EU version of Huel U/U version 3.1 powder provides 3500mg of potassium per 2000kcal. This is in line with Nordic recommendations NORDIC NUTRITION RECOMMENDATIONS 2023
Five years ago, Huel said that they won’t increase the amount of potassium in EU because it would significantly worsen the taste, but they managed to do it in US.
Given the experiences in US, are there any plans to increase the potassium content in EU Huel U/U powder? I eat Huel for all my daily calories, so it is my only source of potassium, aside from insignificant amounts in tapwater.
My concern is that I sweat a lot when exercising, and I can trivially add salt (sodium) to my diet, but it’s harder to add potassium because all the supplements contain 99mg or similar small amounts (so I’d need to take 12 pills to increase my intake from 3500mg/day to 4700mg/day) and I am not a fan of the additional substances in those pills (such as Titanium dioxide being added for no valid reason).
We don’t currently have plans to up the potassium content of Huel Powder, as it’s already nutritionally complete with its current level, meeting 100% of the DRV for potassium per 2000 calories as you highlight. The only reason it is higher in the US version is because their micronutrient recommendations differ.
This, of course, doesn’t mean we won’t ever consider increasing the potassium content of Powder, and it’s something we’ll continue to review, taking all factors including UK/EU nutrition recommendations, new evidence and customer feedback into account.
Regarding your personal potassium needs - have you considered an electrolyte drink instead of a tablet to replenish any minerals lost through sweat? Also, any reason why you’re aiming for the US recommendation rather than the UK/EU? You’re unlikely to lose more than a couple of hundred milligrams of potassium per litre of sweat.
I have, the issue is that all electrolyte drinks seem to have ingredients that I am not fond of, such as sugar or sucralose, or other flavorings.
I do regular blood tests and this time my potassium blood levels were still within normal range, though close to the lower limit compared to previous times. I haven’t changed my lifestyle compared to the time last time I was tested, the only change is that I sweat a bit more now. I also have a few symptoms of possibly having lower potassium than I should, but I’m well aware it could be a thousand other things causing this.
Having talked to my doctor, he assured me that I am fine and that there’s nothing medically preventing me from trying to add extra potassium to my diet through for example “low-salt”, i.e. KCl salt, and to give it a try. I have quality scales that can tell a 1g difference, so I started adding 1g of KCl salt to my 2000kcal of Huel (in addition to the regular NaCl salt I add).
It’s hard to say, my symptoms are better or almost gone after a few days, but again this could be for any number of reasons and it’s not placebo-controlled. Once I run out of regular NaCl salt, I’ll purchase a mix of NaCl and KCl salt and use that in my Huel.
In terms of taste, I can’t tell the difference between regular Huel and Huel with KCl salt added.
Overall it feels a little strange that Americans would be physiologically different from Europeans. I haven’t found any resources that would state that 3500mg potassium per day is better than 4700mg (for a healthy person who has no kidney potassium clearance issues). On the other hand I found enough resources which would indicate that more than 3500mg potassium per day could be better and is not harmful for a healthy person.
Potassium citrate powder is also a good alternative to KCl salt, I might give that a try next time. I’ve heard bad things about Now foods recently, so I’ll look for a different brand.
