It's Best to Drink it Slowly

Experiences
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Some nutritionists (e.g. Patrick Holford) recommend that it is better to eat small amounts frequently rather than have a few large meals. This will keep your blood sugar (and therefore your energy levels) more stable. “Graze, don’t gorge”. I think this advice is particularly important with a meal drink, where the ingredients are in such an easy-to-digest form.

I have found that drinking Huel slowly is the best way to consume it. If I down a bottle of Huel quickly, it keeps me going for a couple of hours and then I am hungry again, and I can feel the fluctuation in energy levels. But if I drink the same amount slowly, it keeps me going for longer and my energy level feels really stable.

For example, on Saturday I had one bottle of Huel for breakfast at about 7am, which I drank slowly. I went out for a bike ride at about 9:30am. I poored my 2nd bottle of Huel into a 500ml metal flask to go in my small rucksack, and drank the excess that wouldn’t fit in it.

Throughout the bike ride I drank small amounts frequently, even saving the last couple of mouthfuls for the last 2 miles. I got home at about 1pm. It really did keep me going well that whole time, and I am almost certain that if I had simply downed that 2nd bottle in one go before going on my bike ride, it wouldn’t have kept me going in the same way.

Anyway, so I got home and started on my 3rd bottle, drinking it very slowly. I didn’t need my 4th bottle until about 4pm, and even then I wasn’t particularly hungry at that point. I had my 5th and final bottle about 6 or 6:30pm, something like that. I only wish I’d drank that last bottle more slowly because I felt hungry just before bed. I could have just sipped away at it right up until bedtime.

The brilliant thing is, with a drink like this you can totally just sip away at it like you would a glass of water. It’s super convenient really. It now means that food is as convenient as a glass of water. Just poor a glass and have it with you at your desk, or if you’re out you can have it in a flask.

I have 3 level scoops of Huel per bottle. At the moment this seems to be the right amount for me.

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I’m naturally a grazer, I prefer frequent snacks to large meal, although I like them too. :smile:

I’ve never thought about food being as convenient as water, interesting.

Previously when I was trying to lose a few pounds I used to weight out my daily requirement in the morning (minus 700 cals for an evening meal and snack), then blend all at once put in a jug in the fridge, then sip / consume during the day. Once the jug was gone that was my calories gone until the evening meal, made calorie counting super simple.

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I just wanted to add some additional thoughts to this topic.

Huel definitely keeps me going much better if I drink it slowly throughout the day. I have got into the habit of drinking a small tumbler glass of it about every hour, and this seems to keep me going perfectly. Whereas if I drink a third of my day’s worth quickly as a full meal, it doesn’t keep me going anywhere near as well.

I’m certainly not a qualified nutritionist or doctor, but my theory is that this stuff does digest more quickly than solid food. Sure, the presence of protein, fat and fibre definitely slows it down a lot more than if it was just pure carbs. But even so, I still think this is getting processed more efficiently than solid food.

It makes sense because usually when we eat solid food we don’t chew it thoroughly. So we end up with quite large pieces of solid food in the stomach, in comparison the the finely ground powder that is Huel. So of course this is more work for the digestive system to do.

Of course, ideally we should be chewing our food thoroughly, but if we did that it would slow us down anyway. If you were to chew every mouthful until it is liquid (as I have read some experts suggest you should be doing), it would take you a very long time to get through a large meal. So you still wouldn’t have it hitting your system all at once.

With Huel, we have the ability to dump a whole meal’s worth into the stomach within a very short time. But I don’t think that’s getting the best out of Huel.

When I first started on Huel, I experimented a bit and tried a few mornings where I had two shakers worth of Huel for breakfast. I was absolutely stuffed, bloated even. But about 3 hours later I was hungry again. Whereas now, that same amount could keep me going for considerably longer by spreading out my intake.

So when I’m on Huel, the whole concept of meals disappears…

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This is interesting feedback, Marcus. There’s certainly conditioning involved.

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@JamesCollier What kind of conditioning do you mean?

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I meant just getting used to it

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im on my third little glass (sample pouch so limited quantity) and i defo think its gonna take getting used too!!

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Yeah, I have my Huel slowly too. My breakfast Huel lasts from 8:30 to about 11am.

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I’m actually doing my best to drink it quickly at the moment; I have a 250g shake for breakfast around 07:45, I can usually drink that within 30 mins, then my second 250g I try to start around 11:30 and will aim to finish by 14:00, but at the moment it often lasts until closer to 15:00.

I think spreading it out more evenly definitely keeps you feeling satisfied better, but a while before Huel I had reasonable success using intermittent fasting and was curious to see how it worked with Huel; early days so far, but I’m definitely less hungry in the evenings than I recall being on solid food, just a bit peckish before bed but nothing serious enough to put me off sleeping through till breakfast. :smiley:

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I’m a new to Huel - on my third day with breakfast and lunch replacement. I find that I’ll sip my breakfast one whilst at work for most of the morning and then move on to my lunch one in a similar manner. I’ll add frozen berries to one of them to give me a change of flavour. Also in the afternoon I supplement with a cup of miso soup (about 40 cals). This provides me with some savoury taste which I crave.
So I have to agree that the gentle grazing method seems to work for me - I even have energy to manage a 3 mile brisk walk across London to get home from work. A meal in the evening to keep things balanced - and I have to say, working well so far.

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I am doing much the same as you after a week and a half on Huel. I start my breakfast around 8.30 and usually finish it around 11am - then I’m on afternoon from 1pm until…well…I just finished 15 minutes ago.

I’ll have a meal any time between 6 and 8 and sorted :slight_smile:

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Sorry but i’m the direct opposite - I down my Huel (sometimes up to two full glasses as quickly as I can) and i keeps me full for as long as I want. I’ve been on it for 4 months now - I could’n’t stand having to sip it. I like pulling it out of the fridge and downing as quickly as I can, I love knowing that i’ve consumed a meal in a matter of seconds that id normally waste much more time on and can get back to being productive.

I’ve lost 26lbs in 4 months now, i’m almost back into fighting shape, i’m also doing intermittent fasting, so I don’t have anything until about 3pm in the afternoon and eat between a 3pm and 9am window, not having breakfast is such a boost for the mind, breakfast is one of the biggest cons of the Capitalist free market.

But hey, each to their own, if you feel better sipping and enjoy doing that id never tell anyone otherwise! Do whats best for you, makes you feel better, makes you more productive on a day to day basis and achieves your targets. The beauty of Huel is its flexible to do what and how you want.

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It just goes to show, we’re all different.

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I’m currently just using Huel during lectures and bar shifts (6 - 13 hrs), the one time it wasn’t busy on the bar and I tried to drink a whole 600ml bottle at once I couldn’t finish it! I’d say even if I’m passively drinking Huel whilst doing something else - like you would eat popcorn in a cinema - it takes me around 90-120 minutes to finish.

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