Questions about carb percentages and what to eat in addition to Huel

Nutrition
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Hello. Brand new Huel customer here. To preface, I know almost nothing about nutrition calculations, which is what brings me here.

Recent lab shows my A1c is at a 6.5. Haven’t talked with Dr yet, but from what I understand I am just at the threshold for diabetic. I am hoping to reverse this as much as possible before I need medication or constant glucose monitoring.

Huel has been on my radar for a while, but this news caused me to pull the trigger on my first order.

I’m not sure how important carb percentage is for someone in my shoes. But looking at the Huel FAQ about diabetes, I see this line:

The contribution of total energy intake that comes from carbohydrate is between 35% and 42% – depending on the Huel product

How is this calculated? The carb calculation I’m finding online says to multiply grams of carbs by 4 then divide by the total calories of the meal. With that calculation, it seems like all of the H&S meals exceed the 42% in the FAQ. Am I doing the wrong math, or is the FAQ not accounting for the higher carbs of the H&S(or the lower carbs of the Black Edition)?

And I guess the more important question for anyone that may know: Is the carb count that important considering the healthy ingredients and low sugar? I think any meals replaced with Huel is an improvement over my current diet habits.

My other question is for those who eat Huel for 2 meals a day but not for dinner. What kind of “regular” meal do most people eat when they don’t use Huel? Is there anything Huel is lacking that would be good to focus on? Or is Huel complete enough that the contents of the regular meal aren’t important as long as it’s healthy? For example, if my non huel meal was solely protein such as chicken breast, or solely vegetables, etc, would that be doing myself a disservice?

Lastly, if anyone has reversed pre/early diabetes with Huel, I’d love to hear the success story and any advice.

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Hey @ZF911 - welcome to the US forum!

So sorry to hear this but happy to help provide some insights. It’s awesome to see you’re looking to make positive change too.

You’re correct. We need to update this as this is an error, for example with our newer Hot and Savory flavors which are above the 42% listed. I am going to flag this to our team today to update!

It really depends! The doctor/dietitian you speak with will be able to provide you with specifics. Generally speaking, for some, they tend to recommend starting off making some healthier choices, becoming aware of carbs/fiber as well as protein and fat and portion sizes. For others, they may provide some specific amounts of carbs to stay within.

There’s nothing that is “lacking” in terms of the essential nutrients in Huel based on the general 2000 calorie recommendations. However, you do want that other meal to be balanced too! The reason being that if you’re not consuming Huel as 100% of your intake (and we don’t recommend you consume only Huel) you want to be sure you’re getting nutrients from other sources too.

In short, yes! Generally speaking, as mentioned, you want to be sure your dinner meal is also balanced, containing carbs (focus on complex carbs such as fiber) as well as protein and fat to ensure you get in all the nutrients your body needs. So with your chicken breast, have lots of non-starchy veggies as well as a whole grain or starch and some fat (eg. olive oil, avocado, etc.).

Hope this helps. Let me know if you have any additional questions or concerns too as well as how everything goes! :slight_smile:

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I greatly appreciate you taking the time to reply to this. This is really helpful information, thank you!

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