I’m nearing the end of my first year using Huel, which I would gauge accounts for about 70-80% of my diet, and it’s safe to say I’m never going back, avoiding cereals, snacks and ‘filler foods’ wherever possible and just focusing on Huel through the day and the occasional good, clean dinner in the evening.
I also use creatine, BCAA’s and cod liver oil, all of which I transitioned away from the loose powders/tablespoon measures to edible capsules simply for the ease and portability. Even though it’s a bit more expensive to buy in this way, the cost difference is more than offset by the convenience. I travel often, so being able to throw a combination of capsules/pills into a few daily pill dispensers to have on the go makes a world of difference. It also reduces mess (no loose powders/oils to spill) and makes it easier to store and carry around in smaller quantities.
I was wondering if there would be any consideration for providing Huel in a similar fashion (with much larger capsules obviously), with 1 densely-packed soluble capsule equivalent to 1 scoop, and the capsule skin dissolving completely in water (think laundry detergents powders vs. capsules). Toss a couple of capsules into your shaker, add water, shake, drink.
This would be great for ‘mobile workers’ like myself. No messy powder and no scoop required, not to mention bringing that vision of the futuristic ‘meal in a pill’ that much closer!
I was thinking this as well when I went travelling a week or two ago. Would be great. An (easier? and more profitable for Huel?!) alternative would be (stackable?) containers that contain an integral number of scoops. When you get your bag of Huel you could divide it out into the containers for storage, then when you go away (/to work) you just know you grab however many 2-scoop tubs and however many 3-scoop tubs.
The dissoluble capsules is an interesting idea. Another option is that some of Huel’s competitors ship bottles with the powder already added - ready for you to add water when you need it. E.g. http://www.spacenutrientsstation.com/buy.
I understand this is height of first world problems - but I do find the powder covered kitchen everytime you open a bag and start scooping a little annoying. Wish it could be more like granules even it it meant a blender had to be used. Again it is a small thing but would make it even easier.
I appreciate the comments about splitting a pouch into smaller travel containers, and this would indeed make it easier for journeys (rather than bringing the whole bag).
It wouldn’t resolve the other issues, the messiness of powder transferral (you’re actually doubling your chances of spilling it, as there’s an extra step involved). It would also be more time consuming and require more effort to manually measure and split it at the start of the week. I gave up meal prep in the name of efficiency the day I started drinking Huel
It’s nearly 2017 and I want my food in a ‘just add water’ capsule!
I did some research of my own to try and find a casing that was edible, strong enough to retain its shape and hold the powder without splitting, but also dissolves in water with a couple of shakes. A thin layer of rice paper reinforced with a small amount of starch cellulose seems like it could potentially do the job.
It’s an interesting idea, downing capsules instead of even having to drink the shake. I’m not sure how I feel about it, though. I suppose it could be useful if you were in a real hurry. No time to make a shake or clean the bottle, no time to chew on a bar, just shove some capsules in your mouth and rinse down with some water. I suppose it could work.
Capsules don’t seem viable to me, but I could imagine little disolvable bags working well. Or even rippable disposable bags like those boil in a bag rice thingies.
For instant convenience, I suspect a bar is the way to go. I purchased some bars from a Huel competitor recently, and they are quite nice. If Huel can make a lower sugar equivalent of the bars I tried, I’d likely buy a ton of them.
@ Marcus - I didn’t even think about eating the capsules dry and then adding water after the fact! Not just removing the scoop, but the shaker too. Like the ‘meal gum’ in Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory. Future!
@ Ryan - The more I think about bars (no scoop, no shaker, no water), the more it makes sense to me. The problem that I’ve had with them up to now is that most bars are either lo-cal weight loss meal replacements or protein bars that lack other macronutrients. They’re usually more expensive too (I buy Huel in bulk to get it down to ~£1.00 per meal) but maybe Huel could resolve both of these issues?
You also don’t have as much fine grained control over the nutrient ratios, as you need to ensure the bar maintains it’s form and doesn’t just turn into a crumbling mess. I used to make protein bars quite regularly, and it was difficult maintaining the bar structure without adding a lot of fat and sugar. I worked around that by just adding some water to the mixture and freezing them. But for commercial sale, you can’t just expect people to keep their bars frozen.
I still want Huel bars. But they will come with a cost, both financial and nutritionally.
I saw on the Joylent forum some people were questioning the amount of sugar in the Twenny Bars. Their food scientist’s answer was that they were still just about within the maximum amount of sugar permitted, according to one set of guidelines, but they were well over it compared to a different set of guidelines.
I think the bars will be useful as an emergency snack to have in your pocket, but not as a complete replacement of the powder.
Big Mac’s are generally considered to be excessive salty, and Coke is considered excessively sugary, so I thought I’d compare the Twenny Bar and Huel salt and sugar content in comparison to those.
The following are based on assuming a daily energy intake of 2500 kcal.
Twenny bars (6.6 bars / day)
Sodium consumption = 3.2 g / day (3.2 Big Mac equiv.)
Sugar consumption = 79 g / day (700 mL Coke equiv.)
Huel powder (625 g / day)
Sodium consumption = 3.4 g / day (3.4 Big Mac equiv.)
Sugar consumption = 5.6 g / day (50 mL Coke equiv.)
Recommended sugar consumption varies wildly depending on who you ask, although I don’t think anyone is recommending the equivalent of 700 mL of Coke per day. The most commonly recommended figure for sodium intake is around 1500 mg, with the upper limit capped around 2500 mg, so both do absolutely horrendous on the sodium front.
