Ha ha, you’ll get used to it!
Was that the thread that went on to discuss giving Huel to cats?
The nutritional needs for children are different: they need different calorie intakes (it would be impossible to set an average). They need different levels of proteins and carbs as they are growing. And the RDAs on the Huel packaging wouldn’t apply due to all of the above.
Therefore it wouldn’t be possible to feed it to them as a complete food.
But my own personal opinion is there’s no harm in letting them have it once a day (older children). Younger children (say under 9, but this is a pure guess) I would avoid giving it to them as the vitamin and mineral levels could be too high for their small body weights.
I don’t think it would be possible to create a complete food for children as how would you determine RDAs? What age or weight would you base this on?
And ‘ideal’ nutritional needs change quite frequently throughout childhood.
I doubt it’s harmful to give to kids, in fact it’s probably healthier than what they usually scoff for breakfast and snacks!
But I doubt you’ll get an official answer on whether it’s ‘good’ or ‘ok’ because nutritional needs vary enourmously in children.
Surely though, if as Huel says their product is “nutritionally complete food providing you with all 27 essential vitamins and minerals, protein, essential fats, carbs, fibre and phytonutrients” then it is no different than giving your kids whatever else you may eat as a family. Most people don’t have one nutritionally balanced meal for the adults and a different one for the kids (or they didn’t in my day). I appreciate nutritional needs change as kids go through life, but in reality who does that; over 90% of population don’t.
For really young kids, say under 4 yo things may be different but I don’t see issue for older than that. As mentioned earlier surely it is better than KFC and Big Mac style meals, but that’s maybe why most kids today are overweight.
@hunzas yeah I agree completely.
I just think its probably not going to get an official stamp of approval as a complete food for children as the RDAs of everything is way more complicated.
I think - if your kids like it and want to drink it, and are also happy to eat other foods (so you’re not starting them off into a life habit of liquid only foods - kids can get fussy quickly!) then I personally think its absolutely fine to feed it to them. Probably actually healthy to feed it to them.
I just don’t think Huel will be able to recommend it for children as the regulations around this are complicated.
I’m sure I’ve actually seen a post from James stating that Huel is not suitable for children - which would have to be the official recommendation. But that doesnt mean its bad - it just means they can’t legally market it as a complete food for children
Here is the thread that discusses the subject: Why huel could not be recommended for children?
Ah, well it seems James agrees with me pretty much. I am not a nutriticionalistish - heck I can’t even spell it.
It would be a bit unfair to rely on Huel for your child’s nutrition. A massive part of childhood is exploring cooking, meals out, ingredients and different cuisines with your family. For a parent to sling a shaker at their child with some brown sludge in it is a little lazy, don’t you think?
Thank f+ck I’m not a parent.
You and me both
So is shoving a whole packet of jaffa cakes in their hands to keep them quiet
Didn’t mean to open up a can of worms, and was never going to give them huel as a complete form of nutrition as i don’t do that either, just wanted to find out if it was ok for them to try. And as for throwing them a shaker, I would
let them have a go at blending it first
Yup, equally as bad. Both have no defence, lazy incompetent parenting.
I suppose coffee Huel could be seen as inappropropriate for children due to caffeine content.
I seriously hope you are joking
Never thought of the coffee thing like that
For those interested in child and adolescent nutrition, the most comprehensive RDAs I’m aware of are the US & Canadian DRIs which can be seen here: https://www.consumerlab.com/RDAs/
Absolutely not, how can anyone possibly defend throwing Huel at their kids as a quick fix instead of teaching them the value of cooking, ingredients, recipes and nutrition?
Equally, how can anyone defend throwing a bag of jaffa cakes to the kids to shut them up?
I don’t really see any excuses for either…
As a child my Mum brought me up on a very narrow selection of foods. By the time I was old enough to realise everyone else was eating 10x more variety of food than me the damage was done. I have tried many different foods but whether my issue is psychological or physical I don’t know but the food generally goes back out the same point it enters, just faster.
I’ve had enough of it now I don’t experiment anymore. I eat what I eat and that’s that. I so grateful now Huel and similar products exist.
The moral of the story, do not bring your kids up solely on Huel and Jaffa cakes. As @GTIPuG says teach them the importance of cooking, ingredients, recipes and nutrition etc.