Huel appears to be decreasing my resting heartrate

Experiences
1

Hello all. I wondered if anyone else has noticed this.

I have used various fitbit devices which monitor my heartrate 24/7 and also log my workouts, steps, etc. Currently on a FitBit Surge which I’ve had since around the middle of last year.

I was unwell in December and January (okay, really unwell, I died and spent a month in a coma in hospital missing Christmas and New Year - I can actually recommend missing Christmas!) but I’m back to normal now, getting in at least a one or two hour walk in the morning in addition to doing other stuff throughout the day) and I’m going to start running again in the next couple of weeks (running both the full Brighton Marathon and full London Marathon next April) but one thing that had been causing me concern was that my resting heartrate just wasn’t as low as it used to.

Okay, not ‘concern’ as such, just something I noticed, or, more independently, fitbit noticed. While I was marathon training last year my resting heartrate was down to around 52bpm, only increasing in the day or two before I got something like a cold or flu or during an illness. Since getting out of hospital (and really not being in shape) my resting heartrate has pottered around 64-67bpm. It’s not something I’ve physically counted myself. My fitbit measures it every second and then plots it on a graph which should be pictured below, if I’ve worked out how to use this forum.

I got my first two packs of vanilla Huel on Tuesday and I’ve used it to substitute about 50% of calorific intake since then aiming to get to 2,400 a day. Not running 13-20 miles at the weekend for a long run and 10-15 miles throughout the week has expanded my tummy a bit.

Anyway, my point:

Since starting to use Huel I noticed a drop of 1bpm a day of my resting heartrate, as measured by Fitbit.

Here’s a chart from fitbit this morning. It shows the resting heartrate my fitbit recorded over the last 30 days:

The 61 on the right is the resting heartrate it’s recorded for today (Saturday 11th June) and each blob to the left represents a day over the last month. So the 67 is the resting heartrate it recorded 11 days ago

While my Fitbit Surge is hardly a ECG (it uses an optical HR sensor on the back of the watch and that’s it) it does record my HR 24/7.

I’m counting it as an independent reading as I’m not counting it myself, it doesn’t take bribes, it doesn’t know what I eat, isn’t open to suggestion but it’s noticed that my resting HR has dropped 1bpm a day since starting to use Huel. While I don’t have a control (I don’t have another me who hasn’t been using Huel and doing my exact daily routine) you can see that over the last month my RHR hasn’t dropped that low (and it hasn’t been that low for ages).

Has anyone else got a fitbit or similar device and has the RHR dropped since you’ve started using Huel, out of interest?

2

Probably not much relevant to you, but whenever i eat very healthily and especially if i diet and i stay doing that for a while religiously without any binges or bad choices, my heart very noticeably slows down (and if i have bloods done, they always come back extremely good vs previously). Sometimes this effects me to the point where i cannot stand up quickly without feeling very faint (blood pressure also drops along with heart rate in me). My doctor always tells me it’s a good sign and not to worry that my heart just isn’t having to work as hard any more, and they only suggest adding a little more salt to my diet.

For context, i am very large at over 120kg and 5ft4 tall, my heartrate when i’m being unhealthy can be alarmingly high, likewise my bloodpressure is usually on the borderline of needing treatment. Eating healthy = heartrate down to around 70 (very low for me) and blood pressure constant at 70/115 (pretty remarkable for someone my size, dr’s are usually surprised). I have yo-yo dieted all my life and experienced it over and over again. I can already tell it is happening now just a couple of weeks into my new Huel life.

One more thing- check you are getting enough salt as Huel is low in salt - which is good for most people but some of us need extra salt, and this is very easy to fix. Do go get checked out with the doctor too - Most doctors really aren’t interested in low heart rate and blood pressures in my experience, but it’s worth double checking.

Good luck.

3

Firstly bloody hell mate, dying and coming back!! Sorry to read about it and hopeful there are no long term after effects.

Coincidence but I had a well man check yesterday - I’m awaiting bloods but here’s RHR and Blood Pressure.

Coded entry O/E - Diastolic BP reading 68 mmHg
Coded entry Pulse rate 46 bpm
Blood pressure 126 / 68 mmHg

My last well man check results in October were most definitely not so good. :frowning:

I’ve been 100% Huel since 25th January.

I use an Apple Watch combined with self-checks on a Heart Rate app, the latter being more accurate in my opinion than the watch, certainly more in line with past NHS test results.

I would not class myself in any way shape or form as athletic but the nurse was absolutely gob-smacked and was bandying such terms about. It was embarrassing to say the least.

I’ve a half-marathon in September (Great North) and my 5K and 10K times are coming on every time I run in comparison to my last lot of run training in 2011. Last Sunday morning I went for a normal training run and ended up running a little more than half-marathon just for the heck of being able to try to. 45 minutes off my last PB (mind you Monday was a doozy of stiffness and Tuesday’s training run was legs-like-lead hell). My wife text me at mile 12 asking if I was ok - lol.

My inhaler reliance has diminished to almost non-existent use. I very rarely suffer headaches. I’ve not had a sneeze, cold, cough for ages (tempting something happening to me now) and generally feel a whole lot better about myself.

Has to be the benefits of really clean ‘eating’ / really good nutrition.

Anyway swift recover to you.

4

Still managing to replace one two meals a day with Hue and resting heart rate is continuing to drop nicely.

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5

I agree this could be a possible effect of Huel.

All things are same with me except Huel - I’ve a small drop from 65 to 61 ( & maintaining ) Using Fitbit Charge HR to track. I’m not exercising presently so lower RHR cannot be attributed to that.

I started Huel 2 weeks back & I only take it for only breakfast &/or lunch ( It keeps me stable BUT I’m struggling with wanting to psychologically eat hot foods ) My primary aim is to drop the kgs and lower my HR so that I can cope better at altitude.

6

You’re come back from hospital is inspirational, thank you so much for sharing that with us.

With heart rate, I have never read anything to convincingly link HR with diet beyond just becoming healthier/fitter, I’m certain the decreasing resting HR is to do with your fitness regime and training. A change of 4-5bpm could just be daily variability, as when I have monitored my own HR it changed daily.

Would be interesting to do further research into this.

7

I’d be worried if I were you.

Following that progression in 59 days your heart will stop. :wink:

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8

Just before payday. Typical.

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9

Down to 58bpm now.

I’m forecasting a death due to brachycardia in around three weeks.

But hopefully it’ll plateau quite soon.

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10

I’ve plotted 21rd Jan - today (18th June) on to a graph (image attached, it’s quite wide) and changed the marker for the day I received and first started using Huel for 1-2 meals a day to the red blob. If you look at January until the red blob the RHR never goes down that low, until after the red dot.

Screen Shot 2016-06-17 at 08.50.29.png1950×323 42.9 KB

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11

Anyone else experience this? I have a resting heart rate around 62-70. After starting Huel, it went down to 52 at times. This resting heart rate was a little uncomfortable. My breathing felt off. I stopped taking Curcumin which helped. I wonder if the blend of Magnesium and Calcium and the slow carbs impacts heart rate in some fashion in certain individuals. I noticed that when I added berries and some avocado and made a smoothie the impact was not as significant. I also noticed that at this reduced heart rate that sleep is not as comfortable either. Appreciate any feedback and whether anyone else found this reaction.

12

Not sure why you should feel unconfortable with a resting heart rate of 52. The drop might be something to worry about, since it usually means you are fitter; but if it’s not related to any improvement from sport activities I can see your worries.

I have a resting heart rate oscillating between 32-39 and I do not feel unconfortable. I think if you really not feeling well you should check it with the doctor.

Sorry I was not very helpful

13

Another to consider might be choline, perhaps you had a deficiency, before Huel.
http://www.cholinecouncil.com/health_professional/heart_health.php

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14

My resting rate has gone down from 82 to 76 in just over a week of Hueling.

To be fair though, At the same time I am eating less, limiting processed food and drinking less.

Guess my body is less stressed and not having to work so hard.

15

I would be cautious to pin this down to Huel. RHR is affected by a number of external and internal factors, such as stress, health, fitness, the position you are sitting/lying, your acute diet and whether it contains any stimulants/depressants (caffeine/alcohol).

If you’re concerned then consult your doctor, however I would imagine they’d say something about lower RHR being linked with improved fitness/health.

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16

Just a thought, as you get fitter your resting heart rate might change anyway?

Mines somewhere around 43-45 bpm :hushed: caused doctors a bit of a panic when I went last November after a weird illness that they couldn’t
work out.
Had blood tests, ECG and blood pressure taken, all fine.

Have been using Huel for a little over a month now and haven’t noticed a drop, not sure I’d want it to go much lower though :face_with_monocle:

17

haha, mine was the same! I think mine was about 48bpm and the nurse was like “U kay m8?”, however can’t put that in perspective from when I first started using Huel.

18

Exactly the same here …
I went for a check up before my hernia op
And nurse asked if was ok ? (She looked puzzled at my result)
And what tablets I was taking … as my heart rate was so low !!
An average less than 50bpm but low as 42 bpm when resting !

I thought as long as it is still beating … that’s gotta be a good sign !!