Hello,
Have been using Huel for the last month or so. Use it to replace 1 or 2 meals per day.
Post Huel meal, I get bloated and start feeling heartburn (mild). Before huel never had this.
Using 1.1 sweetened version.
Any ideas?
Thanks
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The bloating could be due to the increased fibre, e.g. from the flax. Not sure about the heartburn.
Heartburn has only been mentioned once of twice before. I’ve just googled the causes of heartburn, see below and none are in Huel.
Some common foods that we eat and drink, stimulate increased stomach acid secretion setting the stage for heartburn. Over-the-counter medications also may precipitate heartburn. Examples of these irritants include:
alcohol,
caffeine,
aspirin (Bayer, etc.),
buprofen (Motrin, Advil, Nuprin, etc.)
Naproxen (Naprosyn, Aleve)
carbonated beverages,
acidic juices (grapefruit, orange, pineapple)
acidic foods (tomatoes, grapefruit, and oranges), and
chocolate.
Smoking and the consumption of high-fat content foods tend to affect function of the lower esophageal sphincter (LES), causing it to relax from the stomach and allow acid to reflux into the esophagus.
A hiatal hernia where a portion of the stomach lies within the chest instead of the in abdomen, can affect the way the LES works and is a risk factor for reflux. Hiatal hernias by themselves cause no symptoms. It is only when the LES fails that heartburn occurs.
Pregnancy can cause increased pressure within theabdominal cavity and affect LES function and predispose it to reflux.
Obesity may also cause increased pressure in the abdomen, and thus reflux in the same way.
Primary diseases of the esophagus can also present with heartburn as a symptom. These include, among others, scleroderma and sarcoidosis.
Some years ago I used to have some nasty heartburn all the time. Then, since I stopped smoking around 5 years ago, my situation has imrpoved a lot in this sense. I started enjoying spicy foods that back then just made me sick with heartburn. So I was in this state this summer when I started having Huel to replace almost all my meals (~95%) and strangely I have also experienced what you describe, some mild heartburn. It was intermittent and some time ago I stopped having it. I have switched to the unsweetened version when it became available, which makes me think that it was either caused by something in that version OR it’s a part of an adjustment period of your digestive system. I’ll try a bag of sweetened version in the near future, so I’ll be able to tell for sure.
Of course if it worsens, I would suggest stop eating Huel and go have a doctor check that out. My other advice is to not drink it all at once as that seems to cause the feeling of bloatedness. Try to drink a meal’s worth slowly throughout half an hour or more, that’s also known to keep you going for longer.
I’m on huel quite a bit but have weekends of solid food to varying degrees depending on what I’m up to, & I sometimes get a bit of a bloated heart burn kind of sensation (not full heart burn but like it’s threatening it, you know), but it tends to be if I’ve been “bad” that weekend, like drinking, smoking, pizza and sweets, etc. then it’s like it takes a while for my body to calm down again.
How’s your diet for your non-Huel meals?
Personally I’ve found that sucralose gives me heartburn, so I’ll be switching to the unsweetened version as explained in length here
I rarely get heart burn. The only food that I’ve discovered until now which gave me consistent heartburn was weetabix in either of the wheat or oat (oatibix) varieties.
However, I’ve been on Huel for a month now on 2 portions per day and I find almost without fail I will get mild heartburn about 30 minutes after eating.
So I share your experience and I’d like to know what’s causing it, as I have no idea what it may be.
I don’t feel bloated though. Just heartburn.
@SerMeltbeg interesting. I’ve just checked and gluten could be the cause. See here (please note: I don’t recommend these sources, so it might be worth researching more) - https://www.glutenfreesociety.org/acid-reflux-linked-to-gluten-intolerance/
and
The cause of heartburn is multifactoral and could be linked to any number of things. If you don’t get heartburn with other foods, but do with Huel, can I make some suggestions?
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Drink plenty of water through the day, not just what you use in Huel. Indeed, drink after Huel.
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Don’t have too big a portion of Huel in one go - maybe 2-3 scoops max.
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Make sure you’re sitting upright when consuming Huel; no slouching. And don’t do too much activity for 30 mins after drinking Huel.
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Avoid NSAID like ibuprofen, etc
I find that I sometimes get very mild heartburn if I have my Huel thicker. Maybe the answer is to water it down more?
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I’ve just started Huel today and I understand exactly the “threat of heartburn”. Coincidentally this is exactly the same feeling when I eat porridge, so I’m assuming its the oats. I don’t believe I’m gluten intolerant and generally water afterwards takes it away. p.s. I’m using 3-4 scoops of U/U.
I am prone to heartburn and have signs of gerd. This has decreased noticably since starting huel (into my third month now), so I’m actually very very pleased with huel in this regard. One factor may be that since huel is giving me sustained and more even energy levels during the day, I am drinking two cups less coffee than previously, and coffee can be a trigger.
I’m new to Huel and but after a few days I started experiencing heart burn.
After a week I switched from Vanilla to Unsweetened but it’s been another week now and no change though it is a bit milder. It’s a shame as in just 2 weeks I lost 2.5kg but I’m dreading the inevitable so I’m close to giving it up. I will experiment with blending it with almond milk and have also cut the portion size to 60g from 120g. Also will give this a go
For what it’s worth I can eat endless porridge without issue but powdered drinks including most protein drinks give me heartburn. Even buttery stuff like croissants don’t really cause me grief.
Lastly, for what it’s worth I first developed heart burn when a) I got fat b) fish oil supplements. Obviously b) is no longer an issue as I quit them sharpish and a) isn’t really a problem as long as I avoid eating lots of buttery foods / protein shakes (though generally vegan protein shakes aren’t an issue - just Whey).
Cheers
I get a lot of heartburn/reflux and have symptoms of GERD. Can’t say I have any problems with Huel though, quite the opposite in fact. I’m drinking the unflavoured version for about 80-90% of my food intake and have had the least trouble with acid in a long time… it comes and goes in periods, but huel isn’t provocative in my case.
I too have been having mild heartburn with Huel but I’m just starting out with one meal a day so it might be other factors, I’ll keep playing but I do know if I take on a lot of sugar that it causes it.
Interesting point about taking on more water, I’m inherently bad at this…
***Update, no heartburn with the gluten free Huel! Hopefully, this will remain an option
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Found out it was Bread and carbs giving me heartburn. On a Keto diet and no heartburn in 2 weeks. I want a Keto diet version on Hule badly.
I had heartburn when using the sweetened huel. I think I went through 2-4 bags of that. I then tried the unsweetened with strawberry flavour which uses stevia and no more heartburn.
The unsweetened is also far easier to mix for some reason and has no lumps. It isn’t as thick. The flavour is not as nice as the sweetened but I prefer not having heartburn.
Is it a coincidence or something to do with the sweetener in the vanilla version?
I get indigestion and heartburn after huel, too. I gave up porridge for the same reason years ago. It’s sad, as in all other respects I’m keen to increase my huel meals, but the acid stomach is really uncomfortable. I get this with the sweetened and unsweetened versions. I have not been able to order the gluten free version as it is out of stock.
Think gluten free is back in to be honest