Lack of "roughage" in Huel, should I be concerned?

The other day somebody commented on my 2/3rds Huel diet and the lack of “roughage”. They claimed it could cause all sorts of nasty diseases and it is dangerous to have a diet with so little roughage to aid digestion through the gut.

What is the Huel team’s position on this?

Hi @_chris no need to worry, ‘roughage’ is simply another term for dietary fibre of which Huel has plenty.

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No need for concern as Huel is very high in fibre with around 8g of dietary fibre per standard serving.

I assume they weren’t a dietary professional. Comments from idiots are generally to be ignored.

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Apparently they were a biology graduate!

Everyone here has provided some great insights. Wanted to chime in to further explain!

Roughage can refer to a couple different things - some use it to refer to fiber more broadly, but it more specifically refers to how challenging it is to digest.

  • For example, spinach is high in fiber, but whether or not it’s considered high or low roughage can change: whole spinach (higher roughage) vs. blended spinach (lower roughage).

As noted in the thread, more generally speaking, Huel products contain a bunch of fiber so there shouldn’t be any concerns in this regard, even if some of the products are considered more on the low roughage side due to the form they come in when prepared (the powders or RTD). :slight_smile:

With the above being said, a caveat that some may have specific recommendations to consume more high or low roughage foods (depending on medical condition and whether or not they are in a flare) and if that applies to you, you want to be sure to follow those specific guidelines! But if that does not apply to you, there are no concerns if you want to consume more low roughage foods and it’s not dangerous - just be sure you’re still getting a good amount of fiber to meet daily recommendations!

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The fibre in Huel complete meals I think adds up to a bit less than my NHS dietician has me consuming (45 grams of salad or cooked greens 3 x per day). But you can always have a bowl of salad as a supplement if worried about it.

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