I saw a Huel ad on facebook, with people mocking it in the comments and was also my initial thinking but I looked up the website and thought this could fit my lifestyle.
My company moved into a new building 8 months ago and it was decided that eating at your desk was to be banned. This stopped me being able to have breakfast unless I got up earlier and ate before work started, I wasn’t prepared to get up earlier. I used to also have a sandwich for lunch and eat at my desk, this changed to sitting in a cafe and having a large meal of fryed unhealthy food. Huel seemed a good fit, I can have this at my desk, not miss breakfast and be healthier.
I’m in my 3rd day of Huel. I had the 3 scoops /570ml of water mix for breakfast, one for lunch and then a normal evening meal for the first 2 days. I realise this is probably not going to be enough calories so today I will have 3 x Huel drinks. and a normal meal. I also have about 3 coffee’s with milk and one suger per day. I was hungry on the first 2 days so when I got home also had a fruit and nut bar. Since taking Huel I’ve started drinking a lot more water, I have a water bottle that I’m filling up 4 times a day.
The first day I had a mild persistant headache after my second Huel drink that lasted into the evening. The second day after the second Huel drink I had a medium headache that persisted into the evening that got worse and was so bad in the middle of my nights sleep I woke with a severe headache and took some paracetomol. I got back to sleep and woke with it still there but very mild and I still feel it a bit now.
I was wondering if it was linked to Huel so I came here and searched “headache” and there were many results, lots of people reporting it but no kind of remedy or follow up posts saying it was just at the beginning. I really want this to work so I’ll continue and just hope its my body adjusting. I will give it a few more days and report back.
One more thing I have a weird allergy that gets set off usually at the end of meal when I finish whatever I’m drinking, the food and drink are so varied I have never pinpointed what it is. This results in either about 5/6 sneezes and a runny, or itchy sinuses, that lasts 5 minutes. Huel sets this off on my first drink of the day, just the sneezes and runny nose.
Hey!
Do you think your headaches might be due to withdrawal from all that sugar? Your body can get pretty hooked on all that fried food. That’s a pretty big change to the system you’ve done there haha. I’ve got the same issue! The cravings are insane! I’m trying to push through, it will be better afterwards
How much water are you drinking as well? People assume that because you’re consuming Huel with water this’ll hydrate you, but it’s always good to drink plenty more!
I have 2 coffee’s in the morning and one in the afternoon, each has 1 small spoon of sugar so I don’t if its really dropping that much. If its just a transition and my body getting used to this new diet then I can live with that. I will report back so others can see if this clears up. My head feels fine now I’m just a bit tired from waking up with the headache in the middle of the night.
I never used to drink water but since starting Huel I’m drinking over 2 litres of water a day, this is because after having Huel my mouth feels a bit dry and I feel quite thirsty.
On the taste, I quite like it, it seems to have an intial, middle and after taste. I may experiment with adding stuff when my blender arrives but for now its not bad
I misread the instructions at first. I saw the 1 part Huel to 5 parts Water as volume rather than mass and added 1 scoop of Huel to 5 scoops of water. Obviously this was far too watery and I also drank more water. Strangely enough the more water I drank the thirstier I became.
When I switched to 3 scoops to 550 ml of water this was far better and I’m just drinking moderate amounts of water. No more headaches.
Drinking steady, when thirsty during the day should not cause the same issue.
I drink between 3-4 litres per day on top of Huel. Everyone’s requirement is different so not suggesting the same applies for all but I’ve suffered from dehydration and I personally know what I need.
I also got slight headaches when I started my powdered food.
There are hundreds of posts/comments about headaches in different forums. The general consensus is they are caused by 1) too little additional water being consumed, 2) not enough sodium, or 3) more potassium than the user is used to.
The general consensus (echoed by my experience) is that the headaches disappear in 3-7 days.
This may or may not be your experience. But I am guessing your body will adjust. Best to you.
I too had headaches, mine where very mild but continuous.
Although it is very rare for me to get headaches I have felt this kind of headache before, I think I may have developed a mild intolerance to nuts. I still eat nuts I just watch how many I eat, just incase.
The ideas listed above where probably the reason for my headaches. I’ve always eaten a lot of sugger and really tried to cut it all out when I first started Huel.
I would like to say I’ve not had a headache since my first week on Huel, many months ago.
I’m sure it was just my body adjusting and I’m sure your headaches will stop too.
Btw I too had and still have regular food as well, I started on about 60% Huel but it now accounts for about 30% of my diet.
Thanks for all your responses. I don’t think I’m drinking too much water. I’ve definitely increased my usual water consumption. Day 3 I felt ok, day 4 a mild headache and day 5 (today), a mild headache. Its quite mild and makes me feel a bit weird but I’d say its decreasing in strength each day. So hopefully it will go soon as its been suggested.
Hi there, did the headaches stop when you went with unsweetened Huel?
Just curious, as this I’m considering trying the unsweetened next time, for this very reason.
I’m on my first week of Huel, and getting headaches alongside some other symptoms (lack of motivation, low mood, fogginess etc). I don’t think it’s a sugar deficit, as I really didn’t have any more sugar in my diet before I started on Huel.
I did’t add sugar to anything in my previous diet, and I’m still eating as much fruit and fruit juice as I was before Huel, so the sugar I’m getting should be pretty much the same.
Thanks.
Paul
I haven’t tried unsweetened yet. It’ll be a while before I can order it, possibly in the new year, due to money. I’ll post up about it when I do, though.
I experienced headaches and overall dizziness with the vanilla flavoured Huel when I first started using Huel. As a test, I drank it three days in a row, with headaches and dizziness as result all three days. Then I tested two days without the vanilla Huel and just had regular food. Headache was gone. I continued two days with vanilla Huel again, and headache and dizziness was instantly again.
My body usually reacts instantly if there’s something it doesn’t want me to put into it, and I feel convinced it’s the sweetener in the vanilla flavour that caused the issues for me.
I ordered unsweetened Huel, and haven’t looked back since. I feel great on it and did from first meal. I’ve tried gluten free - and original, and don’t feel any difference between the two, so decided to stick to original.
Ahh, that’s interesting. I was one of the very first people to try and review Huel. At the time,I didn’t get too many headaches, but they were there for some reason. People have suggested dehydration or the transition from food to Huel. I will admit that recently, I haven’t had a lot of Huel, but since stopping all sweeteners and going back to normal sugar, my headaches have stopped. Maybe it’s something else? I’m open to ideas. I’ll be having Huel today, so who knows what’ll happen!
It’s simply your body adjusting too it…you’ve got to grin and bare it…I can assure you if you had a sugary fix when the headaches come it would go away but obviously don’t do that!!!
I’ve never had a migraine in the 33 years I’ve been alive but day two of huel I think I spent 8 hours in bed with the worst headache ever…
