Please talk some science into me, people!

Interesting thoughts here with somewhat polarised opinions. I have a feeling i sit in the middle somewhere.

My approach / attitude is to be an active patient in the GP case or active participant in more general terms - wherever it’s something important enough to justify my time.

I don’t see myself as equivalent in knowledge to the 'expert ’ in these cases, it’s more that the area is important enough for me to take an active interest in keeping the other person honest/focussed on my needs.

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I agree fully. Great approach. We should never assume our GP is right, or even fully engaged, and just leave it at that.

It is always possible that a patient understands the issue better than their GP. In fact it’s a regular occurrence that they do.

Sorry to bump an old thread but this is a really interesting topic.
I’ve noticed that in the 2 months I’ve now been consuming Huel daily, I frequently crave fresh fruit and veg.
Prior to Huel I would frequently crave pizza, crisps, chocolate, high protein foods, high carb foods, fruit, pretty much everything!

The fact that on a Huel diet, I now literally only ever crave fresh fruit and veg, to me says that I am getting absolutely everything I need from Huel, except ‘something’ that is in fruit and veg. It’s the ‘freshness’ I’m craving somehow. I don’t know how to describe it.

Personally I think it’s great - not snacking on fatty, sugary or salty foods anymore is brilliant. And my diet now consists of Huel plus veg plus fruit… seems like a pretty ideal diet to me

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Wish there was a psychologist somewhere on the forum who could assist with stuff like this.

I’ve been consuming maybe 80% diet Huel for 3ish years now and have never had this - I’ve never craved anything other than what I’ve always craved. A bacon sandwich, an omelette, juicy steak, a pizza, a burger, tin of biscuits, tub of Ben and Jerrys. All of the good stuff.

I don’t see why Huel would rewire your brain to not crave the yummiest of yummy stuff you do and always have liked. I’ve always liked all of the above foods and even with Huel, I still adore them and get my fair share. Don’t think there’ll ever be a day where I crave veg apart from sweet potato fries haha.

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Haha that’s interesting @GTIPuG !
I don’t know how / why my cravings have changed but it’s a good thing for me personally, as I have battled with unhealthy cravings for years and now it takes no willpower whatsoever, I just don’t want to eat those kinda sugary snacks anymore.

My personal theory is that I was lacking in some nutrient previously that I am now getting from Huel. Cravings for one thing can sometimes be mistaken for something else (e.g. Maybe we need protein but think we are craving chocolate but that chocolate craving can’t be satiated no matter how much I eat)

As for craving fresh stuff, my personal theory is one of ‘life-force’… that there is a life-force within every growing living thing, and if we pluck a carrot straight from the earth, we consume all of the life-energy of that carrot. That energy slowly dies the longer it has been out of the ground. (I’m not talking about nutrients here, I’m talking about ‘something else’).
Haha now you are gonna tell me I really need to see a psychologist lol.

I’ve studied human and molecular biology and not come across this theory in any texts recently. But I did watch a BBC documentary years ago that suggested something similar to this. And lots of spiritual belief systems have similar theories. I’ve got to rush out now, but I’ll see if I can find a link to someone else (who can articulate it better than me!) who talks of this theory.

In the meantime you can laugh at me I don’t mind :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

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I don’t really have cravings but on the days I cook myself a meal I find myself eating far more veggies than I used to. My sweet tooth seems to be satisfied by Huel and flavourings and fruit.

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Yes, that is unfortunate. But that was one experience. In a day a GP may see 30 patients? How many times do they get it spot on. Glandular fever may display similar symptoms/signs as bacterial tonsillitis maybe? I’m not a doctor but I do know that the way the health service is run is based on statistics and probabilities to maximise effectiveness at an appropriate cost.

If the GP could spent an unlimited amount of time with you and do every diagnostic test possible then bingo! They would diagnose everything perfectly 1st time. Obviously, people may have to die while waiting for their appointment to see the GP, or waiting for their test, but hey, you would get diagnosed with Glandular fever/Mono on the first pass and not on the 3rd. I’m assuming you survived?

Its not a perfect system, but cynicism about corruption and collusion with drug companies is only going to lead to fear in those less well informed possibly stopping people seeking medical help when required because they believe they are ‘infallible god like creatures’

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