I am currently considering a transition in my diet away from solid foods and towards a near complete Huel diet. I was initially attracted to the Huel Black Edition given the macro-split that favors protein over carbohydrates. However, when I looked at the heavy metals report for Huel Black edition, I noticed that the concentration of Cadmium was 0.2 mg/kg. Hypothetically, if I (a 90kg man) eat 2 servings of Huel every day, then I would exceed the tolerable weekly intake (TWI) for Cadmium recommended by the EFSA, just from the 14 weekly servings of Huel alone. There is significantly less cadmium in your other products (3x less). Is there any way to ensure that Huel Black meets the same quality standards? Calculations and reference for EFSA below:
https://efsa.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.2903/j.efsa.2012.2551
I had no idea what cadmium was till now. Hmm 10-30 year half life from a product that gets stuck in your kidneys/liver… wow that’s terrible.
Some things i prefer not to know about. Im probably already fucked with my previous diet choices
Small amounts of heavy metals are present in nearly all foods and drinks, naturally occurring within the soil in which some ingredients are grown. These amounts can also come from the animal feed that animals consume and then transfer to foods.
As Huel Black Edition is higher in pea protein, brown rice protein and flaxseed this is where the extra cadmium vs v3.0 is coming from.
In 2014, the FDA published a five-year study of heavy metals found in commonly bought grocery store items. This study showed that the heavy metals arsenic, cadmium and lead were prevalent in a vast amount of food items. It’s likely that you’re consuming levels higher than what you would get form Huel every day. Here are a few examples:
Essentially it’s not really an issue. If you feel, personally, that it is you can reduce your Huel intake. However, it’s very likely that switching to other foods will have little impact on your dietary heavy metal intake.
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