do. And sometimes that’s just more thing that sometimes people just cannot handle. So if it’s a choice between Huel and a sausage roll, which is better?

Don’t pile onto threads like these being all superior. It really grates tbh.

Abso-bloody-lutely. Drives me nuts this. You see it whenever someone starts a thread on vitamins, supplements etc. The same blowhards will instantly pipe up with IT'S A CON, YOU GET EVERYTHING YOU NEED FROM YOUR FOOD. Maybe we need to add a sticky/disclaimer to such threads saying something like "we assume the OP and interested contributors to this thread are not eating a balanced healthy diet".

My old gran was a sod for this, as wise as she was. I remember telling her I was trying Milk Thistle in an attempt to 'clean up' after years of being a big fat party animal. To which she predictably declared that it was a con and that I get everything I need from my diet. Had great fun later winding her up looking through the local kebab house menu for Milk Thistle Kebab and chips...

I've been using the hot meal Huel for around a year and whilst I may have it for WFH lunch only once or twice a week, I wouldn't choose to be without it.

I find it most beneficial on those days when I have a number of Teams meeting and don't have the wherewithal to organise a 'proper' lunch. It stops me going to the cupboard or 'fridge throughout the day a snacking on crapper stuff.

Can recommend the curry favour and the chilli. I always use weight to prepare.

Used huel a few years ago.
Liked it.
Liked the way it filled me up and didn't eat crap.
Used it for a few months

My guts hated it. Farts like nothing else. Cramps. Trots.

Just can't tolerate it.