In early July, I began eating Huel as my primary source of nutrition. I was already eating what would be considered by most people extremely healthy. No dairy, very little sugar, only meat was chicken breasts, lots of beans, rice, and veggies. My lab results from 2018 were completely normal and in healthy levels, so I wasn’t expecting a significant change after switching to Huel.
I was surprised by the results of my 2019 labs. Here are the main numbers. This was with zero change in exercise (I went from no exercise to…no exercise 
)
To me, the key takeaway was even better cholesterol numbers with no change in protein, a slight dip in potassium, and a slight bump in calcium.
I’m happy to share any other numbers that are normally present in CBC diff/platelet, metabolic, lipid labs that anyone might be curious about. I’m not a doctor, so I don’t know what they all mean, anyway.
I posted this for people who are like, “I can’t get enough protein in a vegan/Huel diet!” From chickpeas, black beans, and chicken breast to Huel, and no change.
(Yes, I’m aware my HDL should be higher…see “zero exercise” comment above.)
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I love this Randy, thank you for sharing!
Your HDL may look a little low but your LDL is looking good.
I would be interested to see your other results if you’re happy to share?
Out of interest, has your fibre intake changed at all?
Thanks for sharing this. Really interesting and also heartening for those of us on the Huel journey.
I never measured my nutrients before Huel, but my diet was pretty consistent. Oatmeal every morning, chicken / beans / rice for lunch, a vegetable or chicken-based dinner. Maybe once or twice a month I’d have a burger, ribs, etc. Popcorn pretty frequently as a snack. I’d say my fiber intake from the rice, beans, and oatmeal was probably pretty high.
2018 2019
Cholesterol, Total 137 101
HDL Cholesterol 41 36
LDL Cholesterol Calc 69 46
Triglycerides 134 97
VLDL Cholesterol Cal 27 19
Protein 7 7
Glucose 81 79
Potassium 4.7 4.2
Sodium 143 141
Calcium 9.2 9.5
A/G Ratio 1.7 2
Albumin 4.4 4.7
Alkaline Phosphatase 87 97
ALT (SGPT) 27 23
AST (SGOT) 22 19
Bilirubin, Total 0.8 0.9
BUN 11 16
BUN/Creatinine Ratio 12 19
Carbon Dioxide, Total 25 23
Chloride 103 102
Creatinine 0.89 0.86
eGFR 105 105
Globulin, Total 2.6 2.3
Baso (Absolute) 0 0
Basos 1 0
Eos 3 3
Eos (Absolute) 0.2 0.2
Hematocrit 45.3 46.5
Hemoglobin 15.6 16.1
Immature Grans (Abs) 0 0
Immature Granulocytes 0 0
Lymphs 25 30
Lymphs (Absolute) 1.7 2
MCH 30.5 31
MCHC 34.4 34.6
MCV 89 90
Monocytes 10 8
Monocytes (Absolute) 0.7 0.6
Neutrophils 61 59
Neutrophils (Absolute) 4.2 4
Platelets 187 194
RBC 5.12 5.19
RDW 13.1 12.5
WBC 6.8 6.7
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Yeah I would agree with you.
Thanks for sharing!
It’s quite interesting because most people who share results tend to have gone from a relatively unhealthy diet to Huel, unlike yourself.
Thanks for sharing. Dan mentioned the HDL dropping, but this might be expected with a drop in total cholesterol, and the key point is your ratio of LDL:HDL has improved.
You say ‘Huel as my primary source of nutrition’, how much Huel and which products do you have?
I have Huel pretty much every meal. If we’re coming back from somewhere and want to stop at a restaurant, I’ll have some tacos or something like that. Occasional Chinese food. Even if I know we’re likely to go out to eat, I’ll throw a couple Ziploc baggies in the car so I have an option just in case the place we decide to eat is not something I want.
Regarding quantity, usually 1600 calorie day. I’m pretty small (140 lbs) and lead a sedentary life (work from home at my desk all day).
Here are my normal Huel meals including about how much of my diet they fill.
v1.1 Berry + water (50%)
50/50 v3 Vanilla/v3 Unflavored + water (30%)
12oz cold brew coffee + 50/50 v3 Vanilla/v3 Unflavored + water (15%)
50/50 Chocolate Black/Unflavored + a banana + water (5%)
I do 50/50 unflavored with all of the new Huels primarily because of the strong v3 Vanilla flavor, but also to reduce sweetener.
I have 11 bags of the v1.1 Berry left (I bought a bunch from the outlet after I tried the new Berry). Not sure what I’ll do when it runs out.
Hi @randyslavey
Thanks for that info; that’s interesting to hear and great to hear that you’re doing so well with Huel being the major part of your nutrition.
Hi Randy!
I admire your work. I want to support your own intentions at awkward angles.
I am teaching Huel at the top of my Twitter feed. I use your one infographic without named attribution.
Please let me know if I am out of line re-purposing this one image for this very important use!
Thank you!
