Huel and bloating

I have used Huel as the staple in my diet for almost 1.5 years. I have a few problems with my digestive system, so Huel was huge for me. It took a while to nail down, but I fixed the most severe problems. I identified the trigger by using Huel as a baseline, and adding back foods. This yielded results that were really hard to prove conclusively, as I never had normal bowel function on Huel, so it was a matter or trial, problem, switch back to Huel only, then try a food again. It was an exhausting process, but although I figured out how to avoid the major problems, the typical IBS bloating was always hard to control, even on just Huel. Probiotics became important to help that, but it was still a nightmare sometimes. Since Huel is low FODMAP, I thought maybe in time things would settle, but they did not.

I finally had it very well managed, until I switched to Huel Black Edition. I thought that would likely solve the bloating problem, so I was really excited, but it became worse instead. My best guess is the pea protein or simply too much protein. Once I realized it might be the protein, I did research and learned about protein bloat, which described the issue perfectly.

The bad part is upon switching back to regular Huel, I fouhd the problem was reduced, but not restored to the previous levels.

What I would be interested to know is why would Huel cause lots of gas, being low FODMAP? From what I read, even though pea protein is low FODMAP, more than 20 grams is not considered low FODMAP. Nothing I ever read about FODMAPs explained the time frame to apply to limitations, so if that is 20 grams per day for FODMAP sensitive people, I am going WAY over that with all the Huel I drink. If I cut back to a single serving in a day, I still have some bloating about 6-8 hours after consuming it, but not as severe. That seems to indicate it is not the 20 gram limit on pea protein or too much protein at one time, so… what is the cause?

Would anyone be able to offer any input? Similar observations or thoughts on what can make Huel cause bloating issues?

I should mention that a diet exclusively of Huel seemed to reduce the bloating to very low levels. Incorporating almost any food with it, tends to increase bloating, even if the food should not be fermentable. It takes time for it to get had though, so presume the food change causes a change in my microbiome, that causes me to have trouble digesting Huel well.

It’s a tricky one Johnnie and there could be loads of potential causes. It’s possibly the high fiber/change in fibre in your diet that’s the issue.

FODMAPs encompass a wide variety of foods and most people don’t have an issue with all of them but a select few. That’s why the FODMAP diet is not a permanent diet and encourages the reintroduction of foods.

Ultimately trial and error is probably going to be the solution as it’s quite individual.