New to Huel - Initial impressions

#1

Hey all,

Newbie here. Ordered 1 x new Vanilla and 1 x unflavoured on Sunday and it arrived today.

I will be using Huel as a meal replacement for lunchtimes only. This is helpful due to my gym session taking up my lunch break and not having time for real food. Also the 30G protein (per 100g shake) is helpful :slight_smile:

Today i had my first try, i when for just the vanilla, 3 scoops with only 400ml water (not a fan of watery) using very cold water.

I have to be honestā€¦ itā€™s not what i was expecting. Initial thoughts wereā€¦ this isnā€™t nice, i canā€™t do itā€¦

This slowly morphed into, ok i think i can do this and then i figured out what it tasted like to meā€¦ Rice and Quinoa. So weird to go in expecting a sweet, Vanilla drink, only for it to taste like sweetened rice etcā€¦

Am i mad? i havenā€™t seen anyone else mention this? :confused:

anyway, i wont be giving up, will persevere and perhaps try the unflavoured with the flavour sachets (i ordered the sample pack) to see what floats my boat, perhaps add some coffee granules?

Oh alsoā€¦ I take Omeprazole daily due to ongoing Acid Reflux (life sucks without the Omeprazole.) Has Huel helped anyone become less dependent on such drugs? or perhaps had any diverse effects etc?

Thanks for reading!

James

#2

I would try making it the night before as it thickens up and tastes much better.

#3

Second what the above poster said ^

Also, it takes some time to experiment with the ratio of water YOU like, it makes a world of a difference. Trying different flavour boosts help too (imo adding instant coffee or chocolate flavour system makes it 10x better). I absolutely hated my first shake, if thatā€™s of any help! And now that my taste buds and body has gotten used to it, I absolutely love the taste and find drinking my Huel such a happy occasion xD

(So much so that when my friends take a sip to try and balk at the tasteā€¦Iā€™m almost confused :stuck_out_tongue: )

#4

I hated my first shake too! But now Iā€™m really used to it and I look forward to it. I love how you can freely experiment with different flavours. My favourite flavour boost was the banana which Iā€™m surprised at since I donā€™t normally go for very sweet flavours but I found it reminded me of banana nesquick I had as a kiddy. Today Iā€™ve run out of my sample pack so I followed someone elseā€™s advice and added cinnamon, cacao and a bit of ground ginger - delicious. I love coffee but donā€™t really like it in Huel for some reason, but I drink it black so I save it for between Huels as a ā€œsnackā€.

Like everyone else says, putting it in the fridge does help although now I donā€™t mind it fresh from the blender either.

I havenā€™t had any bad side effects, if anything I think itā€™s made me more regular and less bloatyā€¦ although I do find if I drink it too fast it makes me a bit nauseated.

Keep experimenting with water volumes. I do 400ml water + 100ml soya or almond milk with 3 scoops but thatā€™s just my taste. Youā€™ll soon work out how you like it and wonder why you found it so strange to begin with! Good luck!

#5

Another fan of refrigerator overnight. Also does taste better if a little more liquid added than if thick. I stick by 50/50 original vanilla and unflavoured and 50/50 plant milk and water for most of my meals.

#6

First off,

Thanks for the suggestions and replies everyone, appreciate it :slight_smile:

now on day 3 of Huel for lunch. Definitely got used to it and already kind of enjoying it.

Iā€™ve found that if i make the shake when i get in at 8am, by lunch time it has had a good amount of time to ā€œstewā€ meaning less grittyness (is that a word?) and less powdery.

my huel shake now is as follows:
3 scoops -aiming for 100g so not always 100% full scoops
200ml almond mil
200 ml very cold water
some flavour enhancer (using the chocolate sample pack at the moment)
shake vigorously
add a further ā€˜bitā€™ of water (not measuring)

I find that i am quite enjoying this. By the time i come to eat/drink, the shake is basically a thick sludge, which although weirdā€¦ i quite like (makes me feel more like iā€™m eating)

I have a super sensitive stomach so have had some mildly adverse effects but i expected this/worse anyway. will keep pushing on.

only issue isā€¦ iā€™m so bloody hungry come dinner time! I think i may have to increase my calories as iā€™m gymming 5 times a week along with a short run/long walk in the evening and think i may be in too much of a deficit.

Thanks again,

James