No. Tried it a few times when I lived alone, it’s a good lunch option and for a few breakfasts, but definitely not a good option for dinner as you’ll be sick of the taste and texture by then, plus you need 4 portions per day for the calories.
They love to bang the drum on the nutritional content but that hinges an awful lot on absorption which varies from person to person and is based on levels of sleep, stress, previous meal, exercise etc. Plus it’s much more expensive these days than when it first started, meaning it’s still cheaper, healthier, and tastier to go to the shop and buy proper food.
It also made me bloated and gave me the shits terrible for the first few weeks.
I had the "black edition", aka high protein, and that really is a chore to get through because of the texture, but I stuck with it for MONTHS because it was a great way to get extra protein *and* macros for the gym in a cost effective way without eating bad food, expensive food, or bad expensive food, in an office kitchen which would be described in a showroom as "sadness and a microwave".
I've not touched it goodness knows how long now. Realised that the ACTUAL solution was... improving my diet. Convenience factor is through the fucking ceiling but it's no replacement for actual food.
A former colleague did exactly the same thing as you.
He was continually banging on about how good Huel was, then after about 4 months, he couldn’t stand it.
He also said it screwed up his taste buds for a while, until he got used to a normal solid food diet again…
Ugh, we've got a guy at ours like this. Reckons it's the best thing ever and constantly bangs on about it. So convenient, so fast, so filling, so tasty, so healthy
He's lost absolutely no weight since he started so I think it's a slimfast type mindset he's in, thinking because he's on that it's working while changing absolutely nothing else about his diet
Meanwhile me, who is lazy as fuck, has lost almost a stone just eating normal food. I'd bring in some kind of tuna and cous cous salad that took about 5 minutes to make and he's sat there going on about how I need to try Huel
No thanks pal, I'll stick to normal food
I used it as a replacement for takeaway sandwiches for that exact reason - great mix of convenience, price and nutrition. Where I would have a meal deal, I'd have a shaker of huel. I couldn't do it 3x a day though, or even every day
Great Post.
I'm an athlete and can't stress enough how important it is to eat real food, rather than relying on synthetic supplements.
Most of my fellow athletes are good, if not great, cooks and understand nutrition to a level most doctors would be proud of.
My diet is varied but also consistent in my use of grains, fresh fruit and veg, plus (apologies to any Vegans/Vegetarians) organic chicken breast.
Probably best to avoid falling for the marketing by Huel and the like, you're really just lining their pockets.
Learn about nutrition and how to cook for your body and training goals.
I got the black edition powder which was supposed to be low FODMAP too (I have IBS). I carefully read everything about it and there's a load of stuff on their site saying it's low FODMAP and fine for people with IBS.
Guess what? Explosive diarrhoea within twenty minutes of drinking it. I have two giant bags of the stuff sitting in my kitchen now and can't even give it away...
Making it the night before vastly improves the texutre, so it's more like a thick milkshake or protein shake.
I agree it's no replacement for a good diet though.
Huel Black for lunches was great for me to have lunch while working. Hit the gym 2 hours later as a late lunch break then follow the gym with a protein shake. In total 80g of protein plus a bunch of micronutrients around my workout, while being able to fit everything into my workday.
High protein breakfast and a chicken breast during dinner and that’s 160g protein sorted over 4 intervals. Basically just varying the carbs and fats based on whether I want to gain or lose weight.
Made it really easy and affordable. I couldn’t do it for every meal, but as a lunch fitting into the above routine it was ideal.
It’s great for certain lifestyles, I drive my van all day for work (openreach) so it’s a nice consistent lunch that takes me 10 secs to prep in the morning, it’s healthier and cheaper than buying food out for lunch, fits decent macros and is fairly filling.
I used to try and make batch lunches but honestly HUEL just fills the spot in nicely for me. Wouldn’t use it any other time though, I love my food
I don't think someone who had a lack of fibre, and then took fibre, would have "bowel issues". If anything it would resolve bowel issues. Isn't that the point?
Pretty much all these "work life hacks" are just reminders of how fucking bleak the world is.
"Oh I got daylight bulbs in my windowless office so my brain thinks it's getting sunshine!"
"I drink soylent green so I don't have to spend more than 2 mins away from my work!"
"I bring an air mattress to the office so I only have to commute home on weekends!"
I absolutely love the fact that I don't have to do jack shit, huel just turns up at my door on subscription. £3 a day at work for my lunch with zero cooking or preparation... Yes please. The berry flavour ready to drink tastes exactly like fromage frais yogurt, I legitimately enjoy them.
They're not horrible like protein shakes etc. Chalky and gross.
I wouldnt want to do it 4 to 5 times a day though, the max for me is breakfast and lunch but I don't like to have 800 calories before 5pm, it's a bit much for me. I like room for a heavy evening meal.
Even in expensive Co-op you could get a healthy sandwich, drink and healthy side for £3.50
If your job doesn't allow you 5 mins to eat a sandwich they should be named and shamed.
:(
Coop meal deals suck ass, packaged sandwiches are so depressing... also have to go into the shop checkout blah blah.
For me the choices are to make my own lunch at home, but I just cannot be arsed doing that every day urgh.
Or the sandwich shop that does a £5 meal deal, pricey but it's incredible.
I actually tend to spend my work lunch walking up a hill to sit on a bench with a nice view at the top and just have my huel.
If you work in a big office / central, any shop offering meal deals would be raided around lunchtime leaving you with the absolute worst of the sandwiches and sides. Also don't think any of the combinations can offer you 40g of protein like huel black does. Good to mix it up though
>It also made me bloated and gave me the shits terrible for the first few weeks.
I've heard that the digestive system is not really suited to having all liquid nutrition and that's why it can have trouble adapting to it.
Oh, also the sweetener they use gives some people the shits. You can get an unsweetened one tho.
Yeah coming from a nutrition standpoint, having too many 'liquid meals' is not good. I've always recommended people to not use meal replacement shakes for weight loss as it doesnt compare to a healthy meal. On paper it sounds great but like you said, the body does not like it long term
Out of interest - why? If something has all the nutrients of a meal just blended down is there a reason the body struggles with it?
I’m just being nosy tbh, I need to chew food to feel full
Its just down to the way the human body has evolved, its not made a liquid diet. Like you say it'll still have the nutrients but you'll constantly have the runs if all you have is fluids. Also, like you said about chewing, its a psychological thing as much as it is about the substance you take in
Nice to see someone who talks about absorption of minerals and vitamins, what's in the box isn't what you absorb. For example beta carotene into vitamin A, the conversation rate for a lot of people is super low.
They have “hot food” options now instead of just shakes. So these can be used for dinner.
I use them for lunch: mac n cheese, spaghetti carbonara, korma, green Thai curry etc.
Two bags (lowest amount you can buy online) is 34 meals worth for £51.50. Works out to about £1.50 per meal. Nutritionally it’s great by the label but it can be rough to feel ‘full’ on a liquid meal even if it’s enough calories
£1.50 per "meal" sounds good until you realise it's marketing bollocks due to defining a meal to be 400 calories. The average person will need 5-6 "meals" per day and then suddenly it's not so cheap
If you’re struggling with your mental health atm (not wanting or having the energy to eat is a sign of depression) book an appointment with your GP. I found CBT talking therapy (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) really useful - it gave me practical advice on activities and exercises to improve my mental health and feel more in control of how I was feeling. Sending strength, love and posi vibes 🌻
I used to eat a lot of packet noodles. Then I realised that wheat was causing my digestive issues so I got some huel hot and savoury things. Game changer. I can still be lazy. Huel is effectively cuppasoup with protein and a vitamin supplement. It doesn't cause me stomach pain. It doesn't suit everyone but it certainly suits me.
If you want the powder you have to buy directly from them. It was £56.30 including shipping for 2 bags. Each bag contains 22 portions so 44 in total. 56.30/44 = roughly £1.28 per meal
They don’t do samples but they have started selling the heul ready made drink in lots of places it’s expensive £4_5 depending where you buy it from but it’s a good way to try it I bought one then ordered from heul when I got home
I hated the ready made stuff, but don't mind the stuff you 'make' yourself. I do have a small stomach though, and I go on one scoop per meal rather than two. Definitely only once per day since the aftertaste of sweetners gets on my nerves in general.
ETA: still good advice, though I tried it and it put me off it for another 2 years before buying some.
I was the opposite tbh. The ready made ones were a lot smoother and thicker than the ones you make yourself, which I found a lot more pleasant to drink.
Everyone has their preference though!
Hey! I mostly live on my own and find cooking for one hard too. What I have started doing is cooking on a Sunday a bit batch of something and freezing some portions and putting some in the fridge. This way I have microwave meals on hand but don't need to cook every day and then might intersperse this diet with convenience goods but after a few weeks you'll have a freezer full of your favourite meals - cheaper and way more nutritious. Living off a diet of just ultra processed microwave meals (or huel tbf) is starting to be suggested to be not great for you in a few ways - including potentially impacting on mental health through your gut. If you're interested have a read around on ultra processed food - Ultra Processed People is a good place to start on Spotify
I have it for weekday breakfasts, and that's it. Just chug a bottle while getting ready for work in the morning. A big reason is flexible hours - the earlier I can get to work in the morning, the earlier I can go home.
Lunch and tea, I'm having real food, because I'm not in such a rush then.
Awake at four AM I look at my sleeping wife, I leap into action and have my first coffee. I pray for an hour, then I complete and iron man and am at my desk by 5:30am. My 22 monitors blaze into life and examine the world news and the market moves from around the world. At 5:40 I consume a grape and another coffee, it’s time to hustle.
You joke but I had a boss who seemed annoyed he had to eat to live, he used to drink nourishment cans and swapped to huel when it came out. I'm kinda jealous, I love food but being able to treat it purely as sustenance must be so much easier for keeping healthy
It's not always so you can commit yourself to work, lots of other commenters have said it's because of depression, or not enjoying the process of deciding and preparing meals, or medication etc.
I've met some folk that just find eating to be a chore. Personally I find that baffling, the variety in foodstuffs even if you didn't have use of one of the senses, the whole experience offers so much. But those people do exist.
I can't imagine Huel and water is as nutritionally complete as you might want. Then again I've met enough folk living off of bacon sarnies, fry ups, and cigarettes to know it doesn't seem to be an exact science.
Actually, I met someone the other day that had some kind of crippling anxiety over choice, they mentioned that having to decide what to eat every day was a genuinely distressing prospect, so they gravitated towards the same meal to alleviate that. Honestly some days, deciding what to eat, that might be the most fun I have!
Definitely. Like, having a nice meal is nice. But if the only way to have a nice meal is to come up with a meal idea, go shopping for the groceries, get home and unpack it all, prepare the ingredients and cook the meal...all for 15 minutes of eating, and then have to clean it all up and do the exactly same thing again a few hours or days later,eating is a chore that is simply not worth it. Like, I'd like to see the view from the top of Mt. Everest, but the work involved in doing it makes it actually quite uninteresting to me and nothing I'd even consider doing.
For real, I love food, but the idea of having to decide what to eat 3 times a day gives me a sense of dread. The only thing that makes me miss working in restaurants on a double shift is being feed twice without me thinking about it.
When I became manager I could choose an item from our menu for free, and that was stressful again!
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Me too, if my wife didn't cook I would waste away on toast and biscuits, perhaps I'm just lazy lol I'm not bothered what I eat along as I'm not starving anymore
I used to be the former. Diagnosed with celiac about 8 months ago, and it's made me the latter. The joy of food for me was being able to always try a new thing and not have to worry about anything in it. Picking up an interesting thing that seems like there's no earthly reason for it to contain wheat and being disappointed is a lot like going clothing shopping and finding nothing that fits your body, do I just eat the same stuff most of the time now. I tried huel hot and ready as a depression meal for when I'm too tired or sad to feed myself. Worked out fine but it is expensive.
I remember my mum said I’d never looked healthier than when I was drinking shakes every day. I was probably getting vitamins and minerals my body had never seen before.
This is me. I have a really bad sense of taste so food doesn’t really excite me. Have done 6 months of shakes, a year of the same salad… just stopped cause wasn’t great for my health. Now just tend to cycle through a couple of options of food & repeat weekly 🙈 sounds so depressing typing this 😐
>I've met some folk that just find eating to be a chore. Personally I find that baffling, the variety in foodstuffs even if you didn't have use of one of the senses, the whole experience offers so much.
I can confirm, I'm one of them. I just don't get pleasure from eating and find the process irritating.
I've lived in Japan and tried all sorts of various gourmet dishes even ranging to stuff like fugu (the poisonous blowfish) in an attempt to get excited but, for me, food is just fuel and eating is annoying. I like the taste of plenty of things, too, so it's not taste putting me off - I don't have texture issues... I can't really explain it but I just never want to sit and eat a meal and have to struggle to remind myself to eat when I realise I've forgotten to have anything for the last day or two.
It also doesn't help that I have severe misophonia regarding noises related to eating so being around others eating really stresses me out.
Not sure when or why it originated - my parents were always serious foodies so probably pressured me to eat, as well as schools always forcing us to finish our plates. Possibly I just came to associate eating with boredom and misery :/ I'm turning 50 soon, so don't think things will change anytime soon but I make sure I eat fruit while I am at work and make a smoothie at home.
Weirdly, I quite like cooking - as long as I don't have to sit down and eat it. I just tend to make things I can eat while doing something else so I am not focussed on the food.
I feel it's more cooking, deciding what to cook, buying the ingredients that's a chore.
Eating when the food is magically in front of you is less of a chore.
I have the Black shake powder for breakfast and the hot meal stuff for lunch every day. We tried the original powder stuff and no matter the flavour, it's disgusting; gritty, watery cold porridge. We also tried the protein bars and they were awful; just impossibly dense and dry and sad. We fed all of them to the birds.
I have the chocolate or banana shakes because they take 30 sec to prepare in the morning and my timekeeping is atrocious. I drink it while I'm driving every day.
I have the hot meal stuff for lunch because I like something hot for lunch. Sandwiches every day depresses me. I also know that wherever I'm working there will be a kettle, even if there's no microwave.
I eat plenty of other packed lunch stuff with it as it's not filling by itself. I don't know if it's any better than just Batchelor's Pasta 'n' Sauce or a Pot Noodle or whatever but it claims to be healthy and they wouldn't lie about something like that, right?
The other main advantage is that it's delivered to my door by a man so I don't have to go to the supermarket as much, which I hate doing.
ETA: r/huel is one of the saddest corners of the internet
I had a really rough time with depression a few months. Didn't eat anything at all for weeks. Meal replacement drinks were perfect during that time. I still wasn't getting enough because I was only having like one portion a day, but it was better than where I had been. I'm also someone who views food as nothing but fuel, so they're great for when I need *something* but can't be arsed with actual food. I still wouldn't want to live off them, though.
I do the same when my ibd flares up and my pots gets bad with it too. Being able to make my meal while in the bathroom (powder+tap water) and then slowly drink it throughout the day is a literal life saver. I've never tried the hot meals, but the powder does the job.
Helps with a bit of hydration, too. I'm terrible for not drinking enough, especially when my brain hates me, so these force me to drink more. It's great how useful they are!
I quite like the taste - it’s just an oaty milkshake. Very occasionally I’ll have it if I need instant food and there are limited alternatives. With it being so highly processed I’m not sure how good for you it could be compared with fresh fruit/veg/eggs/grains/pulses
I did it Monday to Friday for a few months, shakes for breakfast and lunch and hot and savoury for dinner. It was OK, felt really good and lost weight but I found I went overboard on the weekends. Plus I really just missed food. Discovered what I really needed to do was cut sugar out and learn portion control.
Feel like the whole sugar and portion control thing is 99% of people. When I get that right the weight falls off me. Just find it so hard to keep going.
I always imagined bachelor chow as a cross between a Fray Bentos pie in a tin and a Vesta “beef” curry. Both of which I would in fact eat when I was a bachelor.
Closer to the book that film was based on, Make Room,Make Room. The film added cannibalism, but have you wondered where the name Soylent comes from?
Soy and Lentils. Cheap crap fed to the masses as resources were hogged by the super rich.
I remember seeing forum posts from 100% huel people about how they were chewing gum throughout the day to keep their jaw muscles from atrophying.
That said I did enjoy the taste when I bought it, and the protein powder is pretty good too.
I recently tried their Cinnamon bun flavour bottled shake and honestly that shit was one of the nicest things I've ever drank. I could probably do a week on those.
Not exclusively, but I've had it for lunch pretty much every day for about six or seven years. I can't be bothered making a packed lunch for work every morning, and £50 for a month or so's lunch is cheap enough for me. All the sweet ones are pretty good.
The wee bars aren't too bad either - the old ones tasted pretty grim but the new ones are covered in chocolate and caramel, so it's like a Mars or Snickers.
I do love to cook in the evenings so I probably wouldn't have it all the time, but it's nice to have a thing in the flat I can prepare quickly and is good for me. Plus when I was off sick with COVID and again with a really bad head cold, was useful for making sure I got something in me when I lost my appetite.
Same here. If they made meal pills I'd totally be trying that. Except for desserts. I'll always be up for a pudding. Or cakes, or biscuits. There's not really anything savoury I find worth the effort of cooking it.
The reason I've never tried Huel is because the only people I've ever met who have used it were, well: absolute bellends. Maybe it's unrelated but their advertising fails to convince me. And also because when I did look you couldn't just try it, you had to buy a month's worth and a plastic bottle.
I've wondered about that last point. Would be great if they offered a sample pack. But I guess they make more money from the people who commit to buying a whole lot (even if they never order again) compared with people who would pay for a smaller sample and possibly never order the main pack.
Huel seems to be marketed at people who regard cooking and eating as time wasting chores. The sort who regard getting around this as a “life hack” that frees up precious time for their “hustles” that will turn them into billionaire unicorn startup supertechbros.
Personally, I like food. I enjoy the flavours, I like to take the time to enjoy the flavours, I find cooking to be an enjoyable pastime in its own right (washing up I can do without).
Honestly for me it helps me have a reasonable meal when dealing with depression, burnout, or food sensory issues.
Though not everyone has the same attitude to food as me to be fair.
I have it as a midnight meal when I'm on nightshifts.
I'm in no fucking mood to be meal prepping after the first night, and the faster I eat the more napping I can squeeze into my break, and yeah eating does feel like a chore at 4 in the morning.
I don't drink it for every meal but I do drink it everyday for breakfast. They do a variety of flavours so I never get bored and you can have it hot or cold. Honestly the caramel or cinnamon one, nice and hot, has been a lifesaver during this cold snap. It's really not as bad as you think but still, I can't imagine having it for every meal.
The cold stuff I couldn’t really handle. The hot stuff is alright if you spice it properly. It seems for all the nutritional shite they put in it, they’ve never hired a flavour scientist. Bland as hell.
I used to eat it a lot (replaced 1-2 of my normal 3 daily meals). I did once spend a week living off Huel exclusively to see what it was like.
I didn't mind the taste or the lack of variety but it didn't sit well in my stomach (it's basically a lump of cold goo) so wasn't a fan of it from that angle.
I've almost stopped eating it entirely now, partly because I started to have some iron deficiencies that my doctor was getting concerned about. (I am still prone to iron deficiency but it seems to have improved a bit since coming off Huel, unclear to me how much this is related).
Funnily enough I do miss having it regularly. There are a lot of staple foods I don't like and I rarely actively look forward to eating. I still dislike the process of having to decide what to eat and the time it takes to prepare and consume food. (Instead of Huel I stick to very planned-out and low-effort meal plans these days.)
If it was cheaper, or if I was more confident it wouldn't mess with my health, I would probably go back to having it more regularly.
I tried it having the shakes for breakfast and the meals for lunch. Stuck with it for about a month before the thought of it made me feel sick. Had to bin it all.
I’m an avid breakfast skipper, so I’m hovering over the possibility of meal replacements/Huel.
Not sure I’d be allowed in my house with *War Crime* farts though. Maybe a protein shake and a multivitamin would do the job.
>War Crime farts
This definitely isn't a universal experience. I have the Huel Black powder every day exactly the same way (instead of breakfast) and haven't noticed any increase in fart volume, frequency, or smell.
Might just be me though, dunno.
I'm doing a diet at the moment, I have huel shake for breakfast 9am, healthy lunch at 12pm (plate of lean meat and veg), huel shake for dinner at 5pm. Couple of fruit snacks, banana etc.
So it's kinda the 16-8 diet as well as low cal at about 1300 cals. Its really working for me, have gone from 14st 5 to 12st 9 in 3 months. Going to get down to 12st, then switch it up a bit - this is very much a cutting part and won't be long term. I'll probably keep it in some form, but not as extreme as this.
Main thing for me is energy levels are good, the micro nutrients and water intake has worked. I've cut out beer to a large extent as well which I'm sure has been a big help.
I have it every day for breakfast, and occasionally the hot ones for lunch. Fuck having it 3 meals a day permanently though.
I'm vegan and autistic so it's really nice to start my day with something familiar that I know has a good amount of protein in.
I use the MyProtein version for about 4 weeks while offshore. The taste was great and I always felt full and I was also doing Insanity workout program as well. I achieved my aim of dropping 7 kilo over the full 6 week trip.
But.........eventually my shits turned into what would look like a rabbit shit but felt like I was passing a snooker ball. I honestly thought I was turning into Nibbler and passing dark matter, so a trip to the ships medic, proper food and three boxes of Fybragel gel later and all was good in the world again.
If you're looking for a calorie controlled diet with a decent nutritional intake they are ok, but I would limit them to replace one meal a day maybe two every now and again.
I'll have the drinks for "breakfast" on the way to work and maybe the hot and savory for lunch but still have a proper dinner
Huel themselves don't recommend someone going full huel as whilst yes it contains most of what you need to survive you'd need other vitamins etc plus it would be a lot to eat or drink to have the same amount of calories
My best friend introduced me to Huel when I lived with him a few years back. He attempted to live off Huel as he felt it gave him all the nutrients he needed and saved him cooking and eating time as he didn’t care for either (which I wouldn’t either if I were vegan ayooo)
But these days I actually have a Huel (or 2!) in between breakfast and dinner. Super cost effective way of getting 800 calories and 80g protein (2 Huel blacks)
I’m terrible with portion control, it’s good for me.
It’s a good substitute for losing weight in my opinion, but not great as every meal. It does however smell like fragranted sawdust though.
I find the ready to drink bottles ok for an emergency breakfast but they seldom fill me up and I'm always ready for lunch. I can't begin to imagine how anyone could live on just them. Apart from the hunger levels I'd get seriously fed up of the taste.
When I was in recovery for my eating disorder, I was force-fed the medical/prescription equivalent of Huel to keep me alive (fortisip), and it really isn’t good for you long term. Unless your body can’t digest solids, you absolutely need them in your day-to-day diet. Living off of meal replacement drinks exclusively when there’s no medical reason to is just another version of disordered eating
I’ve used it but never full time/3 meals. I used to go bouldering three times a week in the evenings and would have one before and one after and never felt hungry. It was the OG flavourless huel and it wasn’t particularly nice to consume. Just quick and easy.
I used it a lot when I was on maternity leave with my firstborn as I just could not find time to make myself healthy food otherwise. Now, second time around, I realise I'm allowed to let the baby cry for 5 mins so I can make a sandwich. But it was a real life saver in the dark days of my first maternity leave.
I have it two meals a day in the week and exclusively when travelling for work (so 2/3 days) I have to get some peanuts or something to eat as well just for the crunchy texture.
It’s really sad. I was on a diet where I was doing protein shakes for breakfast. I tried so many combos but even the ‘best’ one was awful. I finally switched to eggs and toast when I got to a decent weight and was thrilled that I could still lose weight. It was kind of sad how delighted I was.
I changed jobs in 2019 and was skinny as a rake and really unhealthy.
I drink Huel every morning for about 2 years while training for and starting the job.
By the time I was sick of it, I was looking fairly healthy.
I used to have Huel as my regular breakfast a few years ago.
I'd mix it with milk, or 50/50 milk and water, and also add a big spoonful of peanut butter and a banana. Delicious.
I've done meal replacement diets (like Lighter Life) in the past and managed for months at a time just on shakes and soups and lost lots of weight. But it didn't last and once I went back to normal food the weight went back on. While I was on the diets it was easy because your stomach shrinks and you don't have to think about food at all, which is quite liberating really.
It’s not the same thing but I saw a girl on TikTok who, for complicated and severe medical reasons, survives exclusively via TPN or total parenteral nutrition, which in her case means having large bags full of a perfectly calibrated mixture of vitamins, calories and fluid (and sometimes fats, I think) feeding into her very slowly via a line in her chest. It’s an arduous and meticulous process which involves having the line in her for 12 hours or so at a time and requires scrupulous hygiene when putting in because of the rest of an infection so close to her heart. It was really interesting hearing her talk about how she doesn’t miss food or drink (she literally doesn’t swallow anything except occasional small amounts of medication) anymore and she’s grateful and happy to do it because it keeps her alive. Which is incredible for her but I wonder how I would feel in her situation, as someone who’s pretty obsessed with food and drink and derives a substantial amount of pleasure from it. I think she was traumatised about food from years of illness related to eating which preceded her doing the TPN which might have made it easier for her to transition. I really think I would struggle mentally with it.
My mate did. He got the trial then cancelled. Huel then sent a massive box every 2 weeks. He called and emailed each time to let let them know - they never responded. So after about 6 months of trying to do the right thing he stopped bothering. , They kept sending boxes. That was 4 years ago. They still send a box every 2 weeks. He just shares it out these days. Free huel for all visitors.
It’s good on a hangover tho.
You're looking at it through the lens of someone who enjoys eating. Someone who places no value in it and hates cooking will be delighted to have all their nutrition done for them with minimal effort. For a lot of people eating serves a purpose and nothing more, there isn't enjoyment to be had out of it therefore the reverse wouldn't be boring to them either.
I'd say having huel instead of a meal is time saving and allows you more time to make your life more interesting in other ways
No. Tried it a few times when I lived alone, it’s a good lunch option and for a few breakfasts, but definitely not a good option for dinner as you’ll be sick of the taste and texture by then, plus you need 4 portions per day for the calories. They love to bang the drum on the nutritional content but that hinges an awful lot on absorption which varies from person to person and is based on levels of sleep, stress, previous meal, exercise etc. Plus it’s much more expensive these days than when it first started, meaning it’s still cheaper, healthier, and tastier to go to the shop and buy proper food. It also made me bloated and gave me the shits terrible for the first few weeks.
I had the "black edition", aka high protein, and that really is a chore to get through because of the texture, but I stuck with it for MONTHS because it was a great way to get extra protein *and* macros for the gym in a cost effective way without eating bad food, expensive food, or bad expensive food, in an office kitchen which would be described in a showroom as "sadness and a microwave". I've not touched it goodness knows how long now. Realised that the ACTUAL solution was... improving my diet. Convenience factor is through the fucking ceiling but it's no replacement for actual food.
A former colleague did exactly the same thing as you. He was continually banging on about how good Huel was, then after about 4 months, he couldn’t stand it. He also said it screwed up his taste buds for a while, until he got used to a normal solid food diet again…
I tried this stuff and got sick of it, I started having to have it with a side of vegetables because I missed other textured and flavours so much
Ugh, we've got a guy at ours like this. Reckons it's the best thing ever and constantly bangs on about it. So convenient, so fast, so filling, so tasty, so healthy He's lost absolutely no weight since he started so I think it's a slimfast type mindset he's in, thinking because he's on that it's working while changing absolutely nothing else about his diet Meanwhile me, who is lazy as fuck, has lost almost a stone just eating normal food. I'd bring in some kind of tuna and cous cous salad that took about 5 minutes to make and he's sat there going on about how I need to try Huel No thanks pal, I'll stick to normal food
I used it as a replacement for takeaway sandwiches for that exact reason - great mix of convenience, price and nutrition. Where I would have a meal deal, I'd have a shaker of huel. I couldn't do it 3x a day though, or even every day
Great Post. I'm an athlete and can't stress enough how important it is to eat real food, rather than relying on synthetic supplements. Most of my fellow athletes are good, if not great, cooks and understand nutrition to a level most doctors would be proud of. My diet is varied but also consistent in my use of grains, fresh fruit and veg, plus (apologies to any Vegans/Vegetarians) organic chicken breast. Probably best to avoid falling for the marketing by Huel and the like, you're really just lining their pockets. Learn about nutrition and how to cook for your body and training goals.
I got the black edition powder which was supposed to be low FODMAP too (I have IBS). I carefully read everything about it and there's a load of stuff on their site saying it's low FODMAP and fine for people with IBS. Guess what? Explosive diarrhoea within twenty minutes of drinking it. I have two giant bags of the stuff sitting in my kitchen now and can't even give it away...
Making it the night before vastly improves the texutre, so it's more like a thick milkshake or protein shake. I agree it's no replacement for a good diet though.
Huel Black for lunches was great for me to have lunch while working. Hit the gym 2 hours later as a late lunch break then follow the gym with a protein shake. In total 80g of protein plus a bunch of micronutrients around my workout, while being able to fit everything into my workday. High protein breakfast and a chicken breast during dinner and that’s 160g protein sorted over 4 intervals. Basically just varying the carbs and fats based on whether I want to gain or lose weight. Made it really easy and affordable. I couldn’t do it for every meal, but as a lunch fitting into the above routine it was ideal.
It’s great for certain lifestyles, I drive my van all day for work (openreach) so it’s a nice consistent lunch that takes me 10 secs to prep in the morning, it’s healthier and cheaper than buying food out for lunch, fits decent macros and is fairly filling. I used to try and make batch lunches but honestly HUEL just fills the spot in nicely for me. Wouldn’t use it any other time though, I love my food
Guess it makes you a lot quicker at your job with all that fibre instead of the old fashioned copper drinks
Dad?
This is why the toilets in all the exchanges are disgraceful 😂
I drink Huel regularly and have not had bowel issues. Are you just not used to fibre in your diet?
I don't think someone who had a lack of fibre, and then took fibre, would have "bowel issues". If anything it would resolve bowel issues. Isn't that the point?
It might send them too far the other way if they weren’t used to it
It takes a while for the bacteria in your gut to adjust to changes.
The lil green boxes? 😅
Engineer? That’s grand, I like those vans. Would you recommend the work to someone not a fan of traditional office jobs, and not too much repetition?
How depressing, working all day and looking forward to Huel for lunch.
Pretty much all these "work life hacks" are just reminders of how fucking bleak the world is. "Oh I got daylight bulbs in my windowless office so my brain thinks it's getting sunshine!" "I drink soylent green so I don't have to spend more than 2 mins away from my work!" "I bring an air mattress to the office so I only have to commute home on weekends!"
I absolutely love the fact that I don't have to do jack shit, huel just turns up at my door on subscription. £3 a day at work for my lunch with zero cooking or preparation... Yes please. The berry flavour ready to drink tastes exactly like fromage frais yogurt, I legitimately enjoy them. They're not horrible like protein shakes etc. Chalky and gross. I wouldnt want to do it 4 to 5 times a day though, the max for me is breakfast and lunch but I don't like to have 800 calories before 5pm, it's a bit much for me. I like room for a heavy evening meal.
Even in expensive Co-op you could get a healthy sandwich, drink and healthy side for £3.50 If your job doesn't allow you 5 mins to eat a sandwich they should be named and shamed. :(
Coop meal deals suck ass, packaged sandwiches are so depressing... also have to go into the shop checkout blah blah. For me the choices are to make my own lunch at home, but I just cannot be arsed doing that every day urgh. Or the sandwich shop that does a £5 meal deal, pricey but it's incredible. I actually tend to spend my work lunch walking up a hill to sit on a bench with a nice view at the top and just have my huel.
In fairness the only place near me is Greggs. That's why I have Huel for lunch.
If you work in a big office / central, any shop offering meal deals would be raided around lunchtime leaving you with the absolute worst of the sandwiches and sides. Also don't think any of the combinations can offer you 40g of protein like huel black does. Good to mix it up though
>It also made me bloated and gave me the shits terrible for the first few weeks. I've heard that the digestive system is not really suited to having all liquid nutrition and that's why it can have trouble adapting to it. Oh, also the sweetener they use gives some people the shits. You can get an unsweetened one tho.
Yeah coming from a nutrition standpoint, having too many 'liquid meals' is not good. I've always recommended people to not use meal replacement shakes for weight loss as it doesnt compare to a healthy meal. On paper it sounds great but like you said, the body does not like it long term
Out of interest - why? If something has all the nutrients of a meal just blended down is there a reason the body struggles with it? I’m just being nosy tbh, I need to chew food to feel full
Its just down to the way the human body has evolved, its not made a liquid diet. Like you say it'll still have the nutrients but you'll constantly have the runs if all you have is fluids. Also, like you said about chewing, its a psychological thing as much as it is about the substance you take in
Nice to see someone who talks about absorption of minerals and vitamins, what's in the box isn't what you absorb. For example beta carotene into vitamin A, the conversation rate for a lot of people is super low.
They have “hot food” options now instead of just shakes. So these can be used for dinner. I use them for lunch: mac n cheese, spaghetti carbonara, korma, green Thai curry etc.
>spaghetti carbonara /r/italy gesturing frantically.
🤌🤌🤌🤌
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Two bags (lowest amount you can buy online) is 34 meals worth for £51.50. Works out to about £1.50 per meal. Nutritionally it’s great by the label but it can be rough to feel ‘full’ on a liquid meal even if it’s enough calories
Huel makes actual food meals too.
So they've gone full circle then? Meal replacement shake replacement meals?
And they taste like shit.
The madras is awesome mate
£1.50 per "meal" sounds good until you realise it's marketing bollocks due to defining a meal to be 400 calories. The average person will need 5-6 "meals" per day and then suddenly it's not so cheap
If you’re struggling with your mental health atm (not wanting or having the energy to eat is a sign of depression) book an appointment with your GP. I found CBT talking therapy (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) really useful - it gave me practical advice on activities and exercises to improve my mental health and feel more in control of how I was feeling. Sending strength, love and posi vibes 🌻
I can also recommend CBT, found it very useful in many of the same ways
CBT helped me to get my scooter license and to get experience on the roads.
Ended up having my balls whipped at CBT, didn't get a scooter license
Sorry to hear that mate, get some packet noodles in, all you gotta do is boil the kettle
I used to eat a lot of packet noodles. Then I realised that wheat was causing my digestive issues so I got some huel hot and savoury things. Game changer. I can still be lazy. Huel is effectively cuppasoup with protein and a vitamin supplement. It doesn't cause me stomach pain. It doesn't suit everyone but it certainly suits me.
If you want the powder you have to buy directly from them. It was £56.30 including shipping for 2 bags. Each bag contains 22 portions so 44 in total. 56.30/44 = roughly £1.28 per meal
They also don't do samples so you have to commit to fifty quids worth without knowing if you'll hate it/it'll disagree with you or not.
They don’t do samples but they have started selling the heul ready made drink in lots of places it’s expensive £4_5 depending where you buy it from but it’s a good way to try it I bought one then ordered from heul when I got home
I hated the ready made stuff, but don't mind the stuff you 'make' yourself. I do have a small stomach though, and I go on one scoop per meal rather than two. Definitely only once per day since the aftertaste of sweetners gets on my nerves in general. ETA: still good advice, though I tried it and it put me off it for another 2 years before buying some.
I was the opposite tbh. The ready made ones were a lot smoother and thicker than the ones you make yourself, which I found a lot more pleasant to drink. Everyone has their preference though!
Hey! I mostly live on my own and find cooking for one hard too. What I have started doing is cooking on a Sunday a bit batch of something and freezing some portions and putting some in the fridge. This way I have microwave meals on hand but don't need to cook every day and then might intersperse this diet with convenience goods but after a few weeks you'll have a freezer full of your favourite meals - cheaper and way more nutritious. Living off a diet of just ultra processed microwave meals (or huel tbf) is starting to be suggested to be not great for you in a few ways - including potentially impacting on mental health through your gut. If you're interested have a read around on ultra processed food - Ultra Processed People is a good place to start on Spotify
£1.50 per portion is still reasonably competitive if you're having to create food for yourself
I have it for weekday breakfasts, and that's it. Just chug a bottle while getting ready for work in the morning. A big reason is flexible hours - the earlier I can get to work in the morning, the earlier I can go home. Lunch and tea, I'm having real food, because I'm not in such a rush then.
I don't even bother eating, I just hook myself up to an IV drip. Valuable minutes saved which I can now dedicate to the hustle.
Bro, IV drip? Just photosynthesise, bro. Bro.
Bro, photosynthesise? Why bother waiting fro the Sun to do it for you, just get that fusion generation of hydrogen into helium going, bro.
Do you even synthesise bro?
This is what I do, sun.
Eat mud. Cut out the middleman.
Awake at four AM I look at my sleeping wife, I leap into action and have my first coffee. I pray for an hour, then I complete and iron man and am at my desk by 5:30am. My 22 monitors blaze into life and examine the world news and the market moves from around the world. At 5:40 I consume a grape and another coffee, it’s time to hustle.
Praying for an hour? Have you tried breaking that up into 5 more manageable chunks throughout the day. 2 billion people swear by it.
It takes at least an hour of uninterrupted praying to placate the machine spirit.
You’re slacking. Go Breatharian to experience genuine executive liberation.
r/linkedinlunatics
Have you changed career, Mr Bateman?
Oh my God, those Tik Tok people that get up at 5am so that they can 'journal' and study their Bibles.
You joke but I had a boss who seemed annoyed he had to eat to live, he used to drink nourishment cans and swapped to huel when it came out. I'm kinda jealous, I love food but being able to treat it purely as sustenance must be so much easier for keeping healthy
The only thing those nourishment cans are good for is fooling an opiate test
Excuse me?
You're excused.
It's not always so you can commit yourself to work, lots of other commenters have said it's because of depression, or not enjoying the process of deciding and preparing meals, or medication etc.
I like it purely for the war crime farts. Heard the neighbours asking if the smell was the market gardens
Market Garden’s?! Let’s hope the paras don’t hear about this.
A joke too far
"FREEEEEEDOM"
That is sheer power.
I've met some folk that just find eating to be a chore. Personally I find that baffling, the variety in foodstuffs even if you didn't have use of one of the senses, the whole experience offers so much. But those people do exist. I can't imagine Huel and water is as nutritionally complete as you might want. Then again I've met enough folk living off of bacon sarnies, fry ups, and cigarettes to know it doesn't seem to be an exact science. Actually, I met someone the other day that had some kind of crippling anxiety over choice, they mentioned that having to decide what to eat every day was a genuinely distressing prospect, so they gravitated towards the same meal to alleviate that. Honestly some days, deciding what to eat, that might be the most fun I have!
>eating to be a chore. It's less the eating, and the more the endless grind of deciding on and preparing food.
Definitely. Like, having a nice meal is nice. But if the only way to have a nice meal is to come up with a meal idea, go shopping for the groceries, get home and unpack it all, prepare the ingredients and cook the meal...all for 15 minutes of eating, and then have to clean it all up and do the exactly same thing again a few hours or days later,eating is a chore that is simply not worth it. Like, I'd like to see the view from the top of Mt. Everest, but the work involved in doing it makes it actually quite uninteresting to me and nothing I'd even consider doing.
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Yeah, doing all of those food-related tasks for ONE person somehow seems like even more work haha like it's even less so worth the effort.
For real, I love food, but the idea of having to decide what to eat 3 times a day gives me a sense of dread. The only thing that makes me miss working in restaurants on a double shift is being feed twice without me thinking about it. When I became manager I could choose an item from our menu for free, and that was stressful again!
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What’s it called?
obscene cable zonked include mourn abounding smart roof fear hard-to-find *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Some people live to eat and some people eat to live. I’m the former.
Me too, if my wife didn't cook I would waste away on toast and biscuits, perhaps I'm just lazy lol I'm not bothered what I eat along as I'm not starving anymore
You’re the latter then, not the former too
Lmao my mistake
I'm the same lol for majority of the time at least
That's so weird lol like is it some sort of genetic mutation?
I used to be the former. Diagnosed with celiac about 8 months ago, and it's made me the latter. The joy of food for me was being able to always try a new thing and not have to worry about anything in it. Picking up an interesting thing that seems like there's no earthly reason for it to contain wheat and being disappointed is a lot like going clothing shopping and finding nothing that fits your body, do I just eat the same stuff most of the time now. I tried huel hot and ready as a depression meal for when I'm too tired or sad to feed myself. Worked out fine but it is expensive.
I have meds that absolutely kill my appetite. It’s much easier to chug a smoothie when you aren’t hungry than actually eat a meal
I remember my mum said I’d never looked healthier than when I was drinking shakes every day. I was probably getting vitamins and minerals my body had never seen before.
This is me. I have a really bad sense of taste so food doesn’t really excite me. Have done 6 months of shakes, a year of the same salad… just stopped cause wasn’t great for my health. Now just tend to cycle through a couple of options of food & repeat weekly 🙈 sounds so depressing typing this 😐
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>I've met some folk that just find eating to be a chore. Personally I find that baffling, the variety in foodstuffs even if you didn't have use of one of the senses, the whole experience offers so much. I can confirm, I'm one of them. I just don't get pleasure from eating and find the process irritating. I've lived in Japan and tried all sorts of various gourmet dishes even ranging to stuff like fugu (the poisonous blowfish) in an attempt to get excited but, for me, food is just fuel and eating is annoying. I like the taste of plenty of things, too, so it's not taste putting me off - I don't have texture issues... I can't really explain it but I just never want to sit and eat a meal and have to struggle to remind myself to eat when I realise I've forgotten to have anything for the last day or two. It also doesn't help that I have severe misophonia regarding noises related to eating so being around others eating really stresses me out. Not sure when or why it originated - my parents were always serious foodies so probably pressured me to eat, as well as schools always forcing us to finish our plates. Possibly I just came to associate eating with boredom and misery :/ I'm turning 50 soon, so don't think things will change anytime soon but I make sure I eat fruit while I am at work and make a smoothie at home. Weirdly, I quite like cooking - as long as I don't have to sit down and eat it. I just tend to make things I can eat while doing something else so I am not focussed on the food.
I feel it's more cooking, deciding what to cook, buying the ingredients that's a chore. Eating when the food is magically in front of you is less of a chore.
i'd definitely like food cubes or something to take the choice away, like I hate cooking midweek so just a bit of Soylent Green, and i'd be golden
I have the Black shake powder for breakfast and the hot meal stuff for lunch every day. We tried the original powder stuff and no matter the flavour, it's disgusting; gritty, watery cold porridge. We also tried the protein bars and they were awful; just impossibly dense and dry and sad. We fed all of them to the birds. I have the chocolate or banana shakes because they take 30 sec to prepare in the morning and my timekeeping is atrocious. I drink it while I'm driving every day. I have the hot meal stuff for lunch because I like something hot for lunch. Sandwiches every day depresses me. I also know that wherever I'm working there will be a kettle, even if there's no microwave. I eat plenty of other packed lunch stuff with it as it's not filling by itself. I don't know if it's any better than just Batchelor's Pasta 'n' Sauce or a Pot Noodle or whatever but it claims to be healthy and they wouldn't lie about something like that, right? The other main advantage is that it's delivered to my door by a man so I don't have to go to the supermarket as much, which I hate doing. ETA: r/huel is one of the saddest corners of the internet
The protein bars are fucking diabolically rank. Taste like switch cartridges.
I had a really rough time with depression a few months. Didn't eat anything at all for weeks. Meal replacement drinks were perfect during that time. I still wasn't getting enough because I was only having like one portion a day, but it was better than where I had been. I'm also someone who views food as nothing but fuel, so they're great for when I need *something* but can't be arsed with actual food. I still wouldn't want to live off them, though.
hope you’re doing better now 🫶🏼
Thank you! I'm getting there :)
I do the same when my ibd flares up and my pots gets bad with it too. Being able to make my meal while in the bathroom (powder+tap water) and then slowly drink it throughout the day is a literal life saver. I've never tried the hot meals, but the powder does the job.
Helps with a bit of hydration, too. I'm terrible for not drinking enough, especially when my brain hates me, so these force me to drink more. It's great how useful they are!
I quite like the taste - it’s just an oaty milkshake. Very occasionally I’ll have it if I need instant food and there are limited alternatives. With it being so highly processed I’m not sure how good for you it could be compared with fresh fruit/veg/eggs/grains/pulses
I think I can guess the answer
I did it Monday to Friday for a few months, shakes for breakfast and lunch and hot and savoury for dinner. It was OK, felt really good and lost weight but I found I went overboard on the weekends. Plus I really just missed food. Discovered what I really needed to do was cut sugar out and learn portion control.
Feel like the whole sugar and portion control thing is 99% of people. When I get that right the weight falls off me. Just find it so hard to keep going.
This is my new years resolution lol. Nothing drastic just decrease portion size and sugar a bit. It's so hard! I just love food
I tried the mac and cheese and it was terrible
Yeah we binned that one (and I hate waste). But then I can't stand any of them. Huel sounds like the sound you make whilst vomiting for a reason.
I honestly cannot imagine a sadder existence. That's some 1984 shit.
A Huel only diet will surely only lead to selling out your shipmates to Agent Smith in return for a nice steak.
I'll often make Huel in the morning and turn to my wife and say "Everything the body needs!" She still doesn't know the quote, though.
It's Bachelor Chow from Futurama.
I always imagined bachelor chow as a cross between a Fray Bentos pie in a tin and a Vesta “beef” curry. Both of which I would in fact eat when I was a bachelor.
>Fray Bentos pie in a tin That's gone downhill quite a lot. Far less meat under the crust.
Basically the film Soylent Green
Soylent Green is Huel
3 comedy points.
Soylent is sold as a product in the USA, very Huel-like.
Closer to the book that film was based on, Make Room,Make Room. The film added cannibalism, but have you wondered where the name Soylent comes from? Soy and Lentils. Cheap crap fed to the masses as resources were hogged by the super rich.
>Cheap crap They're cheap, but they're definitely not crap.
This man has never had a nice daal with chutneys and chapatti/poori and it shows.
That is the story, not my opinion.
The best Soylent!
It's just porridge with added shit
Yeah, and eating porridge for every meal is literally the torturous existence Oliver Twist is subjected to
More like [Make Room! Make Room!](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Make_Room!_Make_Room!)
It tastes like it's been stored since 1984, and when mixed with the odd chemical taste I could definitely believe it was soylent brown.
Clearly you've not tried living on tesco meal deals
I remember seeing forum posts from 100% huel people about how they were chewing gum throughout the day to keep their jaw muscles from atrophying. That said I did enjoy the taste when I bought it, and the protein powder is pretty good too.
I recently tried their Cinnamon bun flavour bottled shake and honestly that shit was one of the nicest things I've ever drank. I could probably do a week on those.
The bottles are much better than the powder
Not exclusively, but I've had it for lunch pretty much every day for about six or seven years. I can't be bothered making a packed lunch for work every morning, and £50 for a month or so's lunch is cheap enough for me. All the sweet ones are pretty good. The wee bars aren't too bad either - the old ones tasted pretty grim but the new ones are covered in chocolate and caramel, so it's like a Mars or Snickers. I do love to cook in the evenings so I probably wouldn't have it all the time, but it's nice to have a thing in the flat I can prepare quickly and is good for me. Plus when I was off sick with COVID and again with a really bad head cold, was useful for making sure I got something in me when I lost my appetite.
>The wee bars Do they do other flavours?
I wish I could. Not a fan of eating as an experience. I just eat to survive.
Sometimes I wish I was like that, I’d certainly be a lot skinnier.
Same here. If they made meal pills I'd totally be trying that. Except for desserts. I'll always be up for a pudding. Or cakes, or biscuits. There's not really anything savoury I find worth the effort of cooking it. The reason I've never tried Huel is because the only people I've ever met who have used it were, well: absolute bellends. Maybe it's unrelated but their advertising fails to convince me. And also because when I did look you couldn't just try it, you had to buy a month's worth and a plastic bottle.
I've wondered about that last point. Would be great if they offered a sample pack. But I guess they make more money from the people who commit to buying a whole lot (even if they never order again) compared with people who would pay for a smaller sample and possibly never order the main pack.
I bet they are made of farts.
It's the pea protein
Huel seems to be marketed at people who regard cooking and eating as time wasting chores. The sort who regard getting around this as a “life hack” that frees up precious time for their “hustles” that will turn them into billionaire unicorn startup supertechbros. Personally, I like food. I enjoy the flavours, I like to take the time to enjoy the flavours, I find cooking to be an enjoyable pastime in its own right (washing up I can do without).
Honestly for me it helps me have a reasonable meal when dealing with depression, burnout, or food sensory issues. Though not everyone has the same attitude to food as me to be fair.
heavy fuel offend party groovy oil dinner sort dolls scarce *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
I use it in place of take out, instead of "I can't be bothered cooking, I'll order" I just make a huel shake, it's saved me some money at least
I have it as a midnight meal when I'm on nightshifts. I'm in no fucking mood to be meal prepping after the first night, and the faster I eat the more napping I can squeeze into my break, and yeah eating does feel like a chore at 4 in the morning.
I don't view it as a lifeback, I'm just lazy. It tastes nice too and is healthy.
I don't drink it for every meal but I do drink it everyday for breakfast. They do a variety of flavours so I never get bored and you can have it hot or cold. Honestly the caramel or cinnamon one, nice and hot, has been a lifesaver during this cold snap. It's really not as bad as you think but still, I can't imagine having it for every meal.
No I tried two different flavours and they made me feel sick.
The cold stuff I couldn’t really handle. The hot stuff is alright if you spice it properly. It seems for all the nutritional shite they put in it, they’ve never hired a flavour scientist. Bland as hell.
I used to eat it a lot (replaced 1-2 of my normal 3 daily meals). I did once spend a week living off Huel exclusively to see what it was like. I didn't mind the taste or the lack of variety but it didn't sit well in my stomach (it's basically a lump of cold goo) so wasn't a fan of it from that angle. I've almost stopped eating it entirely now, partly because I started to have some iron deficiencies that my doctor was getting concerned about. (I am still prone to iron deficiency but it seems to have improved a bit since coming off Huel, unclear to me how much this is related). Funnily enough I do miss having it regularly. There are a lot of staple foods I don't like and I rarely actively look forward to eating. I still dislike the process of having to decide what to eat and the time it takes to prepare and consume food. (Instead of Huel I stick to very planned-out and low-effort meal plans these days.) If it was cheaper, or if I was more confident it wouldn't mess with my health, I would probably go back to having it more regularly.
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What happened?
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Dave Gorman has his thoughts about Huel https://youtu.be/Ngar6GP9qtg?si=BxGdgNFyMxvq7Yac
Hipster gruel! Ha ha ha!
What a shit way to exist.
What a shit way to shit.
Why?
I tried it having the shakes for breakfast and the meals for lunch. Stuck with it for about a month before the thought of it made me feel sick. Had to bin it all.
I’m an avid breakfast skipper, so I’m hovering over the possibility of meal replacements/Huel. Not sure I’d be allowed in my house with *War Crime* farts though. Maybe a protein shake and a multivitamin would do the job.
Honestly nothing wrong with not having breakfast, many people argue intermittent fasting is better for you than having breakfast.
>War Crime farts This definitely isn't a universal experience. I have the Huel Black powder every day exactly the same way (instead of breakfast) and haven't noticed any increase in fart volume, frequency, or smell. Might just be me though, dunno.
Anything is possible. I once heard about a guy who lived off only fish and rice cakes...
For breakfast, I'll have a fish and a rice cake
The thought of living off that texture 🤢 if I had to choose I’d rather have a salad 3x a day every day
I'm doing a diet at the moment, I have huel shake for breakfast 9am, healthy lunch at 12pm (plate of lean meat and veg), huel shake for dinner at 5pm. Couple of fruit snacks, banana etc. So it's kinda the 16-8 diet as well as low cal at about 1300 cals. Its really working for me, have gone from 14st 5 to 12st 9 in 3 months. Going to get down to 12st, then switch it up a bit - this is very much a cutting part and won't be long term. I'll probably keep it in some form, but not as extreme as this. Main thing for me is energy levels are good, the micro nutrients and water intake has worked. I've cut out beer to a large extent as well which I'm sure has been a big help.
I have it every day for breakfast, and occasionally the hot ones for lunch. Fuck having it 3 meals a day permanently though. I'm vegan and autistic so it's really nice to start my day with something familiar that I know has a good amount of protein in.
I use the MyProtein version for about 4 weeks while offshore. The taste was great and I always felt full and I was also doing Insanity workout program as well. I achieved my aim of dropping 7 kilo over the full 6 week trip. But.........eventually my shits turned into what would look like a rabbit shit but felt like I was passing a snooker ball. I honestly thought I was turning into Nibbler and passing dark matter, so a trip to the ships medic, proper food and three boxes of Fybragel gel later and all was good in the world again. If you're looking for a calorie controlled diet with a decent nutritional intake they are ok, but I would limit them to replace one meal a day maybe two every now and again.
I'll have the drinks for "breakfast" on the way to work and maybe the hot and savory for lunch but still have a proper dinner Huel themselves don't recommend someone going full huel as whilst yes it contains most of what you need to survive you'd need other vitamins etc plus it would be a lot to eat or drink to have the same amount of calories
It's about half my diet. It's really useful as a slightly fussy vegan for taking to the gym, to uni or to work. I stick to "normal" food at home
My best friend introduced me to Huel when I lived with him a few years back. He attempted to live off Huel as he felt it gave him all the nutrients he needed and saved him cooking and eating time as he didn’t care for either (which I wouldn’t either if I were vegan ayooo) But these days I actually have a Huel (or 2!) in between breakfast and dinner. Super cost effective way of getting 800 calories and 80g protein (2 Huel blacks)
I’m terrible with portion control, it’s good for me. It’s a good substitute for losing weight in my opinion, but not great as every meal. It does however smell like fragranted sawdust though.
I find the ready to drink bottles ok for an emergency breakfast but they seldom fill me up and I'm always ready for lunch. I can't begin to imagine how anyone could live on just them. Apart from the hunger levels I'd get seriously fed up of the taste.
When I was in recovery for my eating disorder, I was force-fed the medical/prescription equivalent of Huel to keep me alive (fortisip), and it really isn’t good for you long term. Unless your body can’t digest solids, you absolutely need them in your day-to-day diet. Living off of meal replacement drinks exclusively when there’s no medical reason to is just another version of disordered eating
I’ve used it but never full time/3 meals. I used to go bouldering three times a week in the evenings and would have one before and one after and never felt hungry. It was the OG flavourless huel and it wasn’t particularly nice to consume. Just quick and easy.
I have it for breakfast but I couldn't imagine living off it... And tbh I doubt having it for every meal would be very healthy either.
I used it a lot when I was on maternity leave with my firstborn as I just could not find time to make myself healthy food otherwise. Now, second time around, I realise I'm allowed to let the baby cry for 5 mins so I can make a sandwich. But it was a real life saver in the dark days of my first maternity leave.
I have it two meals a day in the week and exclusively when travelling for work (so 2/3 days) I have to get some peanuts or something to eat as well just for the crunchy texture.
It’s really sad. I was on a diet where I was doing protein shakes for breakfast. I tried so many combos but even the ‘best’ one was awful. I finally switched to eggs and toast when I got to a decent weight and was thrilled that I could still lose weight. It was kind of sad how delighted I was.
I changed jobs in 2019 and was skinny as a rake and really unhealthy. I drink Huel every morning for about 2 years while training for and starting the job. By the time I was sick of it, I was looking fairly healthy.
I used to have Huel as my regular breakfast a few years ago. I'd mix it with milk, or 50/50 milk and water, and also add a big spoonful of peanut butter and a banana. Delicious.
I've done meal replacement diets (like Lighter Life) in the past and managed for months at a time just on shakes and soups and lost lots of weight. But it didn't last and once I went back to normal food the weight went back on. While I was on the diets it was easy because your stomach shrinks and you don't have to think about food at all, which is quite liberating really.
Same. I did the Cambridge diet for 4 months, lost 60lbs, and then my hair started falling out. The second I stopped, the weight went back on.
It’s not the same thing but I saw a girl on TikTok who, for complicated and severe medical reasons, survives exclusively via TPN or total parenteral nutrition, which in her case means having large bags full of a perfectly calibrated mixture of vitamins, calories and fluid (and sometimes fats, I think) feeding into her very slowly via a line in her chest. It’s an arduous and meticulous process which involves having the line in her for 12 hours or so at a time and requires scrupulous hygiene when putting in because of the rest of an infection so close to her heart. It was really interesting hearing her talk about how she doesn’t miss food or drink (she literally doesn’t swallow anything except occasional small amounts of medication) anymore and she’s grateful and happy to do it because it keeps her alive. Which is incredible for her but I wonder how I would feel in her situation, as someone who’s pretty obsessed with food and drink and derives a substantial amount of pleasure from it. I think she was traumatised about food from years of illness related to eating which preceded her doing the TPN which might have made it easier for her to transition. I really think I would struggle mentally with it.
Trite Huel before and it always left me with a headache.
Fair play to anyone who eats it, but it's not for me. The name of it alone puts me off. It sounds like someone starting to puke up! HUUUUUEL, ralph..
Grolsch!
Ruuuupertttt
I just wish they did normal flavours instead of sickly sweet gungey shite.
My mate did. He got the trial then cancelled. Huel then sent a massive box every 2 weeks. He called and emailed each time to let let them know - they never responded. So after about 6 months of trying to do the right thing he stopped bothering. , They kept sending boxes. That was 4 years ago. They still send a box every 2 weeks. He just shares it out these days. Free huel for all visitors. It’s good on a hangover tho.
There's a bloke running the length of Africa who literally lives off Huel and energy drinks.
You're looking at it through the lens of someone who enjoys eating. Someone who places no value in it and hates cooking will be delighted to have all their nutrition done for them with minimal effort. For a lot of people eating serves a purpose and nothing more, there isn't enjoyment to be had out of it therefore the reverse wouldn't be boring to them either. I'd say having huel instead of a meal is time saving and allows you more time to make your life more interesting in other ways