I was diagnosed with chronic hyperthyroidism a few months ago.
Just before my diagnosis I lost 12lbs in one week from the stress of what was going on with my body. I’m skinny anyway, so it was a real shock.
I couldn’t eat, sleep, I was barely getting out of bed. My husband started me on the Huel RTD to make sure I was getting calories and nutrients. I’m now on 10mg of Carbimazole daily, and have one Huel every morning.
Ive stupidly only just realised the high Iodine content of 20% of necessary daily intake.
For those who don’t know much about Graves Disease, high iodine foods cause and worsen hyperthyroidism.
I was set on ensuring I had a great diet over the next 2 years to improve my chances of remission when I’m weaned off the carbimazole in 2 years time.
Is there anyone out there with Graves who regularly consumes Huel that can offer some insight into if/how it has effected their illness?
I’ve so much more energy than I used to have, and I’m concerned about having to stop consuming Huel
Hi, if it was me I’d get a doctor’s advice. If iodine is an issue your GP would be best placed to advise on your overall diet, and it could be done with your one Huel RTD per day factored in (or out).
Doctor Google (and their friends Doctors Facebook, Youtube and Instagram) are incompetent fools who should be struck off! Seriously, who has the better claim to knowing what’s right (or even just ok) for you, some online idiot like me, or a doctor?
Next opportunity you get, sit down with your doctor (or dietitian) and go through the ingredients of Huel to get a yes or no answer from them. For what it’s worth, I did this with a dietitian a while back and the dietitian’s response was “I wish I could prescribe this!”
I’ve taken a look into this and according to the British Thyroid Foundation, unless otherwise advised, individuals with hyperthyroidism can include iodine-containing foods such as milk and other dairy products providing this is within the Recommended Intake. This paper suggests a 200ml glass of UK milk contains around 85mcg iodine. Compare this to the iodine content of a 500ml bottle of RTD, which is 30mcg. While the iodine in Huel RTD is supplemental, the low dose should be okay, and is very far off the high doses you find in actual iodine supplements.
All of that said, I do think it’s important you double-check with your specialist and ensure Huel specifically is a good choice for you.
A further thought… there’s a class of anti-HIV drugs whose absorption is reduced in the presence of certain minerals, so the advice is that if you’re going to take a multivitamin or mineral supplement, leave six hours between the drug and the supplement. That was one of the questions I had for the dietitian - her response was that Huel is simply food: for all the drug was concerned it could be fish and chips or spaghetti carbonara. The absorption question only came into it if you were taking supplemental minerals, ie over and above what’s normally present in the diet.
