Hi, I’ve been taking Huel for a few months as of now, and also I’ve been taking multi vitamin, calcium pills, and flaxseed oil. I recently found Huel has some vitamins as well (the nutrition that I care about was protein when I started). So, I got curious if I don’t need to take additional vitamin pills if I take Huel.
What do you guys think?
Huel meets all the vitamin requirements for each meal you replace with it, so if you just replace one meal it is advisable to take additional vitamins. If you replace your whole diet with Huel, you won’t need any additional vitamins though.
You’ll probably be fine either way. Not much chance of accumulating too much vitamins while taking those moderate amounts.
But if you’re getting, I’d say, at least half of your total food intake from Huel, the vitamins there plus the natural vitamins from your other food are likely enough for your body.
Well first, what omikes says. It’s pretty hard to be deficient in the basic vitamins/minerals requirements nowadays. But if there are specialty supplements that you ascribe to you will want to add those into your diet. I take a CoQ10, Resveratrol, a special formulation for joints, additional omega’s, DHEA, additional C, black cumin seed oil, and a high potency vit/min supplement that’s high in anti-oxidants. But then, I’m a little weird that way. I’ve been studying the nutrition of aging and biochem/physiology for years and this is what I’ve settled into; it works for me and helps with some problems from years of heavy weightlifting and gymnastics. Huel won’t meet specialty needs like that, that you may have. But again, those of us that injest large quantities of weird things are probably a small minority. Rest assured however, Huel BY ITSELF is sufficient to meet the nutritional requirements of a human being; I see no reason why one could not sustain themselves on it indefinitely and remain perfectly healthy (a steak and beer would be nice once in a while though!).
Hey @jpark2320
Huel has been designed so it contains at least the recommended daily amount (RDA) of every vitamin and mineral required in the diet at a 2000 calorie Huel diet. You might find the following article interesting. (https://huel.com/pages/about-the-vitamins-minerals-in-huel).
Depending on how much Huel you have per day, you may need to get the remainder of your nutritional requirements for vitamins and minerals from your diet.
Thanks
Rebecca
I used to take a multivitamin and additional Vitamin D3 but since starting on Huel I’ve stopped taking it.
My Huel intake is Breakfast and Lunch during the weekday and breakfast on the weekend.
I’ve only been doing this for about a month but I did recently have my annual physical and my blood work shows I’m all good. My Vitamin D in in range but on the low end. I may get another blood test in a few months to see if anything has changed.
If you have insurance, your annual physicals should be free and blood-work is inexpensive.
It has added vitamins and minerals, so you should be getting enough. I would say do not take the multivitamin because it is unnecessary, and you might accidentally get megadoses of certain things. Further, scientific research does not support using a multivitamin. However, if you have a history of being vitamin D deficient, definitely continue to supplement with that. This product uses vitamin D2 so it can’t be vegan, and I believe it was formulated assuming that you would absorbs some from sunlight. Many foods are fortified with this form of vitamin D in the United States. If you don’t absorb it well from sunlight, and you weren’t getting enough in your diet before, that probably won’t change. They can tell from your blood work if you are getting to much. If it shows in your blood work that you are getting to much, you can stop supplementing or lower your dose. However, because this is a fat soluble vitamin, if you stop supplementing now, you could potentially deplete your stores. You don’t have to constantly be worried about it because apart from bloodwork, you can experience other symptoms of nutrient deficiency. You’ll probably be getting a more balanced diet when you eat Huel than you would if you were balancing the meals yourself. People keep talking about balance over time, but the truth is that because you like certain recipes and food, you are likely to continue leaving now certain vitamins and minerals over an extended time. People who balance their own meals get nutrient deficiencies all the time. Some people might say that if you had variety and your diet, this would not happen, but that is really hard and costly to do for a lot of people.
Huel is 100% vegan. The vitamin D in Huel is in the form of vitamin D2, ergocalciferol, rather than the D3 version which is typically non-vegan. Ergocalciferol is naturally produced from the fermentation of plant sources and, while D3 may be more bioavailable, the action of both once absorbed has been shown to be the same. The UK formula contains a plant-derived version of D3 from lichens, which could be a possible improvement to future versions of the US products.