Anyone tried Huel?

LastMantra

UnclePsychosis said:

monquixote said:

I've been having Huel for a few years now. 

There is quite a bit of uninformed crap about it. 

It's not some kind of artificial chemical thing, the main ingredients are: Oat Flour, Pea Protein, Flaxseed, Brown Rice, Tapioca, Sunflower Oil, Coconut Oil

It's just powdered and mixed up, but it's not full of e numbers and crap.

I found it useful because it lasts forever so you can have a bag of it kicking around the office and if you don't get time to eat then you get something which has balanced macros. 
It may not be the healthiest and cheapest thing ever, but it is both cheaper and healthier than ready meals, or prepacked sandwiches from Tesco which is the usual alternative. 

I do worry that it's inert / sterile given the importance of the microbiome to health, but that's why I wouldn't recommend eating only Huel. 

It's not amazingly nice, if you blend it then it's quite drinkable especially if you blend a banana into it.

This. 

I'm a spectacularly fussy eater. Always have been. But Huel is absolutely fine. It's not very exciting but the idea that it's revolting is odd. At worst, it's bland.

Would I eat it all the time as a 100% food replacement? No. Is it great to have around as a quick, easy, well balanced source of fuel? Absolutely. 

I used the slimfast shake powder stuff when I was going through withdrawal and couldn't eat solids. It was all I could get down and it kept me going. 
I always thought it would be handy if you can't be bothered/not got time and just need, as you say, "fuel". 
Not particularly cheap I suppose. 

Bidley

monquixote said:

Bidley said:

Weight loss diets and routines are deeply personal, and everyone has an opinion. Find something that works for you and stick to it. Be it Huel, keto, cutting out biscuits, whatever.

I lost 55kg and it wasn't as simple as eating less cake.

I think we need to be clear that Huel isn't a diet food.

The people who got me into it were rowers who were using it to eat 4,000+ calories per day.

That's fair - I don't really know much about it, but people do seem to use it that way. If you want to control your food intake then something like that may help.

Incidentally I may need to do something as well - my weight is creeping up despite running 40km and 3 gym sessions a week and being strict on food. It never ends eh

chrisj1602

I’m tempted to try the hot and savoury. I live alone so can’t often be bothered to cook so it looks an easy way of getting a balance meal down me.

TheMarlin

Bewildered people would buy/eat this stuff. 

Have they sorted out the gastric distress test plagued initial release?

monquixote

TheMarlin said:

Bewildered people would buy/eat this stuff. 

Have they sorted out the gastric distress test plagued initial release?

Mostly the gastric distress relates to journalists who for the sake of an article decide to go from their regular diet to nothing but Huel and unsurprisingly get sick as they would with any massive dietary change.

fretmeister

monquixote said:

TheMarlin said:

Bewildered people would buy/eat this stuff. 

Have they sorted out the gastric distress test plagued initial release?

Mostly the gastric distress relates to journalists who for the sake of an article decide to go from their regular diet to nothing but Huel and unsurprisingly get sick as they would with any massive dietary change.

I remember reading  those articles.

Going 100% Huel for a week or more without building up to it was stupid.

Ive done 2 weeks of Huel only before and I was fine.

TTBZ

The shakes are rank imo, they have a weird aftertaste and aren't very filling. I've tried the hot and savoury stuff which was better but a bit grainy in texture from all the seeds and stuff in it. Had some pretty "interesting" moments on the toilet after that one too haha. Haven't tried the pasta yet but it's meant to be pretty good, I might get a bag just to keep at work for when I forget to make lunch. 

Lebarque

Tried the shakes a few years ago. Like the idea, but tasted disgusting. Like drinking clay. I was gagging every time. Most of it went in the bin - £30 down the drain. Presumably why they don't do tester packs.

axisus

I couldn't possibly put a product in my mouth that's name sounds like someone throwing up.

monquixote

Lebarque said:

Tried the shakes a few years ago. Like the idea, but tasted disgusting. Like drinking clay. I was gagging every time. Most of it went in the bin - £30 down the drain. Presumably why they don't do tester packs.

You can buy individual bottles at the supermarket now. 

It helps to use a blender rather than a shaker and add a bit more water than they recommend.

thecolourbox

Lebarque said:

Tried the shakes a few years ago. Like the idea, but tasted disgusting. Like drinking clay. I was gagging every time. Most of it went in the bin - £30 down the drain. Presumably why they don't do tester packs.

It was the shakes I tried as I don't like lunch food so thought it could be easier - that weird aftertaste (or "over-taste" is perhaps more of an accurate description) of pea dust and artificial sweetener was what seemed to do it for me. Just the smell of it was enough to get me retching, then when I tried to drink it, it was only a matter of minutes before it made a very unwelcome and dramatic return. I have the same reaction to my wife's sport nutrition shakes though thankfully I've never been subjected to drinking one - the threat of immediate projectile shake has prevented that being tried I think.

Tried using it to bake with, tried using milk instead, blending bananas with it, adding other fruit, adding chocolate chips, loads of stuff. Same result every time. The bottled version was not quite as bad, but still caused the immediate projectile return.

I can eat other sweetened stuff, I like sugar free yoghurts, squash, soft drinks, and I eat a fair bit of meat substitute stuff, but there's something about the smell and the over-taste that just sets me off every time I sense it.

Jo-to-po

I started having Huel purely out of convenience; my early mornings and lunch breaks are spent walking the dog, and I was forever struggling to find something filling and not full of absolute shite.

I have the shake for breakfast most mornings. If you don't want lumps, just put the water in first. I find it more pleasant with chilled water from the fridge.

I have the hot and savoury for lunch during the week. This is a bit more of a struggle. The pasta-based ones are tolerable but some of the other ones are a bit of an effort to force down at times.

I've been having it for probably 6 months now, maybe more? It won't make you a fart machine. It won't make you really sick. It's fine.

thecolourbox

Jo-to-po said:

It won't make you a fart machine. It won't make you really sick. It's fine.

I think it's probably better to say "it probably won't" rather than "it won't", as it did those things to me so it's definitely possible that it might, like anything you have to try it really if you can justify losing the money you spend on it should it disagree with you

RaymondLin

You guys must hate food to put yourself through these stuff just for some nutrients.  There is 1st world problem and there is this on top.

it’s expensive, it tastes bad, it (can) give you the runs. All for the sake of convenience.  Get up 5 mins earlier and get some oats and porridge with honey? I dunno, this doesn’t seem like a problem need solving.  It will probably work great for places like Africa where all you need is water or war zones or perhaps refugee camps and perhaps the space station.

LastMantra

RaymondLin said:

You guys must hate food to put yourself through these stuff just for some nutrients.  There is 1st world problem and there is this on top.

it’s expensive, it tastes bad, it (can) give you the runs. All for the sake of convenience.  Get up 5 mins earlier and get some oats and porridge with honey? I dunno, this doesn’t seem like a problem need solving.  It will probably work great for places like Africa where all you need is water or war zones or perhaps refugee camps and perhaps the space station.

I'm not really a foody, I enjoy nice food when I have it but most of the time eating is just an inconvenience really. I'm generally far more concerned about the nutritional value than the "experience". If I can make a shake and gulp it down in 5 minutes then cool.

I certainly wouldn't do that all the time, it's good to have a varied diet. 

thecolourbox

I tried to use it instead of lunch, lunch food is pretty crap in my experience so I thought it would be a good concept as it would fill the gap without having to bother making it buying limp shitty sandwiches and without the temptation of picking up a multipack of KitKat chunkies at the same time. 

ToneControl

Haych said:

As the title.  Is it any good, or is it just a bunch of repackaged dehydrated and/or microwave meals with an inflated price.

Did it help achieve your weight loss goals?

Trying to lose a bit at the moment.  So far I'm down about half a stone in three weeks just from limiting portion size and eliminating snacks.  Ideally I'd like to drop another 30lbs!  I'm currently about 5' 10" and 210ish lbs.

I have thought about Huel for a while but don't know whether I believe the hype or not.

Thanks in advance.

I'd say keep doing what you are now - same portion sizes, but for each meal have less carbs, and more protein and fat

Also eliminate added sugar - no chocs/sweets/fizz drinks, biscuits. Sugar is the worst thing by a mile, if you have insulin resistance, which is commonplace amongst overweight people

Lebarque

thecolourbox said:

I tried to use it instead of lunch, lunch food is pretty crap in my experience so I thought it would be a good concept as it would fill the gap without having to bother making it buying limp shitty sandwiches and without the temptation of picking up a multipack of KitKat chunkies at the same time. 

KitKat Chunkies > Huel

monquixote

RaymondLin said:

You guys must hate food to put yourself through these stuff just for some nutrients.  There is 1st world problem and there is this on top.

it’s expensive, it tastes bad, it (can) give you the runs. All for the sake of convenience.  Get up 5 mins earlier and get some oats and porridge with honey? I dunno, this doesn’t seem like a problem need solving.  It will probably work great for places like Africa where all you need is water or war zones or perhaps refugee camps and perhaps the space station.

What's the point of saying this when you clearly have zero idea what you are talking about?

If you had read the thread you would realise:

It doesn't give you the runs

It isn't expensive

It doesn't require milk (it's vegan) or a microwave, or anything that spoils like porridge (unless you mean with water and fuck that)

It also basically is porridge plus a couple of other ingredients that make it a bit more balanced.

Lots of people actually like it.

RaymondLin

monquixote said:

RaymondLin said:

You guys must hate food to put yourself through these stuff just for some nutrients.  There is 1st world problem and there is this on top.

it’s expensive, it tastes bad, it (can) give you the runs. All for the sake of convenience.  Get up 5 mins earlier and get some oats and porridge with honey? I dunno, this doesn’t seem like a problem need solving.  It will probably work great for places like Africa where all you need is water or war zones or perhaps refugee camps and perhaps the space station.

What's the point of saying this when you clearly have zero idea what you are talking about?

If you had read the thread you would realise:

It doesn't give you the runs

It isn't expensive

It doesn't require milk (it's vegan) or a microwave, or anything that spoils like porridge (unless you mean with water and fuck that)

It also basically is porridge plus a couple of other ingredients that make it a bit more balanced.

Lots of people actually like it.

I read lots of comments in this thread from people tried it and doesn’t like how it tastes and stonevibe saying it isn’t cheap?

I did put “can” in quotes because I know someone would say it doesn’t give you the runs, I did read the bit about people did it straight off for 2 weeks hence I put that in quotes…so I already know but you can’t deny other people did bring it up before me.

Every meal is an opportunity to eat something nice, why waste your life eating or shall I say drinking this stuff? It feels like punishment to me.  I know the busy life style et etc etc, but man…I rather go get a banana.  Which is also cheaper too.

btw I know what Huel is, I know what they are trying to market it as and I know you love it.  This isn’t so much the chemical side I disagree with (point already made earlier) but the mental block of making yourself to eat that stuff out of choice.

There must be other solutions to the busy problem or the dieting problem.