I’ve just received my first delivery of Huel Ready to Drink as I work on the road a lot and it’s useful for me for the convenience.
I’ve just had a look at the nutritional values printed on the side and it says that one bottle contains 400 calories, 18g of which is fat. I recall reading that 1g of fat is worth 9 calories, so a 400 calorie bottle has 162 of those calories coming from fat (so Huel is effectively 40.5% fat when you consider the calorie value).
The second point is that if I am to consume 2,000 calories a day, assuming I drank 5 bottles (is that allowed??? - Huel says it is a complete food option), then I would consume 90g of fat. Guidelines suggest between 44 and 78 g of fat per day.
I’m guessing I’ve made an error somewhere because the numbers look too high in terms of fat content. Can anyone enlighten me please?
I’d recommend reading the whole article (link above) if you’re interested enough in the entire nutrition of the RTD, but here’s what it says about fats:
“Fat is more energy-dense than carbohydrate and protein, so the Huel Ready-to-drink formula includes large amounts of healthy fats in order to achieve less volume and an easy-to-consume Huel meal in a bottle. Moreover, there are some fatty acids that are required for optimal health, and Huel Ready-to-drink is rich in the fats that provide these essential fatty acids.”
Fats: Rapeseed, flaxseed, sunflower and coconut
The fat in Huel Ready-to-drink provides 42% of the total energy and is made up from rapeseed oil, flaxseed and sunflower lecithin to ensure that the essential fatty acids are included in optimum amounts with Huel Ready-to-drink being rich in monounsaturates, omega-3s and omega-6s. We’ve also included MCTs from coconut for a very good reason: MCTs, or medium-chain triglycerides, are treated much like carbs, i.e. they provide an energy-rich, sustained fuel and are perfect for those of us with busy lifestyles (7). But MCTs have another invaluable quality: they are not susceptible to oxidation and rancidity, meaning that they do not contribute to the formation of atherosclerotic plaques which increase the risk of cardiovascular disease. In short, MCTs from coconut are a healthy and efficient source of energy. Read more about MCTs here.
There are two completely essential fatty acids (EFAs) that humans require: linoleic acid (LA – an omega-6 fatty acid) and alpha-linolenic acid (ALA – an omega-3) (8). Using fats from rapeseed, flaxseed and sunflower, we’ve ensured Huel Ready-to-drink contains sufficient amounts of both of these EFAs as well as other omega-3 and -6 fatty acids and monounsaturated fatty acids*. Moreover, these ingredients provide antioxidants and other vitamins and minerals in a biochemical redox balance to help minimise the negative effects of free-radicals. Free radicals may be involved in the pathology of cancer, cardiovascular disease and ageing, so it’s desirable to keep their formation to a minimum, and this is the role of antioxidants. Read more about fats here.
RTD is not intended to be used as the sole source of nutrition. It’s intention is a great quick healthy alternative to the usual not-so-great food we may otherwise buy from a shop. The bar and RTD are not as strong as the powder nutritionally because certain compromises have to be made to turn the powder formula to it into a solid or make it suitable for use in RTD.
The bars and RTD are to complement the powder for when time is short or taking / making a shake isn’t suitable.