It would be so fabulous if we could get a powder that contained dried and powdered fruits and veg only. Lets say, about 8 or 10 fruits and about 8 or 10 veg (obviously onions and garlic would have to be excluded as they would clash with the fruit), so anyone could get those pesky ‘5 a day’ out of the way in a simple powder? I’m sure a 35 gram scoop of powder would equate to about half a kilogram of fruits and veg, since fruits and veg have such an enormously high water content.
A product like this would be much appreciated by everyone who struggles with getting enough fruits and veg in, whether or not they would ever drink Huel (or any ‘meal in a glass’ or ‘protein drinks’ meal replacements). Just imagine if you could mix up a 35 gram scoop of powder into a bit of water, add a squirt of your favourite concentrate, and gulp it down, and rest assured you had you 5 a day without ever eating any fruits or veggies. This would be especially useful for people who don’t like fruits or don’t like veg. Aldi sell a very strongly concentrated fruit flavour squirt product they call ‘Squirty Squash’ and a tiny squirt strongly flavours a glass of water.
Huel is a complete and total food and meal replacement, and I for one am massively grateful for it, but there is also a huge need out there for an instant ‘5 a day’ fix. I have several friends who struggle to eat veggies and fruit, and constantly feel bad that they not doing what they ‘should’ do making themselves eat more fruit and veg. I’m sure there are millions of people who would LOVE to get their ‘5 a day’ a lazy way, and not really care what the actual nutrition values were specifically, just to get those pesky 5 a day in! No potato or other high starch veg (since that’s what they eat all day anyway), no protein (except what just happens to be in the broccoli or whatever), just a powder made out of the dried and powdered every day fruits and veg that people ‘should’ eat but usually ‘don’t’ eat.
Guess What?
What you seek already exists! happy times!
A fellow Hueler posted about a product called Green Vibrance, I have yet to try it but after visiting their website I saw a product on there called Maximum vibrance. Long story short one is green and the other is super doooooooper green a mix of countless fruit, veg, and other bits too.
One weekend I walked into a health food shop…very uncharacteristic of me and low and behold I saw that there is a whole plethora of this type of product.
Hopefully this helps!
On closer inspection I see it is not what I suggested. It is a superfood with Spirulina and all sorts. I wasn’t suggesting a superfood at all, in fact the nutritional value is not the main thing I’m talking about. My idea is simply to get those basic 5 a day in, the cheapest and easiest veg and fruits and berries will do. Huel already gives us total nutrition. What people want is a way to get their cabbage, broccoli, beans, lettuce, carrots, pineapples and so on into their system quickly and easily without having to actually eat them, or prepare them.
My pint is, yes there is a whole plethora of superfoods and supergreens out there already, but your average ‘Meat and Potatoes’ person doesn’t give a toss about spirulina or Acai berries and wheat grass! They want to know they getting their cabbage, carrots, lettuce and apples every day. The ingredients in the product I am suggesting need to be ONLY the stuff those ‘meat and potato’ people know and recognise, the stuff you find on every green grocer shelf i And there will be no point putting onions, garlic, tomatoes, mushrooms etc in it, since those ‘meat and potato’ people already know they eating tons of that.
Your words -
I saw that there is a whole plethora of this type of product
[/quote]
fair enough…perhaps the meat and potato people (lol) will try a super food product having seen fruit and veg and welcome the added extras?
If there isn’t an inbetween already on the market as per your spec, then there may be a reason why?
I think the reason is simply because nobody thought of it yet, since everyone interested in ‘greens’ is interested in superfood greens, rather than just ticking a health box to feel good about themselves, imagining they doing the recommended thing, and they can confidently tell the doctor that, yes, they are eating their 5 a day. Ha ha ha ha
You raise a valid point, as per another thread dedicated to the discussion about 5 a day.
If you get the nutrients you need from Huel why would you need anything else?
I’ve heard people say that just because you extract the ‘active’ ingredient from something, it doesn’t mean you are getting the full benefit of eating the whole plant that contained the active ingredient.
Is this true?
If so, it could be why eating a leaf of kale is better than just taking the healthy bit of the kale in the form of a supplement.
I think the point those people are making is that the plant itself in raw form contains so many different beneficial nutrients. However I would agree that if those nutrients can be extracted be it from different sources then it should be exactly the same, if not better. The reason being is that to get RDA for a certain thing you often would need to eat alot of food be it one veg or a whole host, whereas Huel type products give you the full dose without having to eat bowls of salad and fruit and veg.
who knows as these things get more popular I am sure the studies will follow.
My case is simple I started Huel to lose weight, and instead the real benefit is the way I feel, Haven’t been ill since not even a sniffle, don’t lack energy during the day, actually sleeping and quickly which is something I have struggled with for years. My experiance alone tells me that its less placebo and more real world benefits having nutrients extracted.
If I was to try and eat regular food in order to consume the same macros and nutrients I wouldn’t have a clue where to start!
I used to offer a product like this but the demand was too low for it to be worthwhile, as we couldn’t purchase in in large enough bulk to get our prices down so were basically selling at cost.
The 5-a-day recommendation is for fresh fruit and vegetables. Dried, powdered vegetables on their own won’t cut it, because they they lose some of their nutrition when they are dried. You can add back that nutrition with a micronutrient blend, but most nutrition experts would be uncomfortable about calling powdered veg + micronutrients a perfect substitute for the real thing.
Incidentally, that’s why you are recommended not to live on Huel alone. It seems reasonable to substitute Huel’s micronutrient blend for, perhaps, three of your five a day, but not all of it.
You can live in Huel alone. People have tried it and it works.
Veggies that are dried, frozen, tinned, they all count towards your 5 a day. We get all the nutrients we would get from our ‘5 a day’ just by drinking Huel, without eating any veggies or fruit, as Huel has all those nutrients in it. The ‘5 a day’ powder would be to get the actual real veggies themselves into the body, but in a dried form.
No it doesn’t, they serve completely different purposes. The recommendation of fruit/veg stems not only from micronutrients, but also from phytonutrients and fibre. Huel supplies the fibre and micronutrients in full, along with some phytonutrients as well. However it is impossible to compare, because the five a day guideline is simply a guideline to get people to eat more fruit/veg. The phytonutrients Huel is missing can be supplied in the form of dried powders ie fruit/veg extracts, especially if you find extracts that are designed to meet a minimum amount of the specific phytonutrient (eg this lycopene which is in the form of tomato extract). You are correct that those extracts alone won’t count towards your 5 a day, but that is just because they lack the fibre (and in some cases micronutrients) that you can find in Huel. Those extracts plus a micronutrient mix (and a bit of fibre and fat) are just as good as the real thing (and incidentally as your post suggests the guideline is just for fresh fruit, frozen counts too and is actually considered healthier). Ultimately though, it’s pointless to try and quantify Huel against the five a day guideline, because the number chosen - five - isn’t really backed up by much.
I take your point about frozen food and, as you say, the figure of five a day is fairly arbitrary, but it has the advantage of being simple and easy to memorise.
The phytonutrients Huel is missing can be supplied in the form of dried powders ie fruit/veg extracts
Here’s the problem with substituting phytonutrients: if you’d asked a dietician to come up with a phytonutrient blend in 1997, it would have looked rather different from a phytonutrient blend in 2017, and I daresay it would look different again in 2037. But a tomato will always be a tomato.
My point is that, if you’re consuming Huel, you can cut probably cut down on your fruit and veg, but it’s not a good idea to eliminate them entirely.
You can live in Huel alone. People have tried it and it works.
Yes, you can, but it’s not recommended.
Veggies that are dried, frozen, tinned, they all count towards your 5 a day.
I take your point.
We get all the nutrients we would get from our ‘5 a day’ just by drinking Huel, without eating any veggies or fruit, as Huel has all those nutrients in it. The ‘5 a day’ powder would be to get the actual real veggies themselves into the body, but in a dried form.
I don’t get you. If you’re getting everything you need from Huel, what’s the point in having the veggie powder?
