Look at you spreading the word! You should definitely join our referral program if you haven’t already to really reap the benefits. 
Happy Hueling, Laura!
Happy Holidays All!!
A lot has been going on, so it never seemed like the right time to provide an update, but now seems like a perfect time.
So, I am still living off of Huel and water. I approximated my daily deviation to determine how much of my caloric intake comes from supplements and other sources. Huel has made up about 98% of my nutritional intake since August. This is something I had to do, not an actual experiment, but I have tried to be as scientific as I could manage under the difficult circumstances. I’ll run down some of what has been happening and go over some details of what I learned that I hope someone may be able to make use of.
On to the updates. I have been consuming approximately 3000 calories of Huel per day. I sometimes hit 4000 if I am really active, but 3000 seems to be good to allow me to maintain my weight. For me, it has been a risky thing to consume any more than I need, since my body was still struggling to digest it properly. Many times, I had issues just consuming 3000 per day, simply because it could not be digested efficiently and caused me digestive issues due to too much in there. I believe the solution to this problem was mostly two things, heavy doses of probiotics and time. I have been taking about 400 billion CFU of probiotics a day for the past two months or so. Initially, it caused me extreme pain, but after a few weeks, I had no pain at all from them. I did and do still have a tickling sensation about 8-10 hours after I take them. I believe that is just the microbes working on things. If the hypersensitivity continues to subside, I expect I may not notice anything in a few months. As it is, it is pretty minor anyway and seems to continue to reduce in intensity. .
So, the next thing I noticed is that I needed even more water with probiotics. I had already noticed I needed more with the Huel, but now I found I needed even more. I don’t know why, but after the big doses, I got very thirsty. Anyway, I started trying to drink a gallon a day. That helped a lot, and this combination of Huel, probiotics and extra water proved a winner for me in several ways. It helped reduce the gas and bloating and seemed to help adapt my microbiota to digest the Huel fully after about a month or so. The high dose probiotics seemed to help start retraining my digestive system to function on a schedule, instead of so many strong, but random urges. It seems to have helped my tongue to start healing more. The cracks are less evident now.
The main issue I had left after all of these experiments was the clamping pain. It was not as intense, but I was still struggling a LOT. Only I could understand how much I had truly improved, so my wife has been very concerned because from her perspective, I did not seem to be continuing to improve, and she started worrying about the Huel only diet. I told her the difference is night and day from where I started already, even if not evident to her that I am still improving. I am still getting better in a rather linear fashion now, but it will still take time. I think my intestine literally need some strength training so to speak. All the medications over the years seems to have made them weaker, so I still have had to lay on one side or the other to move things along, but that has slowly improved. My theory is the muscles are getting used to working on their own and eventually, I may not need to manage it so extensively. I was struggling with it, but it is like comparing a little headache to a severe migraine and it would be naive to think it would recover quickly and completely in a short time.
I was finally able to determine what was left was just nasty spasms, so I did a little research. I had tried all the anti-spasmotics my doctors prescribed, but nothing had ever worked. I had tried hyoscyamine for years and it never seemed to do anything to help. I had been prescribed dicyclomine too, and it seemed to help a tiny bit once or twice, but nothing great. This got me to thinking about where I started with this, what has changed and whether it was worth revisiting one of these.
So, I went to my primary doctor and asked to try dicyclomine again. It was the only one that had any effect, so I decided that was the best choice. He prescribed 20mg up to three times per day, as needed. So, that led me to a realization. If you take something “as needed”, but it doesn’t seem to work, you stop taking it; at least I did. If the doctor tells you to take it three times per day, you likely will keep taking it until you talk to the doctor or have side effects. I had always been prescribed “as needed”, so I don’t think I ever tried it for very long on a consistent basis because it implied more or less immediate results. I never got any immediate relief.
What I read is that the typical starting dose is 20mg four times per day, but can be increased to 40mg, four times per day, if needed. So, that made me decide to just try it on a schedule and see what happened. After a few days, the spasms started calming down, the urgency was reduced, and the pain subsided quite a bit. I was on the right track now, but not quite there. After a couple of weeks, it kind of leveled out. Not great, not bad either. I should mention I was taking peppermint oil capsules four times a day too, as those seemed to soothe the nerves a bit. I decided to bump it up to two capsules, four times per day and it seemed partially successful in further calming the nerves, but not the spasms. I didn’t want to push my intake of dicyclomine past 80mg per day until I discussed with my doctor, but he has now approved taking it up as high as 160mg per day. Yesterday was the first day hitting 100mg per day, but no readily identifiable change I can relate to it yet. I honestly don’t know how dicyclomine works to know if it has to build up, or what kind of delay might be expected. My doctor seemed surprised that it took a while and I had to hit 80mg, but it seems that is just a measure of how bad the spasms have been. Anyway, based on the evidence, I think I am on track to possibly fully control my spasms and pain in the near future, maybe even in time for the new year!
So, after all the experiments and theories, the root cause is IBS; the doctor were right and wrong though. The problem is I was diagnosed with IBS-C, not IBS-D. It seems what I was communicating to the gastroenterologist made them continue to treat me with things that stimulated my intestines, making matters worse. I had also used things like Milk of Magnesia and such because I desperately needed to get something to move. In retrospect, I think Linzess was really compounding the issue in my case. Anytime I took it, I had relief that was followed by even more pain, likely because although cleaning me out provided relief, it caused my intestines to spasm heavily too.Anyway, it is supposed to be used for constipation, so no fault of the medicine. The doctors now say my intestines have probably been in near constant spasm and unable to move anything along properly. So the Linzess caused an intestine in spasm to be further stimulated. The dicyclomine probably would have helped years ago, but having IBS-D should have meant I was constantly having to go. Instead, I could barely ever go without medication of some sort, so it seemed like IBS-C because no matter how hard my intestines tried, they could not get past the blockage that was almost certainly caused by spasms initially and inflammation more recently. Even the medications said they should not be taken if there is a blockage of any sort, but neither I nor the doctors put that very important piece of the puzzle together. Huel moved easier, although imperfectly passed the blockage, at least compared to most foods I had been eating.
I still do not know exactly what caused the systemic inflammation and facial rash, only that those went away fast on Huel. I am thriving on Huel, so I am still planning to stay on the Hual only diet at least until I can get a true baseline of stable results for at least a month. After that, I might incorporate some vegetables and such, but plan to try to stay vegan. I have not viewed food with anything less than dread for years, so being free of that is welcoming. I am sure there are plenty of foods I could safely eat, but I am not really motivated to do so. My wife suggested a carrot or something, but I told her this process is not done until I have it managed well for a month. Any deviation will just make me have to do more work to isolate the cause if things start going sideways again.
I’ll end with this as my suggestion for anyone whose suffering with IBS has led them here. I am not suggesting this will work for anyone but myself, but my theory would be that this could prove effective for many who suffer similarly. Before anyone criticizes me for giving out medical advice, I would suggest anyone talk to your doctor about anything, so take this as just my suggestion and do what you feel appropriate with it. If you try it, be smart about the process; take notes about your weight, blood pressure, how you feel day to day, and pretty much any data point you can. I wear a fitness tracker now to help measure my activity, sleep, stress, and other things so I had data to correlate and track. I tracked my weight and calories regularly too. It has been a lot of work to really track my progress and figure out when things worked and when to move on from a concept, but it paid off. After many, many years of going to doctors and thinking they would lead me to a solution, it was only after I made it my only priority to get better through my own efforts that I have achieved these results.
- Try Huel and water for at least one week. Longer is better, so long as you are able to manage it. The changes noted by myself and my family all were notable after one week or less, so it is not a long commitment to see some results and those should help keep you motivated.
- Make Huel the night before, if possible, and store in the refrigerator. I make a gallon jug of it at a time. This will take away the graininess, improve the flavor and also allow the water to be soaked into the Huel better. I found this helps with digestion over drinking the Huel right after mixing. Plus, it makes for five minutes of work a day, and then you just pour it when you want it.
- If you have taken probiotics with no help, try much higher doses than you typically find on the shelf. Read the label and see how the CFU count compares to what you tried before and then try it slowly to see how your body reacts. If painful, either push through it, or lower the dose and increase it gradually. At some dose, you will likely notice when they start churning a bit. I had the best luck with the RAW Ultimate probiotics, but I expect it will vary from person to person. If much less than 50 billion CFU per day, it may not have any real impact, from what I noticed.
- Drink a lot of water. I found drinking a gallon a day makes a pretty significant difference.
- Take peppermint oil capsules on a schedule. Do not wait until you need them, but try to keep it going in your system at regular intervals.
- If you think you have spasms or are on an anti-spasmotic, but have not seen a benefit, talk to your doctor about taking more or at regular intervals, instead of “as needed”.
As always, this went on much longer than I anticipated, but that has always been my nature. I really hope it proves helpful to someone, as my life is turning around completely after all of this, and I know by my research on IBS over the years, a LOT of people are in the debilitating state I was in, or something similar. I read a study saying on average, a person struggling with IBS would give up 25% of their remaining years to be rid of the problem. I would have gone as high as 50% pretty easily, but now I don’t have to worry about it, and I am on track to live longer thanks to these lifestyle changes. I still have flawless blood pressure and blood tests, by the way. My most recent metabolic panel was this week and nothing was off at all.
In most every way, I am in the best health I have been in for much of my adult life and I am continuing to push myself to improve further. My workouts are energized and productive. I can finally sleep without the spasms waking me constantly, and everything is getting back on track. Part of the test for me was to see how Huel would work to take me from the malnourished state I was in to my attempt to get into athletic condition. So far, it is working extremely well, and I still consider that Huel saved my life, as it was the catalyst that allowed me to figure out all the rest. It is a truly amazing product for me. At some point, I might share the video I took about a week into this and another now. I am still bony, but I am adding muscle back all the time now.
I will check in again later, and if at any point I am ready to eat other meals, I will certainly provide an update before I do, in case anyone is reading all of this.
Happy Holidays and Best Wishes!!
6 Likes
This was a great read, thanks for sharing.
1 Like
Thanks for Sharing. I’m on Day 6 of Huel. Today I started going from 1 bottle a day to now 2 a day (plus evening meal) to try and lose weight. I’ve already noticed an increased level of energy going from day to day. With my plans to start working out, I’m hoping that energy level keeps increasing and the weight decreases.
2 Likes
I will start working out (calisthenics style) after the new year. Just got some equipment for Christmas. I’m hoping Huel + working out + self discipline will mean less fat, and superhuman powers.
2 Likes
@Hueler, I can’t make any product guarantees, other than Huel giving you superhuman powers, obviously. 
But really, we believe in you guys and are rooting for you! You totally got this and Huel has your back. 
1 Like
Well, I am no longer using just Huel. About 10% of my calories now come from boiled potatoes and carrots, or kale chips made with olive oil and sea salt. I did not have any issue with Huel, but my wife was becoming increasingly worried about me committing to one food source almost exclusively. For now, I am sticking with those three things to keep her happy, as they are not causing me any problems at this point, and should be very safe choices. I have to admit the heavy doses of vitamin A might be helping my vision some, but it is hard for me to be sure. In any case, I consume about 2700 calories of Huel and 300 calories of potatoes, carrots and kale.
Other than that, there is not much new to report in terms of how things are progressing. I feel like my digestive system is getting better and better, but I am not sure if the pain will ever go away completely. All that is really left of that is when I lay in bed on my back. Other than that, I rarely have pain any more. My system is not functioning normally still, but WAY more manageable. I think the main reason it is off is because of the probiotics. I am taking huge doses still with 150 billion CFU in the morning and 150 billion CFU in the evening. If I feel things might be a little off, I will have another 50 billion around noon.
Drinking tons of water is key with probiotics and Huel. When I was going to the Chinese doctor, she told me to stop drinking ice water. I did not expect that to really matter, but I switched to room temperature water, and I think it might help. I drink cold Huel, so ice water on top of that is probably not ideal. Anyway, I now have a new habit that I think might help. I try to drink at least 32 ounces, preferably 64 ounces before bed. Yes, this means trip to the bathroom, but I was already dealing with that. I also found that if I drink a full glass of water in the morning, that helps too. Now, I had read drinking water and lemon juice in the morning can help with digestion, but it never worked for me. For some reason, I feel it helps now.
Drinking as much water as I do, I was not sure about sodium levels, but I add sea salt to the potatoes, carrots and kale, so I think that is helping, but I have no idea if I was really losing that much or not. Doctors were just warning me, so I figured I would supplement some. I added some mineral pills too, but can’t tell anything yet. Out of curiosity, I downloaded an app that helps identify potential links of symptoms and deficiency. Many of the symptoms I have still been dealing with are linked to low sodium. I doubt it is that easy, but the doctors always told me to drink more water, so wouldn’t it be ironic if following doctor’s orders contributed to my issues. I kind of doubt it, but that is my latest experiment to improve things further.
I decided to share some of my test results, so you can use it as a point of reference in terms of Huel’s effect. These are some blood test results. One is from January before Huel, one in August just after starting Huel and one from December, after four months of a Huel diet.
Here are some blood pressure readings. To put these into perspective, my blood pressure one year ago had been 140/90. I was always typically in lower than that, but I have never been consistently in the perfect blood pressure range.
2 Likes
This is a really interesting case. (Yes, I actually looked at all your values. I’m like that when it comes to lab stuff.) That cholesterol profile is fantastic.
My weight loss and transition to a mostly plant-based diet has also lowered my BP. I hover around the 100/60 range, heart rate 55 - 60. But I am not symptomatic. I don’t feel dizzy. I have my lipid panel upcoming in the next few weeks so I will be looking at that with intent. I will have been on once daily (5 days a week) Huel for almost a year.
I have not provided an update in a while, so I thought I would do so, in case any of this is helpful to anyone else.
I am still relying primarily on Huel for my macro-nutrients. I found I have some issue with potatoes after a while of eating a little each day. I have no idea why, but things felt more uncomfortable when I was incorporating them into my diet, and the discomfort went away when stopping. I got burned out on kale chips and carrots, so eating any of that feel by the wayside. It is ironic I never get tired of Huel, but “regular” food can be a chore.
I went back to Huel only for a few weeks, and I was much better off, but I have been struggling to add muscle weight on Huel alone, possibly just because of my age as it is not as easy to add muscle at 46, as it is when younger; it is coming along, but…sssssllllllooooowwwwwllllllllyyyyy.
My overall recovery has slowed down, but has been consistently improving. The difference is now I have to compare a month or two back to notice the scale of the improvement effectively. The malfunction of my colon on the left side is still present so I feel a things I shouldn’t really be feeling, but the level of discomfort is very minor, and becoming much easily to manage as I improve the consistency of my supplementation schedule, sleep and eating schedules. It is a lot to manage right now, but I am hoping the day will come where I don’t need to put so much effort into it all. A scientific methodology would certainly always be beneficial, but it is a lot to keep track of. I found the Garmin Fenix 5 watch to be great for reminding me, as I can set and customize all the alarms, so I never forget. I almost never take it off, so it really helps me remember.
So, the latest updates would be that I am still consuming about 3000 calories of Huel per day. I add to that a single consistent meal I eat every day consisting of white rice, quinoa, hemp hearts, steamed broccoli, turmeric, salt and pepper. This adds some solid additional nutrition and seems to have no negative impact on my GI issues. I don’t see any specific benefits either, but it tastes pretty good and is healthy. There are times my body is trying to tell me “no more Huel”, so this helps me get a bit more nutrition in me.
I also recently decided to try a protein bar so I can have something convenient on the go. After a few tries of ones that did not agree with me for one reason or another, I found the thinkThin brand that is well tolerated so far. Time will tell for certain, but it checks most of the boxes well, as it is considered a vegan option, and does not have sugar, although it has sorbitol. It is my best option for more portable nutrition at the moment.
I recently expanded my research into the areas of amino acids. I found a great book that explains a lot of potential uses for amino acids in treating conditions and improving health. I started with L-Arganine and that quickly proved to be useful for boosting energy and helped a lot with circulation issues that caused my hands and feet to be cold. I also feel like I have more stamina too. From there, I tried adding Amino Energy that has BCAA and caffeine; that has a heck of a kick to it. I won’t get into all the ones I am lining up to try, but so far, each is proving beneficial in line with what I read. I added L-Gluatimine, since that seems to be used by the GI tract for a lot, so hoping that might boost my recovery rate further. Anyway, I definitely recommend looking into amino acid therapy some. I always considered it a topic for sports nutrition, but after reading the book and trying some, I am excited about the possibilities of taking my health to new levels with this. Trying to gain a solid understanding of amino acids and the use cases can be a little overwhelming, but the potential looks amazing if even part of the information proves out.
Heal with Amino Acids and Nutrients: Survive Stress, Pain, Anxiety, Depression, & More Without Drugs–What to Use and When
by Amazon Digital Services LLC
Learn more: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0056O2968/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_8C.JCb0TS7S21
I am on parallel paths now; I am focused on trying to ensure my GI tract recovers as far as possible, with hope of full normalcy eventually, but I am also trying to boost my overall health to maximum potential. Despite my lingering issues, I am now the healthiest person in my whole family, and getting stronger, faster and better in many ways thanks to Huel, and my willingness to commit to my goals. Given how this started back in August, I am already in way better shape than I would have even thought to dream of back then. I have not achieved full victory over it all, but it barely even slows me down any more, much less putting my in bed for days or weeks.
I made a lot of other observations, but I am not going to go into two months worth of trial and error. I would say I am officially a poor case study now with all of the vitamins and supplements I am using, so my journey does not prove Huel’s long term viability as a single source of nutrition. It is invaluable to me in order to provide the consistent diet I need to understand what improves my health and what is useless for me to keep taking. One of the things I struggled with for so many years is how to keep myself nourished while trying to find what was causing my problems. I still don’t know the root cause, but my plan has so far yielded results that allow me to thrive, instead of looking like an extra for the Walking Dead. I had hoped Huel alone was the answer to all my problems initially, but I grossly underestimated the recovery process, and did not account for the fact that although it is likely very adequate for a healthy individual, an unhealthy individual could use some targeted supplements to help in the process. So far, the combination of Huel, probiotics, some vitamins, minerals, and amino acids seem to be affording me incredible increases in my vitality.
If anyone has any questions about anything, please feel free to send me a message. I am not claiming I have any answers for anyone but myself, but I am willing to share any information about my journey so that others might learn something from it all.
3 Likes
That’s quite the story; thanks for sharing!
I feel like I’ve been on a less severe path, but a similar one. One thing that helped me a ton was getting an ALCAT food sensitivity / intolerance blood test.
Thanks for the feedback and mentioning the ALCAT test. I think this might be worthwhile for me too. The gastroenterologist said in his experience, the allergy tests are not reliable for this sort of thing, but given how many things I have now realized they missed or got wrong, I would be foolish to discount anything based on what I was advised.
The timing of your suggestion is ironically in line with what I accidentally may have figured out. I mistakenly assumed the protein bar being a vegan option meant no milk protein. I really should have read closer, but I think I inadvertently triggered the larger problem that has been mostly under control for months. After less than a week of having one or two bars a day, I had the only real flareup with severe cramping and pain I have had since August. The protein bars contain whey and casein protein. I have wondered for a while if dairy could be at the heart of my problem. I have to prove it out now, but I stopped eating those for a couple of days and I noticed a lot of improvement today. Too soon to say for sure, but reading your reply certainly makes me interested to check into it. I now think the issue I had with potatoes could be related to the mashed potatoes I made with a little milk. If I am super sensitive, maybe it doesn’t take much at all to cause at least a little problem. Anyway, thanks for the suggestion. Maybe I am finally getting close to a root cause. I had pretty much abandoned the thought of finding an actual cause, but who knows.
2 Likes
Really glad to hear this awesome news.
good luck, @JohnnieD72! i am grateful that all i have to deal with is that i’m fat… you seem to be handling everything with a much better attitude than i would. keep it up, and keep us updated!
Thanks very much. I appreciate the motivation. I am keeping my attitude positive mostly because I was able to switch from defense to offense in my war against this problem, thanks to finding Huel. I keep having downward slides as I try different foods and such, but I know a 100% Huel diet combined with consistently taking dicyclomine will keep things manageable. I am pretty sure the probiotics are still key too, but they don’t have that obvious effect on many after taking them so long. I plan to cut those down and see what happens once I get back to my baseline on 100% Huel.
I recently confirmed that I need almost the maximum dosage of dicyclomine to keep things as calm as possible. I thought perhaps I could get off of that and be medication free, but not yet, at least. I also confirmed taking dicyclomine does not allow me to handle other food well, but it is important in combination with Huel.
I am further away from identifying the root cause than I thought. About a week or so into eating anything else in a small meal sized portion results in what soon seems to become a partial blockage or something. Dairy is really bad, but it sure seems like most things still mess me up. I just had that happen Tuesday after resuming the rice, quinoa and broccoli dish and Bobo’s Oat Bars for activities., but I am almost back to my baseline after going 100% Huel for a couple of days.
I keep ramping up exercise and supplements that I confirm do not cause me problems, so I am hopeful my body will repair itself and maybe my digestive system will even function properly someday. For now, I am just glad that I can get back to my baseline easily, although it is torture waiting until Huel resolves it.
It is easier to fight knowing that I can get back to a workable baseline when needed. I didn’t have that option at all for years and it really wore me down. I am honestly still sorting through the impact of what that did to me, but I am looking forward with intensity, not backward with regret.
Anyway, thanks for the feedback and kind words.
2 Likes
I thought I would share this as an example of physical performance on Huel with my witches brew of Amino acids and supplements. Those filled in some blanks and catapulted my performance quite a bit. My longest ride a few weeks ago was about 6 miles, then I hit 9 several days in a row, then this today. By contrast, when I incorporated biking into my health war last September, I was out of breath in less than a mile, and struggled to hit four miles. This trail I rode today was mixed surfaces, around 65% gravel, sand and dirt, with about 35% paved. For the past week, I had to switch back to Huel only, aside from the amino acids and supplements. I had one Bobo’s bar during the ride. Just thought this might help put some data regarding how much can be done with Huel as a primary source of nutrition. I am sure many athletic people will consider this ride pretty tame, but to do it powered by almost entirely by Huel is pretty cool.
Check out my mountain biking activity on Garmin Connect. #beatyesterday
4 Likes
I thought I would post an update on my current regimen and some observations since I have some new data.
In my case, I have found that I really need the high doses of RAW Ultimate Probiotics throughout the day. I had changed things up, taking four different brands of probiotics, so I was only was taking one dose of the RAW Ultimate Probiotics. I stuck with it for a while and was struggling quite a bit, so decided to go back to what seemed to help before. Less than one week going back on four doses a day has gotten me back to my baseline. I actually had to reacclimate when I switched back. Now that I am back to my baseline, I am considering upping the dose a bit more. Between the probiotics and having consumed Huel as my main food source for the past nine months, I have none of the issues I had initially consuming Huel.
The amino acid therapy is also working well. I cannot claim measurable results with some of them, but others are producing results better than I had hoped for. It seems to be a pretty amazing way to influence bodily functions and encourage growth and repair. My muscle mass has continued to increase fairly easily, and with more stamina and such, I can exercise more and continue to improve my fitness level. At this point, medium shirts are starting to be snug through the chest. My arms were only about 11.5“ in circumference when I started my journey with Huel. After about four months of Huel only, my arms were about 12.25”. After adding amino acids and other supplements, my arms are now 13.5”; that increase occurred in the past two to three months. I am totally convinced in the benefits of L-Arganine, L-Glutamine, Creatine Monohydrate, L-Tyrosine, GABA, BCAA and 5HTP. I have about a dozen more I am trying to work through to confirm results related to the supposed benefits, but many will be difficult to confirm.
I found that I can ditch Peppermint Oil. I had been taking that for a long time and it had been important, but I finally reached a point where I don’t seem to need it.
I am still on dicyclomine. It helps, but my body still pushes me to head for the bathroom every couple of hours or so. Without the dicyclomine, I would be running there way more often. I still have room to increase the dosage by 50%, if needed. I would love to get off of it and be medication free, but I don’t see that happening anytime too soon.
I have a physical scheduled for 5/22. After sorting things out through my own research and efforts, I avoid doctors now, aside from ordering labs and giving me a once over. If I have a relapse or some other serious medical condition, I am going to the Mayo clinic. After watching a documentary, I realize real healthcare might be possible in the US after all. They don’t seem to subscribe to the fast food version of medicine that is prevalent here. I will report back my results, if he orders a blood test. My blood pressure is and has been perfect this entire time. My cardio fitness has improved significantly. It will be nice to go back better than I was last time he saw me.
Last thing. I am closer to a fully Huel only diet too, in terms of actual food. It took the combination of restricting other foods and the probiotics changes to kick me back to my baseline. The only food I am consuming other than Huel is on days when I am biking hard. I don’t feel like trying to carry Huel with me on the ride and my legs scream for something with a high glycemic value, or at least there is a notable difference in my power and stamina without that boost. I am dying for Huel bars to be available here to try them. For now, I use Bobo’s bars, since they are a close match in terms of key ingredients, so have been well tolerated. Aside from that, I am not really interested in anything else. I eat for need, not pleasure, so my combination of Huel, amino acids and probiotics and some other supplements seem to be very close to perfect for my body. I am going to start pushing towards 4000 calories of Huel again. So long as my digestive system is not struggling too bad, I think it will not be a problem. I mixed up 4500 calories worth for tomorrow. That comes to one and a half gallons of Huel, at the consistency I prefer.
Anyway, I will circle back with the results of my physical exam.
2 Likes
Not sure if people are still reading this, but I thought I would provide an update. I had planned to do so after a physical in May, but I had to postpone that and just went to my doctor yesterday.
It seems I came full circle on this, and according to my doctor, my observations of some symptoms clearly are not IBS, and he said he would expect it to be IBD, probably Crohn’s. I was sure of the same right after moving to Huel, but the main points that provided the data he needed to make that statement was not something I could have provided back then with any certainty.
So, on June 30th, I made a mistake that helped provide more context regarding my illness. I made some changes to my supplements at the same time, but it is more likely that it was my mistake to think I might be able to eat Sesame Tofu safely. We were having a family dinner for our son’s birthday, so I decided to allow one deviation to join in. Well, either it was a problem, or it was a weird coincidence that I had the first flare-up of that severity since starting Huel. Given that I was in misery until August of last year, and have been able to mostly keep it under control, even as I have tried different experiments for almost one year, it is hard to believe it was just a coincidence.
In any case, the flare-up also directly coincided with three canker sores, a little facial rash but with some puffiness and quite a bit of burning sensation, and anal sores. I also had a painful tongue, but the direct correlation of the mouth and anal sores with intense GI pain that seemed to have caused a partial blockage was what made my doctor say it was not IBS. I explained how I have kept track of my experiments trying different foods, and how I have been able to stop it from reaching a full flare-up, but have made much smarter choices that eating an entire thing of Sesame Tofu carry out on those. Each time, I was able to keep the sores and rash from taking hold the same as keeping the GI issues from becoming severe by dropping back to a Huel only diet. I was able to bring the flare-up under control in about one week after going back to Huel only, so a mistake that took me all of fifteen minutes to eat took about one week to fix.
In any case, he said the correlation of the sores puts Crohn’s at the top of the list in terms of suspected causes. When I asked why they never seemed to get test results to indicate that, he said it is not uncommon for Crohn’s to be tricky to diagnose and it could come down to timing for them to look when it is in full flare-up. I thought that was the case when I had the CT scan and colonoscopy last year, but it doesn’t really matter. He says I am in great health, other than the GI issues, but I am managing that remarkably well without the potentially damaging medications used to suppress the immune system. He applauded me for doing making a 180 degree turn from this time last year, and said to just keep doing what I am doing, since it is obviously working well for me. He said further testing doesn’t really make sense to get a diagnosis, and the best option is just to forget about the label and just keep working the problem as I have been. I don’t know if I can get the other 10% or so under better control, but time will tell on that.
He did suggest I try to test my tolerance of more foods over time, so I have some safe backups, but suggested adopting the same technique used for survival nutrition to test food for reactions. He said to try to stick with whole foods and put one bite in my mouth, hold it for 3-5 minutes and notice if there is any numbness or tingling. Then wait three days, try again, but chew the food some this time for 3-5 minutes, spit it out, and wait three more days, then chew and eat one bite of food, again waiting three days. If still no reaction, eat one small serving, wait three days, and so on, until I build up to eating it on a regular basis and can confirm no issues. It makes more sense than the approach I was using, and hopefully will be easier to conclusively test my tolerances. Regardless, if it is Crohn’s, I may find it challenging to manage with much variation in my diet, so it will still be primarily Huel, unless some of the other supplements I am trying show benefit in managing it. It would be nice to at least find some semi-normal meals I could at least eat safely on occasion. I am sure there must be plenty of things I can eat safely, but testing them without risking a flare-up is going to be tedious.
In any case, for me, I am doing quite well. Any person without GI issues would probably still consider my daily issues to be a big problem, but it is all perspective, and to me, I am about 90% better off than I was a year ago, which is 100% better than I had actually expected.
To give some metrics for the journey this past year:
I had consumed approximately 134 bags of Huel this year.
The weight of the powder consumed is just over 500 lbs.
I have consumed on average at least one gallon of Huel daily, so that is over 3,400 gallons of Huel mixture in the past year.
I went from not having ridden a bicycle for over twenty years, to riding over 500 miles on my mountain bike in the past year, according to my tracker. I also walked over 200 miles in walks I tracked.
Thanks Huel!! I would not be doing so well without you!!!
1 Like
Yours is quite a story, my friend. I am happy for you to manage so well with such an extreme difficulty.
Have you tried garbanzo/chick peas? One of the guys I work with claimed they were the only thing he could eat during a crohn’s flare. He’s since started on Remicade, but that path seems to have its own downsides.
Good luck and happy hunting 
Thanks very much. I have not tried garbanzo beans, but might give them a try at some point. I really want to stick to managing this without medications, unless that becomes too much. I probably do need to develop a plan B for food, in case something happens to Huel. Thankfully, given the rate they are growing, that doesn’t look like much of a concern at this point.
Thanks for the feedback and suggestion!
1 Like
I just read through your whole thread and I think it’s extremely inspiring. I’ve always had intestinal issues myself, that have seemed to get worse as I’ve gotten older…though they also got better during/after pregnancy with my daughter and have stayed fairly stable so far since.
Did your doctor say the frequent canker sores are a marker of something like Crohn’s? I’m curious and have heard something like that mentioned before, but there isn’t anything really mentioning it online and I’ve had bad luck with doctors when it comes to dealing with my GI issues.