Stomach cramps after 4 months of Huel

Experiences
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Hi there, I’ve been taking Huel regularly for about 4 months now. I started off consuming around 10-12 scoops a day, and went through a 2 week adjustment period of intense diarrhoea, but after the first month cut back to around 8 and then 6. About two weeks ago I started experiencing sudden and nasty stomach cramps accompanied by diarrhoea and nausea. A brief fever also ensued where I released about 2 Oz of sweat in under 2 minutes.

I cut out huel after a couple of days of these cramps and things gradually got better and after a week I was more or less back to normal but with minor stomach aches. I continued drinking protein shakes that I mix with my huel and they didn’t cause any stomach pains. My mum was telling me it was the huel but I was somewhat adamant it wasn’t as I had cut down to about half of what I used to drink. However, the last couple of days I have been drinking about 2 scoops a day. At the time of writing this, I drank 3/4 of a 2 scoop huel 10 minutes ago, and am noticing the sudden cramps and stomach aches coming back on. Has this happened to other people? I really like Huel due to its convenience but should I stop taking it indefinitely? These pains have only really come about from these last two bags that I’ve purchased.

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You might want to try the unsweetened version to see if it’s the sucralose- it bothers some people… or maybe it’s more accurate to say that some people host gut bacteria that don’t like sucralose. That gut bacteria population changes over time might explain why you’ve recently developed adverse reactions?

3

Hi Rory,

We recommend that when you start your Huel diet, you first try replacing 1 meal with Huel, and then after a while (approx. 5-7 days) you could progress to replacing 2 of your daily meals (and then 3, 4, etc. if you want to go 100% Huel). This will allow your body to slowly adjust to Huel.

If you switch from one diet e.g. vegan to paleo, you can experience flatulence and irregular bowel movements, tiredness and/or cravings, etc. It’s not that the diet is bad it’s due to changes in the gut’s microbiome based on their new food source.

Such a major dietary change from day 1 is never advised.

It’s possible that it was just a coincidence and you were just ill during that time, especially if you had a fever - this is not a food-related symptom.

Ensure you drink enough water as Huel is high in fibre, which acts like a sponge in the gut.

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