Huel and intermittent fasting

Hi guys,

I’ve been away from here from a while as I recently got my life back from being ill for 7yrs!!

Anyway, I’ve been doing intermittent fasting 18hrs a day for the past 3 weeks and am wondering if anyone else does this and uses Huel ?
I’m eating 2 meals but am concerned I’m not getting the right nutrition in. I love doing IF, I’m loosing weight and inches, I’m no longer obsessing about food and my cravings are gone!

Be fab to get some feedback on using huel with IF, thank youuuuu x

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Hi Sarah.

I’m also doing IF. But i’m doing 16:8 with 3 meals a day. Not doing it for weight loss, it just makes me more productive until noon when I have my first meal. It always depends on what you’re eating, if you’re getting what you need.

I haven’t changed my diet, just the time when i’m eating. For breakfast I eat fruit with something (cereal or yogurt most of the time). I have 2x3 scoops of huel as my middle meal and eat something ‘normal’ (i’m not a vegan :slight_smile:) in the evening.

Going 100% Huel and IF would drive me insane, but at 4pm 1000kcal Huel I can do pretty well. At the end of the day, if your diet was sufficient before, it will be for IF. But you my have to binge if you are only eating twice a day.

I would be interesting to here from @JamesCollier, what he/the NHS thinks of IF.

George

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Hi guys,

Though I would share a few thoughts on this.

A year or so ago I personally decided to follow 4 weeks of the 5:2 diet, just for curiosities sake more than anything….and to see if I had the will power! I must admit, I started out a little skeptical, but as the weeks went on I understood why so many people are advocates. One of the biggest reasons people decide to follow the 5:2 diet is for weight loss, and there’s plenty of research to indicate its efficacy. The main selling point is that 5:2 takes the decision-making process out of meal times and thereby makes it easier to not trip up and consume extra calories than required.

From a scientific perspective, although the evidence base for this diet is expanding we certainly need a few more years to full understand its benefits and pitfalls. Looking at current literature, it has been suggested that calorie restrictied and intermittent fasting diets such as 5:2 can improve both glucose tolerance and insulin action, which in the long run can benefit cardiovascular health. Furthermore, a clinical review in 2007 looked at intermittent fasting and reported the protective effect against type II diabetes, cancer and heart disease. And there’s now emerging research to suggest intermittent fasting can improve cognitive function (although most of these studies looked at rodents), metabolic health and sleep patterns.

It should be mentioned that we don’t yet know what pattern of intermittent fasting is the most effective or what the optimal calorie consumption during the fasting days should be, but we’re onto a good start!

Rebecca

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Hi @GeorgeW, thanks for responding. Fair enough, I know what you mean about being more productive! I built up to 18/6 and love it! I don’t have a thing on food at all anymore, thank god as I used to proper obsess!

My fav thing was always huel fruit smoothies and huel smoothie bowls which were always high calorie as well as amazing so I’m going to start with that today and see how I get on.

My diet definately was not sufficient before IF which is how I came accross Huel in the first place. Because of an autoimmune condition I was literally unable to eat anthing aside from veg! Thats all changed now but I’m just looking to get the highest quality nutrition in my eating window. I’ll let you knwo how I get on :smiley:

Hi @RebeccaOfficialHuel, thanks for the info! I was really skeptical when I started IF but I love it and can really see why people do it to! I’ve never tried 5:2, I went just built up my fasting window and found 18hours suited me the best.
My fear is I’m not getting the best quality nutrition in what I’m currently having so am starting with Huel today. As a previous massive fan of Huel fruit smoothies/smoothie bowls/ waffles and pancakes I’m really excited to see how I feel after a few days.

I’ll let you know! x

Hi guys - thanks for the link in.

I can’t speak on behalf of the NHS (not withstanding that I feel the NHS doesn’t always stay up-to-date with peer-reviewed evidence!), but I have mixed feeling on IF.

I will never shun any diet approach, because you can find benefits in any. Clearly, some IF regimens, have positive effects because they suit lifestyles and - due to their very nature - restrict food intake which, in turn, will lead to an awareness of nutrition and weight loss. If you’re overweight, and lose fat, this will have benefits on health parameters.

I have known a number of people following an IF regimen, some very positively, but it depends what you’re wanting to get out of it. I have also known people who struggle to adhere to the regimen - especially active people.

Obviously, food choice is paramount irrespective of when you eat.

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Hi
My diet is about 75% Huel, with some whole foods, mainly veg and fruit making up the rest.I also adhere to a 16/8 intermittent fasting regime. I do it mainly to avoid eating first thing in the morning and too near to bedtime, as I’ve read a few articles about the benefits of this for the gut microbiome and metabolism in general. I am definitely not trying to lose weight and eat the same amount of calories as before I started IF. Once I had got used to the change, I found it easy enough, although I can’t say I feel very different other than feeling hungry around nine in the evening. I just ignore the pangs and they pass soon enough. It can’t be doing me any harm and hopefully it is beneficial to my gut flora. Hope this is useful info.

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