I feel like I know some of you quite well, I have been reading these forums for weeks doing my research and not only has it been very helpful but quite entertaining as well.
I first heard about Huel on radio 2 - Jeremy Vine show. Even though the reaction when the presenters drank it was just,…silence,…
I have been interested in this mainly to loose weight, and secondly to have an easy option for breakfast and lunch. Get on with the day when it’s just me. (I work from home, have two children and husband that works away during the week, back home on Fridays.)
Ok so my Huel arrived today. I ordered 1 unflavoured pack and 1 vanilla. and some flavour sachets. Very curious I decided to have my first Huel for dinner.
1 scoop vanilla, 2 scoops unflavoured, 570ml water and some frozen raspberries chucked in. In the blender, and then kept in fridge for an hour or so.
Yuck! To me there is this carboard taste and I had two sips before I was retching over kitchen sink… I won’t give up yet, because what a waste of money. I really want this to work for me…and after reading all the suggestions will try some different flavours/ratios etc…
Any advice or tips will be greatly appreciated!
Thanks.
Obviously flavour is a personal choice it’s just I found the toffee flavour quite limp and when used with Vanilla Huel doesn’t really break through. Maybe I didn’t use enough but I only need 1/3rd of a tea spoon of a flavour pouch per 90g of Huel when I use one.
Leaving Huel to chill for a minimum of 3 hours will make it smoother. I dislike tap water so always use bottled and you can buy 6x1.5L bottles for £2.50 from a supermarket.
I struggled with my first Huel. It’ll take time for you to work out your preferred ratio of Huel to water, how much flavour, and how much Huel per meal.
U/U is very earthy so if you’re struggling to get started I would leave that pouch for now until you get somewhere with Vanilla.
PS: Ditch the “scoop” mentality. Huel contains a lot of air so each scoop will vary from one to the next. Use kitchen scales to weigh it instead. My Huel’s are vanilla 90g with 450ml of water.
I would say the cardboardy taste comes from the unflavoured. Try just the vanilla on it’s own. In my opinion the guys at Huel have nailed the vanilla flavour, it’s sweet but not so sweet that I’m sick of it (drinking straight vanilla 5 times per day every day). Maybe it does taste a bit like cardboard but only in the way that porridge also tastes like cardboard…? Experimenting with Huel is great, but don’t forget it often takes a lot of failed experiments to get a successful result. I prefer not to bother but as I said I like the vanilla and don’t mind lumps so maybe I’m a weirdo. I found after a while the feeling of nourishment was what I really craved with Huel, less-so the delicious flavour
Persevere! It’s not easy to make the perfect Huel straight-away. It takes several attempts and some experimenting to find what works for you.
Fortunately you have 2 bags to get things right!
I preferred blending frozen fruit with vanilla Huel, leaving it overnight and drinking the next day. Then, I got lazier and just added 100g of vanilla Huel to cold water at work, shaking for 20 seconds and drinking. Wasn’t as tasty but good enough for me.
Blending vanilla Huel with banana and smooth Almond nut butter was lush too.
I love my Huel! I’ve lost 4 pounds since the end of August…
Breakfast and lunch I have 3 scoops: I only buy the vanilla one after good advice for a friend! I have breakfast blended up with ice, 4 chunks of banana and cold cafetière coffee instead of water, lunch is ice, banana, blueberries and raspberries in the blender.
It’s MUCH tastier cold and blended, but if you’re on the go the vanilla one isn’t too bad shaken with water!
The first time I tried Huel I did 3 scoops of vanilla to 500ml water and the sweetener taste did my head in, it was overwhelming for someone who doesn’t ever consume sweeteners.
Fast forward 2 months or so and I’m now happily enjoying my own way of doing Huel - 1 scoop vanilla, 1 scoop UU, 300ml of water and 100ml of Alpro coconut (milk alternative). For me it is the right consistency, sweetness, creaminess etc and it actually hits the spot. Now I put this down to a few things, 1 - getting ‘my Huel’ right, 2 - getting used to the flavour/slight graininess etc and 3 - (this is the slightly kooky idea…) I feel like my body now recognises Huel as being good for it and as such I’m more attracted to the taste.
My advice is the same as everyone else - experiment to find ‘your Huel’ and stick with it for at least 2 weeks.
Good Luck!
P/S I’ve been documenting my Huel journey in the Experiences section with the title ‘Overweight Sugar Addict’ if you’re interested in Huel weight loss journeys )
Thank you for everyone’s advice!
I have just made myself a Huel and not too bad!
90g vanilla flavour, ice, some banana, 1 tsp smooth cashew butter and 450ml water - it’s like I am having a milkshake. I am aware I have massively upped the calories with banana and nut butter but very happy that I can at least drink this!
There is a lot though! I might leave half of it for afternoon snack and tonight I will have soup.
I still have to try the flavour sachets, but consistency, coldness and flavour has hit the spot!
Some great advice here! Sorry you didn’t get along with Huel on the first go. The Unflavoured is an acquired taste and you do have to be quite ‘stoic’ to enjoy it. I love 125g of Vanilla, 500-600ml water, then an optional few ice cubes or maybe a tsp of instant coffee!
Well done team for making this Hueler’s second time a success! Welcome to the community!
Just checking in after a week of using Huel properly. Currently only having Huel for breakfast but will eventually swop two meals a day with Huel.
I am very very impressed with how it has stabilised my blood sugar levels. I literally feel satisfied till next meal time. And no craving for sweet stuff! I do however crave savoury tastes, but hopefully this will go in time.
I have experimented with consistency and if I have it too watery I obviously don’t stay as full… I prefer it very cold, with ice and slush puppy like.
My favourite flavour is the mocha so far… and I always make it in the blender.
Last week I struggled with headaches a lot (I don’t normally struggle with headaches) , not sure if it’s Huel or not that’s causing it, but will see how this week goes. No headaches today so far.
So early days, impressed with it so far. Sticking with vanilla, unfortunately I have opened the unflavoured so can’t return.
