For those of you who aren't 100% Huel - do you take any supplements?

1

Hi guys,

So it is my understanding that Huel contains everything you need mineral and vitamin wise. My question is for those of you who are not 100% Huel is do you take any vitamin supplements and if so what ones?

I ask as I consume around 1500 calories from Huel but a further 2000 calories from normal food. Before starting Huel I used to take a high dose vitamin D plus some zinc, calcium & magnesium.

I have recently changed careers which has meant a 60% drop in salary so I’m looking to save money wherever possible. Do you think I can do without any supplementation? My normal food is all healthy stuff that isn’t processed.

Many thanks

2

I’m not convinced on supplements unless medically recommended. The more I read about vitamins the more I think they’re a waste of money, so quick bit of cash to save.

I’m 90%+ on Huel, don’t supplement vitamins and don’t see why you’d need to unless the 2000kcal you’re getting from normal food is particularly unhealthy.

No-one knows but you know, give yourself a week off your usual supplementation and see if you feel any different.

3

Not necessarily. Source: I eat Huel 100% of the time.

4

My diet before huel was terrible. I couldn’t imagine getting close to the amount of nutrients I needed when I was eating what I was eating.

I think if you consume huel, you’re a lot better off than most of the population.

I have huel breakfast and dinner and a Tesco salad (unhealthy prepacked crap) for lunch.

5

I take magnesium to help with sleep - not sure what kind of effect its having:

I also take fish oil liquid from Tesco to help with joints - not sure if its doing anything!

I’d take more if I could afford it, especially all the ones that supposedly help with sleep and joints.

6

I supplement HUEL for a couple of reasons.

Firstly, Im doing 5:2 fasting, so I risk not getting enough nutrients on my fast days.
Secondly, while Ive read all about HUELs approach to Omega-3s (lots of ALA, then let your body do the rest) I also take Omega-3 DHA and EPA.

I meet these two extra needs with a combination of a broad multi-vitamin and a Omega-3 + multi vitamin.

Also, tumeric because the latest fad is for anti-inflammatory supplements…

7

I don’t supplement with anything.

At the moment I’m doing Huel for breakfast and lunch, then having a plant-based evening meal which is not dissimilar to the nutritional content of Huel.

8

Thanks guys.

It is very tricky working out if these supplements do anything or not isn’t it? I have certainly noticed an improvement when I started supplementing with magnesium and zinc but that was before I started Huel. There is also the likelihood that I was just experiencing a placebo effect.

Once my supply runs out I’ll try not taking anything and see if I notice a difference. The cost of them does all add up over the year!

9

Yes, its really hard to tell if they are doing anything!

Especially when some aren’t even supposed to have an effect but just run in the background keeping everything ticking over smoothly and possibly preventing problems in the future.

10

I supplement with creatine.

When I’m not having Huel, I usually add a bunch of stuff, like omega 3s, magnesium etc, but if I have even a single meal of Huel for the day, I usually don’t bother with anything but the creatine. My non-Huel diet isn’t THAT bad, so I usually don’t worry about this stuff so long as I get a bit of everything I need from Huel.

11

I do supplement with vegan vitamin D. It is one that’s proven to be beneficial. I also supplement with b12 but I’m always a bit haphazard with them.

12

I take a standard multivitamin and mineral tablet every day. And recently vitamin d on top.
I have one Huel meal per day, sometimes 2.
As a vegetarian since 1980 (nobody was vegan back then) most of my life I didn’t eat very thoughtfully so I think that’s a multivitamin gives me a baseline and makes sure I don’t get deficient in any micronutrients.
As maybe 15% most days and 30% some days of my calories (and therefore micronutrients) Huel is pretty much irrelevant. It’s not going to overdose me, and it’s not enough on its own.
I do eat a lot of fresh veg now I’m older. But still take the multivitamin.