A friend of mine says that it is impossible that Huel acts as a food replacement and has everything you need to survive and be healthy. He’s read the entire website and complained that there’s no cientific proof nor scientific studies.
So, could you provide these? Not just press coverage, testimonials or whatever is in the website, but an actual scientific document with all the details about Huel.
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I eat Huel and I am still alive.
There’s an enormous amount of information on the Huel website plus details of a 30 day Huel funded study with all of the results published. Huel decided not to proceed with a 12 month trial because to do it “properly” it would have to involve a large varied group of people submitting to a very strict and monitored programme which would cost hundreds of thousands of pounds and even if an independent body oversaw it because Huel would have funded it people would inevitably question the neutrality of the study.
Bottom line is he is not going to get any more information than what is already on the website and without being rude maybe you should just tell him to jog on if he’s not interested.
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>I eat Huel and I am still alive.
100% for an extended period of time, like 12 months?
>details of a 30 day Huel funded study with all of the results published
Haven’t seen it. Link, please?
> 12 month trial because to do it “properly” it would have to involve a large varied group of people submitting to a very strict and monitored programme which would cost hundreds of thousands of pounds
That way they can’t say they tested it properly and that it is 100% NHS approved according to scientific standards.
>people would inevitably question the neutrality of the study
You can question even more what is written on the website, since there’s no scientific papers in there.
>maybe you should just tell him to jog on if he’s not interested
He is interested and he shown it to several of his professors, since he’s studying Food Science, and they said they can’t believe something like it exists.
Also, it makes you think why Huel isn’t handed out in countries of Africa where people die from hunger, ONU hasn’t shown any interest in it and astronauts aren’t using it.
That’s interesting, because enteral nutrition products have existed for years, many of which are used as the sole source of nutrition for patients who cannot eat solid food. Your “professors” must have never heard of these. How odd. If you’re authentic I apologise for the following: Please provide the names of the relevant institutions, departments & individuals; failing that, I can only conclude you’re either a troll or very misinformed, though I have to say this is an odd subject to feel sufficiently motivated about to bother trolling.
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>100% for an extended period of time, like 12 months?
No.
Study link:
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It sounds like the nutritional profile is all you need.
If your friend thinks it is missing something that “you need to survive,” get back to us.
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Huel is a relatively new business. It’s not been going for 2 years yet. My guess is, as the business grows bigger over time, eventually they probably will fund longer 100% Huel tests. Until then, those of us “early adopters” are guinea pigs. That’s just the way it is really.
(Unrelated side note: I just made the mistake of writing that as one word as “gineapigs”, and the spell check wanted to change it to “pineapples”.)
[quote=“put1000, post:3, topic:5678”]
He is interested and he shown it to several of his professors, since he’s studying Food Science, and they said they can’t believe something like it exists.[/quote]
Really??? I can totally believe it exists, and I’m not even a scientist!
Rather, I can’t believe it’s taken us this long to get to this point, where there are all-purpose complete meal drinks available to the general population. Yes, I know there’s been protein shakes and diet shakes for years, and specialist nutrition products for patients who can’t eat normal food, as @Michael_Rozdoba said. But a mainstream product that anyone can replace any part of their food intake with, why’s it taken us until well into the 21st century? It’s crazy really, considering all the technological leaps the human race has made.
I’m pretty sure it will be, in time.
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@Michael_Rozdoba It’s not me,it’s a friend. I’ve already ordered 10 bags of vanilla and the chocolate flavour and use it every day for all meals.
He said that he won’t provide information to people that don’t identify themselves, specially because it looks like you don’t belong to anyone connected to any sort of scientific investigation.
And you are right about the enteral nutrition products, which is what I’ve been telling him. He keeps saying that those products have supplements and medicine. Whell, can’t Huel have that too along with things that make you feel feeded?
@Coup @Ric The thing is that they did that study for only 30 days and only by themselves. The certification of a product should always be done by other entity outside of the one in question. Any company can make a product with a fake nutritional profile and sell it.
The products used in hospitals for e.g. coma patients actually don’t have any medicines or supplements beyond micro- and macronutrients, other than anything specific for their coma-induced state. It is through observation of patients such as these (amongst other things) that we have identified the micronutrients required for life, and are able to put these in meal replacements like Huel.
Notably, it is counter-intuitive to think of a product like Huel as an unknown thing - much of its composition is simply oats, peas, rice, flaxseeds and coconuts. Eaten in the correct quantities, these foods in solid form are more than capable of providing all our calories and most of our micros (supplementing with a multivitamin and some electrolytes does the rest). Just because Huel is in a ground up form and mixed as a liquid does not remove any of these components’ nutritional value.
Optimal health is a different matter, and may require supplementation with higher micronutrient amounts and/or some fruit/veg sources for additional phytonutrients, but currently nutritional science is not certain on this. Regardless, people can (and do) survive on just meal replacements, even though it isn’t their primary purpose.
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Glad you’re finding Huel works for you 
I’m afraid your friend doesn’t sound as though he knows what he’s talking about. Do you know for a fact he’s studying this subject at a reputable establishment or could he be lying to you? He sounds as if he doesn’t even understand the scientific process nevermind the subject matter at hand. I wouldn’t waste my time trying to persuade him of anything, if I were you. The idea he won’t provide info to anyone else unless they have sufficiently impressive credentials is laughable.
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A friend of mine says he saw a shadow of the Loch Ness monster feeding Huel to Elvis in a fake moon-landing photo. WE NEED THE TRUTH.
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At twenty quid a bag for a few days food? Unless they got production costs way down it’s very much a luxury item at the moment.
I don’t know why you’re acting like there’s some kind of scandal going on here. If your friend is a scientist he should really know there’s no such thing as “proof” in science, like there is in maths. There’s just evidence and general consensus. Huel’s backed up by registered dietitians, no one is forcing anyone to buy it, no one’s forcing anyone who does buy it to use it 100%, no one’s forcing anyone to stop using it or supplement it with other things if it isn’t working for them. Just make an adult decision.
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Astronauts can’t use anything powdered in space for safety reasons, they even have to use liquid salt/pepper for seasoning (source)
They are, however, developing food bars similar to the Huel bar - but the nutritional needs of a human in space aren’t the same as on Earth 
Posts on the forum are anecdotal, sure, but they’re evidence of huel working for people. Myself, I’ve been having a lot of Huel and similar products for around 18 months. I still like to eat but only have maybe three meals each week and I’m the fittest and healthiest I’ve ever been.
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Actually it has also already occurred to my mind that we are just guinea pigs. It is definitely not enough tested and should probably rather be used with moderation.
Maybe the owners could try to apply for a scientific grant in collaboration with a university or so. The CEO of Mana has claimed in an interview that they have a control group of people who mostly eat Mana and do blood tests regularly. Maybe Huel should also have something like that.
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@Michael_Rozdoba He sounds as if he doesn’t even understand the scientific process nevermind the subject matter at hand.
As your main arguments are based only in the attack someone based on the “prestige” of the school or university it shows to everyone you don’t know how to behave against critics and use polite and “scientific language” like the other members.
Teachers at school ask for consolidated studies with data, I’ll show this at next point.
"Huel decided not to proceed with a 12 month trial because to do it “properly” it would have to involve a large varied group of people submitting to a very strict and monitored programme which would cost hundreds of thousands of pounds and even if an independent body oversaw it because Huel would have funded it people would inevitably question the neutrality of the study."
the epitome of science method and validation.
The idea he won’t provide info to anyone else unless they have sufficiently impressive credentials is laughable.
So you are trying to discrediting someone credentials and then you have the guts to conclude that.
Going back, sounds as if he doesn’t even understand the scientific process
[quote=“Coup, post:5, topic:5678”]
>100% for an extended period of time, like 12 months?No.
Study link: https://huel.com/pages/one-month-on-huel-trials
[/quote]
So, long term studies don’t exist, and that was one of some good answers some people gave here, at least based on data not in “i’m using and i’m alive”, ok, join more 100 more people and everyone every month is evaluated by a doctor, nutritionist with biochemistry studies sporting the evidence, that is scientific method.
Huel is a relatively new business. It’s not been going for 2 years yet. My guess is, as the business grows bigger over time, eventually they probably will fund longer 100% Huel tests. Until then, those of us “early adopters” are guinea pigs. That’s just the way it is really.
A good point of view.
Its a luxury item if you’re a student. I say that to be serious, not offensive or derogatory. I challenge you to find a way of getting the nutritional profile Huel offers, without junk, sugar and loads of crap chucked in, for a ‘few days’ for less than 20 quid.
Huel is not expensive for what it is, which is a complete diet in a cup. It just isn’t. Is it more expensive than beans on toast and a couple of kilos of pasta? Yes. But that isn’t a complete diet, is it? It’s not even good for you, let alone optimal.
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Great to see that this has caused some discussion. Thank you for choosing Huel and generating some quality debate amongst your friends and on the forum! As has been correctly mentioned, after presenting the results of 30 days of the trial we decided not to continue. We realised a few things:
- People were skeptical - And rightly so, people should speculate and analyse and we have the Internet largely to thank for this.
- If many did not even believe the results, the time, money and effort we had spent was almost pointless. Imagine the resources we would have to commit for a year only to finish it and still no one believe us.
- Huel is healthy convenience food. Not a total meal replacement. We have shown that Huel can be used for 30 days with no adverse effects. Using Huel once or twice a day will therefore not pose a problem either.
At the moment, putting our limited man power and resources into getting an independent funded, nationally representative, scientific/clinical study made is not worth while because at the end of it what will we have? Evidence that a product not intended to be eaten all the time, can be eaten all the time.
Responses to some of your other points:
I don’t think this counts as evidence against Huel. There are many reasons that these groups of people don’t use Huel, Not least because I don’t think NASA or the WHO have even heard of Huel - we’ve only been selling for 18 months! With countries suffering from malnutrition, disaster relief programs provide Specialized Nutritious Foods. I assume that companies bid for their product to be used and would need to produce huge amounts - Huel doesn’t have a huge capacity at the moment. I imagine also, these products are specifically designed for disaster relief and malnutrition whereas Huel is not. These people don’t just need balanced nutrition, they probably require more in different amounts. Or less maybe, to ease them in to a full diet? I don’t know. My point is that this is a very technical area of nutrition.
If you are concerned about Huel not doing enough to help those suffering in the most impoverished parts of the world please know that we are currently working with a charity called Vitamin Angels. VA work across 50 countries to provide vitamins to over 48 million malnourished children in the most affected areas in the world. A percentage of our profit is distributed to them and this year we have donated enough to supply almost 56,000 children with one year’s supply of essential nutrients.
They could, but they wouldn’t last long I expect. This is why there is legislation in place to monitor it. I have already mentioned why a full blown clinical study isn’'t of that much interest to us right now.
Great conversation going on here! Should all food products get clinical studies done? Does Weetabix need a relevant study done about benefits of whole grains - not just in general, but specifically whether you can access the goodness of the whole grains in a Weetabix biscuit?
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Let’s face it, this issue is not going to completely go away until some 100% Huel tests are done. Even if they are funded by Huel, that’s still better than no tests at all.
But until then, those of us who are happy to experiment on ourselves by putting a mixture of oats, rice protein, coconut fat, flax seeds, vitamins, minerals, thickeners and sweetener into our bodies, will continue to do so. Most of us probably aren’t on 100% Huel all the time anyway. People who want to go 100% but want proof it’s safe before they do so, you’ll probably need to come back in a few years.
But to be honest, I think there’s more chance of someone dying by being run over by a car when running after the DPD driver who’s left when they were unable to deliver the parcel, than there is of dying of Huel overdose.
I mean, we all take risks every day, drinking too much Huel is not really high on my list of worries…
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@Marcus @put1000 what’s going on!
The forum is turning in to a bun fight !
Absolutely brillant product is @Huel if you don’t trust it don’t buy it! Simple as that.
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Did you miss the bit where I was talking about feeding starving people in Africa? Just because I can afford it doesn’t make it economically feasible for charities to distribute. In comparison everything I eat is a luxury such people could barely dream of.