Digestive Issues

In my house we now have a phenomenon we refer to as “Huelarrhea”. Need I explain more?
Hopefully I will adjust, I’m only on day 4. And as I was chronically, uh, irregular before, I don’t mind so much. Is anybody having this issue after the initial adjustment period?

How often are you drinking?

Just once a day, usually for lunch. Today I tried it with olive oil, because I read in the forums that could help (so far so good). They also leave me starving after an hour.

How many scoops are you using in your Huel shakes? It’s possible you aren’t getting enough calories. As for the digestive issues, those should subside as your body adjusts to the dietary change. We recommend starting with one Huel a day or even half a Huel a day and letting your body ease into having bigger, more regular servings.

Are you using UU or vanilla? Vanilla has sucralose in it and does terrible things to me and some others. Kinda like olestra chips from the 90’s.

Ooooh. I am using the vanilla version, that might explain both the stomach issue and why I am starving an hour later. Thanks for the heads up on that.

It took about 3 days for my body to adjust. Most people, including myself, don’t eat the proper amount of fiber in our diets. So when we switch to a product that actually has a healthy amount of fiber, it can be a bit of a shock to the intestines.

Just my 2 cents on the Sucralose: Yes, Sucralose does not absorb and stays in the gut. In high amounts, it can generate an osmotic laxative effect, drawing in water to the intestines and promoting loose stools. However, Sucralose is like 500 times more sweet than sugar, so only very small amounts are needed. And Vanilla Huel itself is not very sweet, so I estimate that only a few miligrams are needed. (To get the same amount of sweetness, you’d need to use grams of sugar.) Probably not enough to cause diarrhea.

Sugar alcohols, which Sucralose is not, can be a problem. Sorbitol is the most common. These are also sweet and do not absorb so they do not have calories, per se. But since sugar alcohols are 0.8 times as sweet as sugar, a lot has to be used. These are more associated with diarrhea than Sucralose.

Olestra was a drug that blocked absorption of fat. So, it gave you diarrhea for completely different reasons than an osmotic laxative. Olestra was a stupid idea anyway. We now (and then) know that carbohydrates, especially sugar, make us fat. Not dietary fat. I remember the specific wording on Olestra was that it “may cause anal leakage”.

If you are experiencing loose stools, my money is on the fiber, not the miniscule amounts of Sucralose. That would be my best guess.

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Informative, thank you! And yes, “anal leakage” is burned into my mind as an actual label warning. Good times. :slight_smile:

As for the hunger part, I am assuming it’s for the same reason I am hungry soon after I eat a bowl of oatmeal? I’d love to hear some thoughts on that.

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There is a lot of variance in how much Huel people use, sometimes it seems like a person isn’t sure and the “how much is a scoop” topic shows up frequently.

I didn’t like the scoop mostly because the powder doesn’t pour, my first scoop of Huel was half in the glass and half on the counter! My wife had a scale she rarely uses and after a couple button pushes I found weighing Huel works really good … I use the one cup Ziploc containers with lids and do six at once. Makes taking to work easy too.

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