There is no added iron in Huel. All is naturally occuring from the main ingredients and is all no-haem. Non-haem iron has a lower bioavailability, plus there is pytic acid and calcium both of which very significantly reduce the amount of iron absorbed.
Thanks James, that explains perfectly why the Huel iron content is high and is necessary.
Itās interesting what you mentioned about iron uptake inhibitorsā¦after some further reading I realised Iād been drinking coffee and tea (with milk) all week whilst at work and also taking a vitamin D + Calcium supplement (Tea & Calcium both being iron inhibitors) and Vitamin B to keep energy levels high.
When at the weekend I had neither brew nor supplementā¦which is when the headache began.
Iāve always had cold hands and feet my entire life, so I must be slightly anemic, probably due to poor diet / low iron levels. Now that Iām actually having the correct amount of iron and nutrients, maybe itāll just take some time for my body to adjust.
Iām not giving up on it yet, as I mostly felt great the first week, I had lots more energy than usual and there were no carb / insulin crashes.
Hi @freddydeeb - are you drinking other drinks in place of the tea at weekends?
The cold hands/feet might not be anaemia; there could be a number of other explanations.
Just chilled bottled water, probably about 1 to 1 and half litres per day. My tap water is highly chlorinated and fluorinated, so I usually donāt drink that because it tastes so badā¦and probably isnāt too healthy anyway.
Just an update to say after continuing to eat Huel for a further two weeks, the headache didnāt ever reoccur. Iām putting it down to my body adjusting to receiving a higher vitamin & mineral intake than it was previously used to.
I now have clearer skin, more energy and better concentration levelsā¦quite a life changer reallyā¦no need to ever binge on shit food because of lack of time.
2 Likes
For testing if stevia/sucralose/sugar cause headaches, perhaps add some of the pure chemicals into capsules, then do a blind study on yourself. This would help rule out a lot of factors involved when testing it out via Huel itself.
1 Like
Huel with vanilla has sucrolose and stevia. There is such a thing as a sucrolose migraine. Look it up.
I guess headaches and dizziness are a side effect of stevia too.
Just adding my experience here. Iām on day 3 of having one 3 scoop vanilla huel in the morning after my swimming workout. I never get headaches but I now have one that is staying all day. Iām usually a sweet tooth and have no issues with sugars. I stay hydrated too. Iām hoping itās the body adjusting as I really like huel, it fills me up and keeps energy levels steady.
Detoxing can sometimes cause headachesā¦but as you are just having one Huel a day I wouldnāt believe that to be the cause. Sucralose can cause headache and migraine in someā¦I have even heard of people saying that oats give them headachesā¦Iāve not checked for scientific studies, and Iād imagine it to be rare.
Trouble is people get so many reactions to so many things it can take a while to find out causes and triggers.
1 Like
Headaches gone. Eating less sugar caused it I think. Havenāt had any recurrence anyway. 
2 Likes
Just come across this thread, very interesting.
I have worked up to 3 vanilla Huels a day (3 scoops of Huel in 400ml water ), on my way to 4 a day. I get the odd headache but find eating something solid clears it, even if itās just a chicken and mushroom pie ( love em ). Maybe with years of eating solid food and mainly crap is what my body is used to.And now as Huel is very nutritional, as well as low sugar and salt is having a huge impact on my body. I needed to lower my salt and sugar anyhow. I used to drink lots of full sugar coke every day and used to find if I stopped it for say a week I would get headaches and feel ill for days.
How do you 100% Huelers manage without solid food? Do you feel ok or do you get headaches?
Instant headache with very first use of Huel 
ugh. I drank it less than 20min ago and headache is coming on fast and strong. Itās Definitely a reaction of some sort to an ingredient (I drank the vanilla with a flavor packet). Iām hydrated and not detoxing from anything yet so Iām off to research the stevia / sucrolose headaches mentioned. Thx for the info.
Just started on huel , Iām on the black vanilla
First one Im loving and the headache came, I thought surely this isnāt because of the shake, second day same thing but almost instantly after drinking it, deffo not dehydrated as others have mentioned it actually leaves me wanting more waterā¦hope its just me adjusting to not eating food at lunchā¦
I just started myself with Huel (Black vanilla & Black chocolate). Was really exited to try Huel for brekfast and lunch and then normal dinner at night.
First day I tasted Huel Black Chocolate with one scoop and 250ml of water an hour after my dinner and I could right away feel a headache trough out the whole night. Mild one.
This is a Huel on top of all the normal meals I had the first day, so I donāt think itās my body dealing with less of anything. I did not give much tought to it, wasnt thinking it could be Huel at all. Just wanted to taste it.
Second day I tried 2 scoops and 500ml of water of Huel Black Vanilla at 10 AM and the headache got worse. Skipped Huel for dinner and did not have Huel since. Now third day I am still having a headche one day after I took the last portion of Huel.
Itās NOT OK to sell a product and not to tell of these sideeffects that cleary a lot of people are experiencing. I did not even connect it before I googled āHuel headacheā.
What are the official Huel guidelines? Where do I get more info on this? Is it safe to continue and live with the headache? How long? Will it ever go away? If not, how do I get my money back as headache is not why I payed for the product?
Hey Vedran, sorry to hear youāve been having headaches.
If you google X food and headaches youāre probably going to find an answer. This is not a side effect thatās common with Huel products and it can be really hard to pin down exactly the cause of headaches.
If you feel Huel is the issue, then you can stop consuming Huel. However, there is nothing in Huel that is the likely cause, the same as most other foods.
Regarding headaches it also makes sense to look for other reasons. Common causes are TMJD (a dysfunction of the mandibular joint), tense head/neck muscles, trigger points, myofascial disorders or issues with the cervical spine. Especially if the pain radiates to the neck.
People say this is not common on Huel products or look elsewhere for the issue. If you read above, plenty of people have this problem. I originally started this post after getting severe headaches. I stopped drinking Huel and my headaches stopped.
This is not just aimed at you, but surely you eat/drink Huel, you donāt ātakeā it?
1 Like
Yes its aimed at me, I edited my post for clarity.