Really pleased the new huel formulas contain probiotics - been wanting this for ages. Couple questions for the huel team;
what lead you to this decision to include probiotics, and for what reason were they not included in historic formulations?
what lead to the decision to choose Bacillus coagulans MTCC 5856 as the probiotic? what are its characteristics, and its advantages over the other strains? Many probiotic supplement formulations contain multiple strains of probiotic; why has this not been emulated in Huel?
Interesting read - i would also like to know the team’s take on this.
One thing I would highlight though from the article is this part:
“If you want to naturally boost your good bacteria without accidentally causing mayhem in your small intestine, Rao suggests eating foods like kimchi, dark chocolate, and yogurt, as they contain low amounts.”
-It’s possible Huel now only contains as many probiotics as these foods listed, rather than containing as much as probiotic supplements, which sound like the thing the article is targeting?
Since Huel launched we have been continually improving our formulas to bring you the best possible powder, whether that be by improving texture, taste or nutritional profile. We make many of these changes in response to published research, and we believe that the area of probiotics is now established enough to include them in Huel. Probiotics are ‘good’ bacteria which may have health benefits particularly relating to gut health, which was our main reason for including them in version 3.0 & Black Edition.
Although more and more research is emerging regarding probiotics and their health effects, it is still a relatively young area of research and some probiotic strains only have a handful of supporting papers regarding their intervention. As such, one of the reasons we decided to choose Bacillus Coagulans MTCC 5856 was because there has been numerous studies conducted with this specific strain, specifically regarding the management of gut issues. We will be releasing an article with more background about probiotics in the near future. Watch this space!
I can’t get full access to the article that this blog piece is referring to so I can’t comment specifically, however it looks like they’re discussing the relationship between small intestine bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) and IBS type symptoms. With any area of research you can always find supporting and opposing findings, but there remains widely discordant results in this area in particular, with considerable debate in the scientific community about the potential relationship between IBS & SIBO.
I would add that the effects seen with probiotic consumption is hugely personal, and their effectiveness depends on the initial gut microbiome environment. Essentially, what works for one person and can help with symptoms, could do entirely the opposite for someone else.
Thanks. As you say, as additions like probiotics could help some people, but could work aversely for others, wouldn’t it be best for Huel to be a product that works for most people, and people can add things like probiotics themselves? This way Huel can be catered for everyone, since we cannot take things out of the powder but we can add to it.
In case anyone cares to read it, over the holiday period I read a book called: I contain multitudes by Ed Jong. Interesting stuff and includes plenty of stuff about probiotics (which literally mean pro-life - obvious once you know it, but I hadn’t thought of it - my school boy Latin classes are wasted on me). There’s some interesting material about faecal microbial transplants, which are even more effective than probiotics if you fancy swallowing a poo pill.
They do, but there is a poo pill segment in the book - although it is not recommended to make your own pills at home (as some people do).
I do most things wrong, but haven’t yet tried this. It is actually a very effective treatment for those who’s gut flora have been adversely affected by taking too many antibiotics resulting in a permanently dire rear.
