Bad reaction to new gum mix in U&U (2.0/2.1)

Hi guys,

I’ve jumped on the Huel train at 1.1 and until now used 1.2. Always liked the flavor and consistency of U&U (especially when waiting ~ 1h after preparing it).
It has been posted before that 2.0 was brought in line with the flavored version and now has a much thicker consistency. While I don’t like the thickness, I can look past it.

After trying my first shake of 2.0 (121g U&U w/ 700ml water) in the evening, I had lots of gas the next morning and things got a little “urgent” (I lack the skills to describe this appropriately in English). To rule out any other dietary influence, I tried 2.0 twice again after a few days, with the same results. My take is that this is probably to the emulsifiers added into 2.0.

I was fine doing 1.2 twice daily - not sure if I can stomach 2.0 even once now. Did anyone have a similar reaction to this? Does my body adjust over time? Also, can anyone disclose how much gum one serving (121g) actually contains? How is Guar Gum/Xanthan/Carrageenan digested by the body?

I’d really like Huel to continue being part of my diet but there is only so much “side effects” I can tolerate without affecting my whole day.

Any takes on this are sincerely appreciated.

Thanks!

Sorry to hear that but that is the same gum mix which is in vanilla which sells approx 10 times the amount of U&U and we haven’t had other complaints. I can only assume it was something else causing the issue. Give it a bit more time and see how you are in a week or so. It is always hard to pin down the exact cause as we are all in contact with so many potential germs etc everyday.

Hi Julian,

thanks for your quick reply. I’ve worked my way through one bag of the Vanilla version of 1.2 and did not notice any side effects (just found it too sweet). But that one still had Gum Arabic if I recall correctly.

Also, emulsifiers moved up quite a bit in the ingredients list so my take was that their amount probably has increased as well. These were the points that led me to the conclusion that the new mix might be my issue.

I already thought about this being an infection of sorts - but I always only had issues in the morning after consuming Huel the night before - the rest of the day went by fine. If it were related to a gastrointestinal infection of sorts, I’d expect symptoms to last a few consecutive days.

I’ll try again on the weekend and see how things go. Good to know that so far nobody else has issues with this.

Edit: Just out of curiosity (if this has not been answered elsewhere), what was the reason for the change in the gum mix? As far as I can see, prior versions usually relied on gum arabic and sunflower lecithin. The new mix does seem to have a bit more controversy around it (e.g. regarding Carrageenan).

This question has been asked ever since Huel v2.0 was revealed months ago, with no real answer :frowning:

@rikefrejut the simple answer is we are constantly trying to improve Huel, based on feedback and our own thoughts. As the blend changes we have to make other changes in an attempt to keep the taste and texture the same and/or to improve it.

We are at this very moment working on the gums trying to find a preferable ratio and ingredients.

PS. sunflower lecithin does little or none of the thickening.

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Thank you both for the clarification. Does the gum in Huel also make up some of it’s fibre content (e.g. if it acts as a prebiotic)?

Thank you for the answer. Huel v2.1 looks interesting to me, thank you for striving to improve Huel.

I’ve had some time to educate myself regarding human nutritional requirements since Huel v2.0 and have been consuming my own DYI mix. My preference is for very watery consistency - without having to add too much water - but that is not going to stop me from trying out Huel v2.1 in ~1 months time (to account for some possible issues on launch of Huel v2.1).

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Guar gum is a soluble fibre that has the same health benefits of other soluble fibre, eg helps digestion and to reduce cholesterol. It is added to some products for its cholesterol lowering properties.

Xanthan gum is classed as a polysaccharide that cannot be digested by gut enzymes; it too is a soluble fibre.

Carageenan is a high molecular weight polysaccahride and is partly soluble due to its complex structure. Therefore much passes through the gut undigested and is therefore considered a dietary fibre.