Return to 100% Huel after Diabetes diagnosis

Experiences
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I used to Huel last year - did it for quite some time as a lunch thing, then slowly drifted back into bad habits…

About 2 weeks ago I got diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes, and my blood sugar was up around 19 first thing in the morning before eating. I got told to loose a lot of weight and change my diet. As I quite like living - I’ve worked hard to plan a way forward.

I started by cutting out sugars and carbs for a few days, also taking Metformin to help bridge my insulin resistance, then last Saturday I broke the Huel out of the cupboard, and this is my 7th day on pretty much 98% Huel and my blood sugar is down to 5.6 in the mornings.

I make my huel with 400ml water to 100gms huel, some days I add 50gms of Skyr (honey or strawberry so far) which adds about 35 calories. I have 3 shakes a day - one on the way to work, one at lunchtime and one on the way home from work, I have one “snack” of Itsu Seaweed Thins - which is 24 calories for a whole pack during the day, and one in the evening watching telly, and something like an apple or a pear in the evening too - just to have the feeling of eating something. (last night it was two raw carrots) as that feeling of chewing something is too good.

I lost about 5-6Lbs in the first week after diagnosis, and another 2Lbs this week on huel, at the same time I started walking about 30 mins a day at lunchtime. I thought I would lose more weight this week considering I’m probably only taking in 1400 or so calories - but I think my body is adjusting to the new regime, and I have high hopes.

I’m considering treating myself to a “healthy” shish kebab tonight to mark the end of the first week, and then doing it all again next week…

Good experiments this week have included:

  1. Mixing in 50gms of skyr gives the creamy taste of using almond milk or similar for much less calories and much much cheaper (Asda 2 x 450gm pots of Skyr for £2)

  2. Last night I made todays batch using water brewed with Pukka Chai teabag (800ml water to one bag and left for an hour) and it’s crazy good - probably the best Huel combination of many many I have tried - the cardamom in the chai really comes through with a spicy finish.

I am hoping to have enough will power to keep going like this, as it’s so much easier to keep track of intake, and carbs etc when you do it this way - but I love food, I love the act of eating, the smells, the tastes - so I think having a “naughty” Friday night once a week, ordering a lamb or chicken shish on a bed of salad with no pitta, should be ok.

I’ll let you know how it goes…

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Awesome! :grinning:

Definitely keep going with this :+1:

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Hi Adam, thank you so much for the post. It’s great to hear how you have been using Huel to very closely monitor your calorie intake. I love your idea of adding using Chai tea to make your Huel - is that warm or cooled down?

We all love chewing and the sensation and experience of eating too, don’t worry! I think it’s great to treat yourself once in awhile. Equally, if meal occasions out come up then you should definitely get involved. Huel isn’t about replacing the foods and experiences you love :slight_smile:

Keep up the hard work and keep us posted :smiley:

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Hi Tim

Thanks for the support.

The teas I leave to brew for about an hour then put them in the blender with a shaker full of ice and the Huel on top. Then leave the blended shake overnight to thicken. I’ve tried a few flavours now, and it’s an easy flavouring system that doesn’t cost much and is healthy. Ginger and Manuka honey tea also tastes great.

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hello! as a pharmacist i’m especially interested to see how this goes for you; it is believed that dm2 can be reversed with changes to lifestyle, and at the same time, metformin is a good drug and is believed to confer other benefits besides helping with glucose control.

please let us know how this continues to go for you, and if you want to ask about anything then feel free to message me or whatever. also, if you don’t mind sharing, it would be great to know what your weight/bmi is at the start and how that changes over time.

good luck!

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Thanks SidneyCat

My starting weight at diagnosis (28/2/17) was 126kg and height 182cm fasting bloods 18. Today I’m around 122.5kg and morning bloods 5.3!

I’m still managing on 3 shakes and some seaweed snacks around 1400-1500 calories a day including a daily dose of about 40gms 85% dark chocolate, as I truly believe the flavonoids reduce insulin resistance.

1000mgs of slow release Metformin a day, along with 225mgs Thyroxine and some blood pressure tablets.

As per another thread I’ve swapped my Thyroxine intake to bedtime to stop absorbsion issues with the Huel and also my ppi tablet.

This is definitely a positive way to take a running leap into controlled eating for the diabetes, and for anyone who likes a snack, the seaweed thins are amazing.

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Hello. Hope I’m not butting in but have you heard of / read 8 week blood sugar diet? Worth looking into. Seriously.

I incorporate huel in to the 8 week blood sugar diet way of eating.
There is a 8 wbsd support group on Facebook which has a lot of people that keep each other on track and motivated. Many post success stories of coming off of metformin & insulin. Worth investigating anyway.

Interesting reading in addition to the 8 week thing - is The Obesity Code. Very interesting read about weight gain and insulins role etc.

There’s more interesting stuff but maybe that’s enough for now lol. Good luck.

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Thanks Kirsty

Never butting in, all support and advice is welcome.

I have a bit of a read about the Blood sugar diet, seems interesting and similar if more extreme than what I’m doing.

I’m treating this as a marathon rather than a sprint, aiming for about 1kg a week loss, which I’m on target with at 1200-1500 calories a day and some walking. But if I hit a plateau I might head to Amazon.

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Just an update:
It’s 4 weeks since I was Diagnosed with type 2 Diabetes. I’ve been on 98% huel with just one solid meal a week since the 2nd week

I’ve lost 5kgs in weight, one belt notch, fasting morning sugars down from 18 to 5.2 this morning (with Metformin). In my desire to reduce my carb intake, though not to keto levels, I’m now trying a lo carb Hack suggested by Julian, I’m two shakes in to that, and although it’s higher calorie per shake, it’s more filling, and less cravings, and definitely reduced my carb energy provision to about 25% of total calories.

Let’s see what happens…

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5 weeks, 6 kgs lost, blood sugar stable around 5.3 in the mornings, running on Hack 2 recipe from James, no issues, the Dessicated coconut is interesting.

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Just want to say good luck with the diabetes - I was diagnosed with type 2 about 12 years ago when I was morbidly obese - at similar blood sugar levels to you. I am now ‘just’ overweight. I have about maybe a stone to lose to get into the normal range. Losing weight has reversed my diabetes completely. I still take metformin once a day - more as a precaution than anything else - but my hba1c has been consistently around 5 for the past three years or so. Losing weight has been the best thing I have ever done for my diabetes! It sounds like you will have the same results.

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Just an update. 9 weeks since diagnosis, 8 weeks mostly huel lo carb Hack, and lo carb high fat where I haven’t had access to huel. Blood sugar still mostly under 6 in the mornings. Weight now 18 stone 6.5lbs. Weight loss 8.5kgs (1stone 4lbs). Approx 1400-1600 calories a day

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So an update.

At diagnosis my Hba1c reading of average blood sugar was 77mmol/l

I just got yesterday’s results 10 weeks later. 31 mmol/l!!

9.6 kg lost. 116kgs now. Still a lot to lose. I’m still taking 1000mg Metformin daily, but who knows what they’ll say at my review.

I’m on 2 hacked shakes a day and high fat low carb for anything else I eat.

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Really well done :slight_smile:

I’ve been sticking with the 8 week blood sugar diet but for me a non diet as I just follow principles and don’t count calories - except for huel.
I’m 18 lbs down and hubby 27 lbs down.

Happy days.

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Hi what is the lo carb hack I seem to have missed it.

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It’s all here:

Continuing the discussion from Lo Carb Huel version?:

I’m still using it exactly the same and still getting sub 35 HbA1c test results…

Good luck

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Hi Adam,
Was reading through the thread and it suddenly stopped ! How have you got on since June last year ? I’ve just started my Huel journey as I’m about 19st t2 diabetic whose lost control a bit. Two days in and it’s not to bad but obviously way to early to give an opinion. Hope all is well your end.

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Yes am interested too,… i am diabetic was 70 ha1c now 50, lost a stone and a half then put on just over a half. Had a big wobble and eating silly sugar foods.

Need to reboot.

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Hi Adam and anyone else reading this.

How are you getting on? I hope you are still on track.

Has anyone else read The Obesity Code? I have listened to it about 5 times and while we all have our own personal journeys, this book really opened my eyes (or ears) to how our hormones play a crucial part in our body makeup. image

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Hey Adam,

I, also a type 2 diabetic. I just has a total total thyroidectomy due to papillary thyroid cancer and now taking Synthroid @ 150mcg. I take this medication in the morning and wait an hour to eat. I’m considering trying Huel. Is there a particular reason why you cant have Huel with the thyroid replacement hormone meds in the morning? Please advise, i just want to make sure its okay to get started on Huel. Thanks, Joe