Meal replacement vs protein shake

I’ve been enjoying my Huel so far. They are easy to drink and the Huel Black is very tasty.

I’ve been wondering about something. Protein shakes don’t make for good meal replacements because they lack the complete nutrients necessary to support a long term diet on its own, but could Huel replace the use of a protein shake? Would there be a reason to NOT use Huel in place of protein shakes?

Also, what technically makes something a “meal replacement”? It’s not easy to tell looking at the labels because many protein shakes list a similar set of vitamins and minerals. Is there some sort of threshold that separates a supplement mix from an actual meal replacement mix?

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I went from protein powders, adding oats, kale, fruit to Huel.

Its completely different for me. The fiber and the Marco balanced level have worked well for me. I am satiated and found managing my nutrition much more reliable and easy.

Also. Huel is significantly less expensive, per kcal, then my protein powders.

Hope that helps, just my personal experience

Hey @Dad! So happy to hear you’re enjoying Huel. :grin:

Certainly! It just depends on your preference for macronutrients and calories. Huel contains protein and it contains so much more too (see here)!

If you’re looking to boost protein or for more of a snack rather than a meal, Huel Complete Protein may be a better option, but I see no reason why you couldn’t consume Huel Black Edition so long as it works with your specific calorie needs and preferences for macronutrients.

Great question! We’ve got a page that goes into detail on this here.

Thanks so much. So in summary, it seems like the only advantage of a protein shake over a Huel Black is the lower calorie to protein ratio. So if you want protein but don’t necessarily want to consume another 400 calories, the protein shake would be a good option. Would you say that’s about right? 20g of protein per 110 calories is pretty efficient.

I’m not there yet, but my goal is to drop bodyfat (about 10 pounds worth) over the next two months while retaining or building muscle and then when I hit my target body fat to switch to pure hypertrophy and re-gain 10 pounds of lean mass. I was originally thinking of buying expensive mass gainers, but what do you think of the idea of combining Huel Black with Huel Protein? It would be 510 calories of a complete food with 60g of protein. Most mass gainers are 50g per 1000 calories and aren’t a complete food. This combo would blow any mass gainer away, at least on paper. I could do three of those shakes per day with oat milk to hit 1900+ calories and 180g of protein plus a regular meal or two of about 700-1000 calories total and easily hit my target lean mass gain ratio. What are your thoughts on this approach? Anything important I’m missing?

You can do math, I’ll grant that. :slight_smile:

Do you have the exercise plan for how to force 180g/d protein into muscle?

Do you have the discipline and fortitude to follow your plan? (I know I do not)

Yeah, Huel is new to me, but ive been doing more makeshift diets for over a year. I’ve actually found Huel easier to follow than all of the mixing and matching of protein shakes, supplements and foods ive been eating for the past year. It helped me lose 20 pounds between Jan and June 2021 and gain 5 pounds of muscle between June and September. So i have the “formula” down, i just want to simplify it so i dont have to take so many supplements. My doctor said to throttle back on them because my liver function test came back a little off.

Yep! :slight_smile:

Many do this and I see no problem with it! I would just say to ease in slowly to the amount and frequency of Huel you are consuming due to the higher fiber content too as well as the volume of food consumed as fluid. Maybe start with one per day (Huel Black Edition + Huel Complete Protein) and see how that goes before increasing as some need a bit more time to adjust to the above (fiber + volume).

Let us know how everything goes as well as if you have any additional questions, concerns, or feedback along the way too!

Thank you, great information. I’m pretty used to the Huel-style diet becuase I’ve been drinking a lot of Garden of Life, iFit, Fit&Lean type meal replacement shakes along with protein shakes and fiber supplements the past year. Compared to that, Huel is actually an easier program to follow to get the same nutrition because I don’t have to spend so much time mixing and matching powders and shakes and supplements to hit the right macros each day.

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