Hello everyone,
I just wanted to ask a question because I was getting a little worried. Im having 4 scoops three times a day and once or twice a week I have a meal. But recently I’ve had to set a timer for when I need my huel otherwise I would just miss it. I thought well it’s because I eat the same thing everyday something humans aren’t suppose to do that’s why I’ve lost my appetite. To reassure myself I tried to look it up on the forum and I can’t find it mentioned. So then I googled it.
The NHS website says the most common reason for sudden loss of appetite
Depression - I’ve always been sad, why would this come on suddenly?
Hyperthyroidism - I don’t think so…?
Cancer - I FUCKING HOPE NOT
So I just wanted to make sure this is normal and you all experience this too.
Before Huel I was hungry ALL the time. Could not stop eating. I only need 1500 calories a day but I was eating 6000 and having to run on the treadmill for hours in attempts to minimise weight gain.
The increase in appetite was triggered by medication I had been on but when I stopped the meds, my appetite was still crazy.
After 3 weeks of Huel, I wasn’t craving any more and only wanted to eat enough calories to maintain my weight.
At times when I’ve eaten 75-100% Huel for a few days, I do lose hunger sensations altogether. I think because it’s a liquid diet, and you’re also not getting the taste / texture satisfaction that you get with other food. When you feel hungry half the time it’s craving the process of eating rather than needing calories.
I wouldn’t worry too much.
As long as you do remember to eat (loads of people set their mealtimes and don’t wait til their hungry anyway), you aren’t losing unexplained weight, and you aren’t finding it impossible to eat, then you have nothing to worry about.
Googling symptoms will always result in scaring the shit out of yourself
But:
Depression: you’d be finding it hard to make a shake at all and hard to drink it, not just not feeling hungry
Thyroid: like you said… unlikely - you would have other symptoms not just loss of appetite
Cancer: pretty much google any symptom that exists and cancer will come up as a possibity! Don’t freak yourself out.
If you start getting other symptoms or sudden unexplained weight loss or weight gain then go to your GP and get an all rounder blood test.
In the meantime, maybe introduce some tasty meals into your diet - whatever your favourite food is. I’m sure your appetite would pick up pretty quickly !
Thanks I feel better. They also list about a hundred other things like eating disorders, alcoholism, stress, heart, kidney, lung or liver disease, dementia and others. I wasn’t worried until I couldn’t see any thread that mentioned this as being a side effect of huel that’s when I thought “oh no… it’s just me”
Everybody’s metabolism behaves differently and as you said a loss of appetite can be many things – even various digestive issues – so Doctor Google definitely shouldn’t be your first port of call if your concerned about it.
Living in the tropics and on Huel diet – for me, dehydration is always a challenge and this too can cause a loss of appetite – so in a kind of dumb IT style ‘have your plugged it in?’ question – are you increasing your water intake aside from your Huel diet?
A lot of hunger is actually thirst and whilst we don’t need to drink 2 litres of water every half hour we do need more than most people get.
I’ve definitely seen “hunger” as a feeling really diminish on Complete Foods.
My take, as an amateur nutritionologister, is that our vitamins/minerals levels are good and we’re hydrated; so our body doesn’t have to call out for things as desperately as when we’re thirsty and lacking some nutrients.
I’m not sure what to do if I’m worried. Talking to a real doctor is too awkward and uncomfortable.
I like doctor google because he doesn’t judge me for asking stupid questions he just gives answers.
Also how much water should I drink because huel is mostly water anyway. I know the recommended is 2 litres but does that include huel?
There is little need to worry. Seratonin is a hormone which if rapidly absorbed at synapsses and not remaining in the blood stream long enough may lead to low mood. You can speak to a GP or nurse prescriber about this.
Huel and it’s slow release carbs stopped any desire I had for snacking. It took me a week to notice I hadn’t bought any chocolate in the afternoon. I often don’t have an evening meal if I’ve had a sedentary day and had my Huel brekkie, lunch and snack as I don’t feel I need it. Maybe see your GP for some blood tests if you’re concerned, or it doesn’t tie in with starting Huel. But I definitely have less hunger nowadays.
Thanks for all the comments guys. The more I think about @ChristinaT comment the more I realise she’s right as long as I remember to keep taking huel and I’m not losing weight and I can physically have food then it’s not a bad thing to not feel hunger.
I was just not sure if this was a side effect of huel or not. By looks of it it does make peoples appetite smaller and since mine was small to start with it’s brought it down to nothing.
I totally get the uncomfortable nature of speaking to your GP but sometimes its necessary. Yes Huel is a lot of water but its also high fibre which absorbs a lot of that. As to what is the right level of water intake for you - that’s subject to lots of variables but I always find the colour of your pee to be one of the more obvious and easy ways to gauge / guesstimating your hydration.
My take, as an amateur nutritionologister, is that our vitamins/minerals levels are good and we’re hydrated; so our body doesn’t have to call out for things as desperately as when we’re thirsty and lacking some nutrients.
As an amateur Dietologicunian I endorse this message. I also endorse it as someone who was incessantly hungry until I started using huel.
