IBS, Food intolerances and Inulin

[Jeano]

Hi everyone

I’m very interested in giving Huel a try but because I have IBS and food intolerances I’d be interested in other people’s experiences. I have autoimmune thyroid disease which means I’m profoundly intolerant of gluten, dairy and soya. I’ve tried other gluten, dairy and soya complete meals and had really bad IBS symptoms, probably because they all contained Inulin. However, there’s no guarantee that it’s that causing the problem (I wish I had a pound for every time I’ve thought removing something from my diet would make a difference). I’d be really interested to hear what experiences other IBS sufferers have had with Huel.

[Blobbymatt]

Hi, After doing a quick search i found these which might be useful:

IBS (irritable bowel syndrome)

Hi, heard item on R4 ‘You & Yours’ and have placed an order (despite name like Gruel and sounds like spewing!). I’m sure you have to be careful not to make medical claims but can you say anything about IBS? What is the fibre from? It’s not a major problem but I’m definitely better without bread and milk. Don’t want to sound rude but the website could do with typo proof reading! Many thanks, Rob.

Four Weeks In. No Complaints. Great For IBS

I’ve been using Huel for 4 weeks now. I’m having 3 Huel Meals a day, and a couple days a week I have 1 ‘regular’ meal, either at home or when eating out. I’ve lost a total of 16lbs (5lbs, 5lbs, 2lbs, 4lbs) using MyFitnessPal to log my meals, and make me more aware of what I’m consuming when not having Huel and monitoring my snacks. I also have a Jawbone fitness tracker to monitor activites and earn some calories back. Never hungry and feel great. No extra energy, but definitely no lack of it…

First use as an IBS sufferer

Yes, tbh I thought it tasted rather unpleasant at first, and still do from time to time (my relationship to food is weird and easily affected/coloured by connotations) hence trying to drink it fast. I think part of the problem is that if you try and drink it fast (especially in a hurried this-is-unpleasant-lets-get-it-down-quickly sort of way) you end up gulping down a lot of air as well. I now quite enjoy the taste (it’s picked up ‘healthy’, ‘fresh’, ‘rejuvenating’ connotations in my mind).

[Jeano]

Thanks for the info. Hopefully my experience can go on here to help someone else as well!

[Blobbymatt]

It’s not going to hurt, remember that a lot of people have trouble for the first week especially with IBS

[Bee]

Hi @Jeano. I suffer from IBS (thankfully not the diarrhoea one) and have been fine with Huel powder as it’s FODMAP free. I can also eat Huel granola, bars and RTD in strict moderation as there is some chicory root powder involved. I am very intolerant of onions and garlic and can suffer for days afterwards if I ingest them. Sadly there are many products out there that contain one or both so I tend to make meals from scratch. Garlic infused olive oil is ok, as is asafoetida and I make my own FODMAP free curry powder to stay on the safe side.

There is a Huel article on the subject:

Irritable Bowel Syndrome, FODMAPs & Huel

[nattylou]

Hi I suffer terrible with IBS
And to be 100% honest with you… my symptoms have all buggared off since I’ve started huel!!
I used to wake up on a morning or in the night with an aching stomach and couldn’t get comfy no matter how I slept. Now I dont have that. My bloat has gone as well. My toilet habits are much better. I’m not running for the loo like I used to.