Me comparing GlycoGenesis to Huel

OK, I’ve got my GlycoGenesis and here is my opinion:

Taste - GlycoGenesis is absolutely scrumptious. I got the vanilla creme and it is delicious, but I love sweet, strongly flavoured things. With vanilla Huel I always need to add a heaped teaspoon of good quality instant coffee and a dash of Stevia to boost up the flavour. Knowing me, I wouldn’t dare try Huel UU.

Texture - GlycoGenesis is liquid so the only texture is the tiny dots of brown which I assume is roughage. I found Joylent chalky and dry but I didn’t experience that with either Huel or GlycoGenesis

Thickness / viscosity - GlycoGenesis is liquid, about the same thickness as plain skim fat free milk. Huel is more like a milkhake, a lot thicker than GlycoGenesis.

Satiety - I’m still a bit hungry after having GlycoGenesis. I waited half an hour just in case fullness is a delayed reaction, or in case it works like Physalis husks, that swell in your stomach or something. It doesn’t fill me up and I find I need to eat some food. Huel fills me up completely and I’m not hungry again for 5 or 6 hours.

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Have you tried Solo? I’ve not tried GlycoGenesis but I’ve tried Huel and the comparison between the two is quite significant. I feel a lot cleaner you could say and less bloated with Solo which is good for me as I have IBS

Thank you very much for the review :slight_smile:

The brown dots are pieces of flaxseed - we may in future change this to a finer ground one, but our taste testers seemed to prefer the current particle size during testing.

Regarding satiation, as you probably still have quite a few packs, my advice would be to have the next few meals with 250-500ml of water on the side, rather than extra food. I’m just speculating that, as I believe Huel requires more water so that could play a factor.

Regardless though, thanks very much for trying and posting your thoughts :slight_smile:

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My pleasure. Actually those who keep complaining that Huel is way too thick might be happier with GlycoGenesis. Personally I much prefer thick. We all have different preferences.
Nothing wrong with the brown dots/fax seed. It doesn’t detract at all. Something needs to be done to it to make it provide that ‘full tummy’ effect, I think.
Hoodia? Ha ha ha

Hi BikiniFitness, No, never heard of Solo. I’ve been on Huel for a year (I think, I lost track of time), and so far it has been perfect for me with no side effects at all, keeping me very healthy, but I’m always keen to try everything else out of curiosity, as long as it isn’t bank-breakingly expensive.

I may explore adding something like psyllium husk in if I can find a good source - although it risks bringing the fibre up too high as it’s already around the same level as Huel - I’ll have a look and see what I can do :slight_smile: I’m sure there’ll be something as it’s still a v1.0.

Psyllium husks will make it thick, gluey and gloopy immediately, but if you add just a little bit, it might work. I’m sure it is the perfect product for those who keep complaining that Huel is too thick, and want something runny.

Some people might want to buy both and mix them 50/50, so they get the runny consistency they like while also getting the full tummy feeling?

You are catering for those who want it runny, and not thick at all. I suggest you keep it runny as some people on this forum have said they want runny. It needs to be different from Huel in some significant ways, I think. No point making the same thing.

Ooh this has interesting potential. I may have to experiment with that myself.

You are catering for those who want it runny, and not thick at all. I suggest you keep it runny as some people on this forum have said they want runny. It needs to be different from Huel in some significant ways, I think. No point making the same thing.

I was mainly thinking of psyllium husks to increase satiation slightly, in case it’s a widespread problem that wasn’t reported during testing - I’ll see how other customers respond and base next steps off that :slight_smile:

Psyllium is interesting. It is a very common additive, so it has some research behind it showing health benefits. On the other hand, it can decrease mineral/vitamin absorption so research that too if you want to add it. I was very fond of a combination of inulin, isomaltooligosaccharide and psyllium when I was doing my experiments and did not have any lumpiness problems. Regarding amount, I had a total of 45g of fiber per day with no issues (it was 15g inulin, 25g isomaltooligosaccharide and 5g psyllium).

Thanks for the tip - I was unaware psyllium can impact micronutrient absorption - perhaps it is best to avoid it. Inulin, I have heard, can cause some unpleasant GI effects, such as bloating and gas. I’m very fond of isomaltooligosaccharide (as well as gum arabic), so may try to include some of this if people find satiation an issue.

Might the hunger pangs be due to a ketogenic product being eaten by someone not yet in (or not yet used to) ketosis?

My knowledge, as always, is minimal.

It’s a good thought, but GlycoGenesis is our non-ketogenic product - KetoGenesis is what you’re thinking of I suspect. So that shouldn’t be the problem.

I have not fully made up my mind on psyllium yet. I would not say to outright avoid it - the reduction in absorption can be compensated for. I am only warning against including it without studying up on it.

Inulin caused me some minor gas issues, but it all went away after roughly a week. The benefits of inulin, such as generation of SCFA (short-chain fatty acids), convinced me to include it in my diet. I add it even now to Huel.

I like the names of your products, but the company name is difficult to find online, and I’m afraid the names are not memorable for the general population :frowning:

Oh, I didn’t know you made a non-ketogenic blend. I’ll have to look that up.

Yeah that’s fair. We deliberately aim for highly bioavailable forms and in higher than RDA quantities to minimise the risk of eg phytic acid impacting absorption, but I’ll do some research.

I can’t remember where I saw it (may have been a post by Chris Bair from Ketochow) but I believe I saw gum arabic produces more SCFAs than inulin or oligosaccharides, albeit only marginally. I can’t seem to find it again now unfortunately.

Yeah, a lot of this comes down to my lack of knowledge of SEO when first setting up. Both product names refer to the biochemical processes their consumption brings about - ketogenesis is “the biochemical process by which organisms produce a group of substances collectively known as ketone bodies by the breakdown of fatty acids and ketogenic amino acids” and glycogenesis is simply the formation of glycogen from sugars. However, as they’re metabolic processes, getting to the top results on google will take some time initially, unless “meal replacement” is added after the product name. I believe we’re in the top two results when googling ‘Genesis Foods’ though which helps. But you’re absolutely right the names aren’t ideal from a business standpoint unfortunately.

This page may be of interest. It contains information on the nutrition and ingredients of the product.

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@IcyElemental, surely whatever you add for satiety should not also make it thicker? How about adding a bit of fat? That is always filling?

Thickness could help with satiety, but you’re right that I’d like to keep the texture as it is. It actually already has quite a high fat content (~80g per 2000 calories), but a lot of that is in the form of MCTs which are digested comparatively quickly. Perhaps some more monounsaturated fats may work in place of the carbs - I’ll consider. The problem is finding a vegan source of fats that doesn’t involve oil powders (to avoid maltodextrin) and ideally also avoids nuts for allergy reasons.

I’m also interested in making a new product line that is even higher in fats in the form of MCTs at a later date though - it would taste more coconut-y though, did you find the coconut taste coming though in the vanilla?

@IcyElemental No, I didn’t taste coconut at all. Your product is super scrumptious, tastes like Vanilla ice cream. I don’t need to add anything to it for stronger flavour. Maybe you could add coconut oil?

Ah ok, that’s good :slight_smile: maybe it’s clearer with some flavours, or I’m just sensitive to it!

The problem with coconut oil is it’s solid and clumps, so it either wouldn’t mix or we’d need to melt it and then it adds moisture to the powder, unless spray-drying with something like maltodextrin. However, quite a lot of the fat in GlycoGenesis is actually essentially coming from coconut oil, as the coconut milk powder we use is ~65% coconut oil by mass, so we could just increase this.

It’s the only one I’ve found that is both vegan (oddly many brands add sodium caseinate to their coconut milks!) and doesn’t contain any maltodextrin. I’d prefer for a supplier to melt pure coconut oil, and spray dry that onto something like gum Arabic, but for now that isn’t available. When it is we’ll reformulate though.