I’ve been using Hule in the morning and at noon. Ive noticed in my Samsung Health app that the nutritional values are spot on. Has anyone had a diet of Huel only for any extended period of time? Is it healthy to live on a Huel only diet?
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I’ve not done all Huel but a few of our posters have done this for a period of time.
Whether or not it’s healthy may be a hard question to answer. Consuming around 2000 calories worth of Huel will get you all the basic required micro and macro nutrients, including all the fats and amino acids the body cannot auto create. Theoretically you won’t have any nutritional deficits.
And it should be healthier than living on a diet of fast food only. That’s for sure. Huel has very little saturated fat, no trans fat, very little sugar, and a good amount of fiber. So, you’d still be eating healthier than many others.
But it’s not as ideal as a broad diet which includes green and yellow vegetables as well as legumes and fruits. There are other “phytonutrients” that are not part of the FDAs list of necessary nutrients.
Barring that, there have been societies that have thrived on a plant based diet, using the same basic 5 or 6 ingredients, due to financial reasons. And maybe one day our Mars pioneers will take 200 bags of Huel with them on their space craft.
So, bottom line, IMO it should theoretically be safe. But most ideal would be to use Huel for some of your intake and to allow yourself some variety of other foods for at least one meal a day. You don’t want to burn out.
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Yep, I’ve gone months with a Huel only diet. No negative issues. Lots of positive issues. I am not vegan and am a very heavy carnivore (well I was before Huel). My only issue was eventually I craved different tastes especially savory flavors and meat. So I toned down to Huel for 2 meals a day and 1 normal meal.
I’ve actually found that I feel worse the more normal food I eat. When I have tried to go back to a normal diet for a period of time I eventually start craving huel. Which is a good thing in my mind as I can’t find anything more healthy to eat than Huel.
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It might be the meat that you’re eating in your normal food meal.
Personally, I started on a trial of plant-based only food for my regular meals. I had been doing IF and using Huel for about half of my daily intake most days of the week for almost a year. So I was already half-vegan at that point. I figured I would then try plant-based for my one non-Huel meal at home. It took about a week to adjust. But I have found tremendous benefits to not eating meat or dairy. I actually have increased the variety of foods I eat at home. All sorts of legumes, grains, fruits, different vegetables. Ironically, I eat a wider range of foods and feel less restrictive since I’ve cut out the meat and dairy.
I’m not trying to preach at you. But your body has undergone a long period of no sugars, very low saturated fat, no trans fat, and good fiber. Then when you eat a regular meal containing those undesirables and little fiber, you feel “worse”. Remember, beef, eggs, chicken, cheese… these things have zero fiber. These things have trans fat. Fiber is only found in plants. Your GI bacteria may have gotten healthier from all the fiber in Huel.
My point is that eating plant based meals for you non Huel meal might give you the extra variety you want in your diet without making you feel worse.
Tuesday my labs were:
Triglycerides 43
HDL 57 (this is the highest it’s ever been)
Hemoglobin A1c 4.9
LDL 81
After a month of being on all-plant diet, I finally got my HDL above 45. I used to exercise 2 - 3 hours a day and eat an omnivore diet and my HDL would never be above 45. I have the lipid and A1c profile of a college athlete, and I’m 43. Plant based and IF is the freakin’ fountain of youth.
And I never feel hungry. Not eating this much. My wife’s stew peas, quinoa, an entire sweet potato, and a salad with like 10 different things in it. That should hold me over till my berry Huel at work tonight.
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I just discovered you can cook quinoa and lentils at the same time. Super easy. 1 box (4 cups) vegetable broth, 1 cup quinoa, 1 cup lentils. No need to pre-soak. Just stick them all in a pot. Heat till it boils. Then turn down heat and cover to simmer. Set timer for 20 min. Done. Refrigerate. Good for a week.
Get some frozen black bean burgers. Put 'em in toaster oven for 10 min. Reheat this in microwave. Top with salsa. Super easy lunch.
Heat this mix, put on your salad. Lazy man’s power salad.
I would recommend this as part of your normal meal. Probably doesn’t blend well with Huel.
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I just started watching a guy on Youtube, I think it’s Simnett Nutrition. He showed a free website that you can use to keep track of nutrition etc.: Cronometer.com. Seems cool.
Never!!! You can pry my sous vide cast iron cooked grass fed steaks from my cold dead hands,
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I tried a Huel-only diet for 3 weeks, not to lose weight or benefit my health directly, but to experiment with resetting my palate by consuming only bland food (unflavored Huel) to see if it would increase my taste sensitivity. I blogged about it here: https://www.nablu.com/2018/08/sensory-deprivation-diet.html
Now I’m taking Huel again for a health challenge at my company, not eating it exclusively, but one or two meals a day. I’m not noticing the ill effects this time around that I noticed (and wrote about) last time.
-A
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Thanks for sharing! Some people do experience side-effects for the first week or so. For those affected it will be much more noticeable if you dive in head first like you did and probably explains why you are not having these issues second time around.
We recommend that when you start your Huel diet, you first try replacing 1 meal with Huel, and then after a while (approx. 5-7 days) you could progress to replacing 2 of your daily meals (and then 3, 4, etc. if you want to go 100% Huel). This will allow your body to slowly adjust to Huel.
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I’m sorry Deron, but meat, eggs etc DO NOT contain trans fats.
Trans fats are processed, man made fats generally found in heavily processed meats, AND processed plant food items like pastries and cakes/ biscuits.
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Very small amounts are found in meat. A simple google search will reveal that. I will redact my statement that eggs have trans fat, since upon searching they appear to be free from trans fat. Yes, processed foods do contain the man made versions of trans fats, which I avoid if possible. Oreo cookies and McDonalds french fries are vegan but bad for our health. Italian ice made with no dairy is a process sugar filled vegan desert that should only be eaten rarely. Too much fruit juice, which is a concentrated and processed form of fruit is certainly plant based and should be consumed only in moderation or not at all.
Here is a google search for “how much trans fat is in beef”.
https://www.google.com/search?safe=off&rlz=1CAYGYA_enUS828US828&sxsrf=ALeKk01HFgRNLe3LHOlSacQgdJyZjTZ5Xw%3A1585072750843&ei=bkp6XrP8Mu6l_QaMqqngDQ&q=how+much+trans+fat+is+in+beef&oq=how+much+trans+fat+is+in+beef&gs_l=psy-ab.3..0i22i30.24313.24885..26168...0.3..0.122.447.0j4…0…1…gws-wiz…0i71j0.2ndMl0-MUek&ved=0ahUKEwiz64aS2LPoAhXuUt8KHQxVCtwQ4dUDCAs&uact=5
Also https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/healthy-eating/eat-smart/fats/trans-fat
“Naturally-occurring trans fats are produced in the gut of some animals and foods made from these animals (e.g., milk and meat products) may contain small quantities of these fats.”
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Great suggestion thank you, not like Av8tr, drinks HUEL but eats gross meat. Makes no sense to me. I am a proud Vegan for a million reasons but ANIMAL SLAUGHTER is the first one. As a Vegan, I feel lucky to have HUEL because it is so quick, easy and I love adding Green Juice powder and Red Juice powder when I have it. Thanks again!
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I too have found that I feel worse the more “regular” food I eat. In 2 years Huel has cured me of SIBO, IBS, Interstitial Cystitis, and Food/eating related Anxiety. I’ve experienced a complete change in my experience with food. I crave huel all day long, I no longer crave excess sugar/salt and that stops me from craving or even enjoying fast food chain levels of salt and sugar. Huel has made me the person I always wanted to be, but never dreamed possible. These changes only occurred after strict 100% huel diet for about 2 months. I imagine my gut flora has completely changed. Huel for life!
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