Hello, everyone. I’m an experienced user of instant, nutritionally complete foods, having been a Soylent customer for a year and a half or so, and I’ve also tried Jimmy Joy. I love the convenience and healthy ingredients of these products, and the fact that they are vegan and less damaging to the environment. I use them for lunches and hiking and cycling trips. I recently made my first purchase of Huel, and I wanted to share my thoughts.
It is a good product! Compared to Soylent powder, it appears to have a better list of ingredients and a macronutrient profile that is closer to what I’m supposed to be eating (according to a couple of websites.) Soylent is primarily maltodextrin, soy protein, and canola oil. Huel appears to rely more on oats, pea protein, and flax seeds. While both products seem to be nutritionally sound, Huel feels a little healthier. My stomach responds positively to both of them - perhaps a teeny bit better to Huel, which appears to fill me up just a little better than Soylent does.
Soylent does have some advantages over Huel. It sells for around 20% less, and it also lasts longer while refrigerated (48 hours as opposed to 24). The packaging is better too - I prefer the smaller pouches to Huel’s large ones, which make contamination more likely and are harder to take with you while traveling.
By the way, one nutritionist did a lengthy comparison of the 2 products which I found online. It made for interesting reading and, since Huel came out on top, encouraged me to make my first purchase.
Re flavor: Probably most people don’t like the taste of plain Huel, but I actually think it is pretty good. It has a savory, earthy flavor that many people might not like, but if you’re used to eating things like brown rice and beans, then you should feel at home drinking Huel. The vanilla version is good too. The sticking point for me was the flavoring that I ordered (chocolate mint). It is OK in small quantities, but one batch I made really brought out that horrible sucralose flavor. Yuk - I really hate artificial sweeteners! I would much rather add a teaspoon of sugar, or brown sugar, or maple syrup.
So since I have some Soylent around the house, I began mixing them together. I usually toss in a banana and maybe a piece of fruit. I have experience now adding spices and flavorings to improve the taste of these foods, and while I won’t give away my secret recipe, I think this is how you get the best flavors from them. So, with a statement that probably won’t please either company, I feel like I get the best results by mixing Huel with Soylent (and adding some other goodies!) The higher fat Soylent helps smooth out the grittiness of the Huel, and the Huel adds some nice robustness to the mix. I plan to continue experimenting in this way, and maybe see how Jimmy Joy fares when mixed with Huel.
So it is a good product, and I believe I will order more. I am wearing my Huel T-shirt as I write this.
