I saw this recent study (https://www.cell.com/cell-metabolism/fulltext/S1550-4131(20)30057-7). @Dan_Huel what are your thoughts?
Thanks for sharing Paulina!
It’s interesting but missing the mark a bit.
What’s important to note is that the levels per serving are higher than Huel. Also this is looking at drinks i.e. they aren’t providing any nutrients except sugars while Huel has fibre, protein etc all which are likely to affect any response.
Other longer-term studies e.g. study have shown no effect and participants were having sucralose with a mixed meal. The authors reference such studies and suggest “This suggests that LCSs may have different effects depending on how they are consumed, with greater likelihood for impairment when LCSs are provided in conjunction with carbohydrate.” (LCS = low-calorie sweeteners).
I disagree with the last bit of their conclusion. Based on their study and others impairment is more likely with carbohydrate ONLY, these effects are not seen with a mixed meal and in studies longer than a month any effects related to glucose and insulin response disappear anyway, whatever people are given.
It’s also odd that the researchers decided to add a maltodextrin only arm to the study later on and conducted this part of the study in a different set of participants, therefore the comparisons they make are not ideal because different people will have different metabolic responses.
You can check out more about sucralose in our article here.
the study says they consumed 1000 mg per day of sucralose. Do you know how much is in a serving of Huel?
Look man, I only need to know one thing…
What’s my hemoglobin A1c?
I’ve been consuming huel and Huel flavor boosts about 5 days per week for the last two years (almost). Last year my A1c was 4.8, and above you see my A1c from Jan this year. That’s all I need to know about how sucralose affects my insulin sensitivity. (Oh, RIP Bill Paxton. Didn’t realize he was in the GIF screen shot till now.)
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I can’t give exact numbers but if you were to consume 2000kcal of Huel you would be under 1000mg of sucralose.
I was waiting for your reply.
I’ve been enjoying Huel during my pregnancy, and I have gestational diabetes, so I found the study to be contradictory with my Huel experience. I have 50g for breakfast and 50g for 1-2 snacks a day while eating whole foods (plant based for the most part) for lunches and dinners.
I was looking to see anyone else’s experience coincided with the study since flavored Huel contains both sucralose and maltodextrin.
The thing is that anyone can test their own insulin sensitivity by using a glucose meter, checking their 2 hour post meal blood sugar levels. Or better yet they can request an A1c from their doctor on next visit. Then they don’t have to speculate whether or not the results of this study applies to them.