I’m currently working my way through my 112 meal Huel order, but I’m getting curious again, if there’s better alternatives out there. I don’t want this to be an anti-Huel post, but I want to question if Huel is generally the perfect meal for us (putting the “everyone is different and have different needs” argument aside).
Huel comply with the European Union’s “Daily Recommended Amounts”, which in itself might be debatable. But I get the impression that Huel doesn’t try to surpass this, and doesn’t do enough to attempt to deliver the ultimate meal. I got curious again if the Huel I’m now eating is the best for my body or if there is an even healthier alternative I have yet to try, so googling around and I stumbled into a product with the slightly arrogant name “TheUltimateMeal”. My question to this forum is, is this product worth trying AND how does it differ from Huel?
It’s a bit tricky to comment their label is somewhat strange. It doesn’t list all 26 vitamins and minerals, only 9 are listed. Also some are very high at only 170 cals, e.g vit A, C, D and B12. Vit D will be 5000% RDA at 2000 cals.
Also Fibre will be about 300% rda, and Sugar 23.5g (Huel is 3.4g).
Overall their ingredients look really interesting and positive. However, I would like to see the micro profiles these are based on. There is very little micro nutrient data we can find on these types of ingredients. Yes we can get lab tested done but that is close to £1000 per ingredient. Taste we can’t comment on.
Price: a meal is 170 cals and costs $2.50, so per 2000 cals that is $29.41 (£22.41). Compared to Huel which is £5.95 for 2000 cals. Or £5.35 for 2000 cals if you buy the 112 meal bundle.
Julian thanks for answering. Regarding lab tests, can’t you get results from others. There must be someone who already tested these ingredients?
I’m sure their product tastes worse than Huel, but after having tested several powder meal products, I’ve also learned that the body is quite fast at learning if something is good for the body, and it doesn’t take many days before you become used to (and even crave) the things that are healthy for your body. I didn’t like Huel when I started either, but now I do.
Maybe let me ask in a different way: If Huel could earn £1 more per meal sold to customers ONLY IF they made the product more healthy or beneficial, what could they do? Or is it true that Huel can’t (in any way possible) be more healthy than it is right now, even if customers where willing to pay £1 more per meal?
I’m asking as I’m still curious to what the best product is. Not only because I would like to know I’m eating the healthiest meal I can, but also when recommending it to friends and family.
Also please know I’m not against Huel (writing this while eating one of my 112 ordered Huel meals), I’m just curios of how the product could be improved and in what direction Huel is heading for the future (is it mostly focused on reducing the cost of the product or improving the content and being ahead of the game)?
If that calculator is correct it says it contains 37 micrograms per 170 cals!. The NHS says “if you take vitamin D supplements, do not take more than 25 micrograms (0.025mg) a day, as it could be harmful.”
With their label they lost from the start. They start with THE FACTS and list anything but facts: “the ultimate ANTI-OXIDANTS in optimum quantities, that actually make a difference”? WTF? They say “NO SUGAR” when they clearly mean “NO ADDED SUGAR”. Sorry I can’t stand the organic/raw/wholefoods hype without facts.