I’m a big fan of having a double espresso in my huel, completely masks the sucralose taste which i’ve never been able to handle. Recently though i’ve started to worry about what sucralose does to the gut bacteria. Although the evidence so far is only preliminary (on rats,) if i can cut it from my diet there is no reason not to. So i was wondering what your take on this might be? Also has anyone tried unflavoured huel with coffee?
@Bucky we are currently experimenting with alternative sweeteners. The problem is that they all have their pros and cons. So people refused artificial sweeteners, but sugar is natural and we all know the problems that can cause. Th good thing about sucralose is that it’s 600 on the sweetness index, whereas sugar is 1. We have tested Stevia but it does have a bitter after taste. It’s tricky to get right.
So the amount of sucralose, even in the original Huel, would have been tiny, right? So in the slightly less sweet version is must be REALLY tiny.
@Marcus this is the tricky thing, sucralose ticks a lot boxes, calorie free, good for teeth, only need a tiny amount, nice taste. However, it is artificial and there are some negative reports, so we will continue to look for an alternative.
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There is no decent evidence that sucralose is linked to a reduction in gut bacteria. The studies are observational studies that are full of flaws. Plus we’re talking gram amounts in a tiny creature: rats.
The only problem with sucralose is that it’s artificial and people don’t like that. And for this reason alone, we’re exploring other options.
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I have tried brewed cafetiere coffee in the unflavoured Huel. I think I used 100ml in a shaker full, so more of a hint of coffee. Next time I will have more.
I kind of wish i’d done a little more reading before posting. From what i gather, to say this study has been widely criticised is an understatement. The studies findings are not supported by their own data and are definitely not consistent with any other studies of sucralose. Also it was funded by the sugar association. Feel like a bit of an idiot now.
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I also would like to avoid the synthetic sweetner Sucralose… for your interest read this
so next time I will order flavourless and unsweetened HUEL. I will then give it a taste by juicing some fruit and mixing Huel with juice and water or watered expresso and if needed I will add some natural sweetner like Rice Malt, maple, stevia or honey.
Our flavour pouches use stevia - http://huel.com/products/natural-flavour-and-sweetener-pouches
Tbh thats exactly the kind of article i fell for. Tell tale signs are lack of sources and blanket statements. That websites name is a clue also. Sucralose is one of the most tested food products and has been subject to numerous long term studies.
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I would so much prefer real sugar to artificial sweeteners. Not because they are artificial, but because they taste horrible! I love everything about Huel except the diet-soda taste. Yuck. If you don’t want to use cane or beet sugar, could you try maple syrup, brown rice syrup, or agave syrup? Or anything that tastes good. Or just leave it out. I did try the unsweetened unflavored kind, but it didn’t have any taste at all. Why can’t we have just the regular vanilla Huel without an artificial sweetener? Thank you.
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I’m with Jodi, I’d much rather have real sugar than any sweetener. I’ve been experimenting with the sweetener free version and one time when my mix tasted off just added normal sugar and it was great. Not something I’d do regularly but I’d really like to see a stevia/sucralose/sweetener free Huel
The problem with using sugar instead of sweeteners (like sucralose and stevia) is that sugar is no where near as sweet. Sucralose is 600 times sweeter than sugar (http://users.clas.ufl.edu/msscha/sucralose_good.pdf), imagine the amount of sugar we would have to put in to produce the same taste. However, we are heavily looking into using stevia but are trying to combat the bitter aftertaste it leaves.
Hope this helps!
I think sucralose sounds like a great option. It tastes great, only needs a tiny amount and all serious research points to it being harmless; certainly a lot healthier than sugar. I appreciate that Huel, being the future of food, considers the science first and marketing (which would be the only reason to switch to a “natural” sweetener") second. For people who don’t like the taste of Huel, there’s the UU version. Everybody wins!
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There’s clearly no easy answer. There’s a huge amount of money at stake in the artificial sweetener market and these large companies can exert enormous amounts of pressure in order to get foodstuffs licensed as safe for human consumption. For example, Stevia is marketed as a totally natural plant-based sweetener but in order to get it into the powder form it undergoes many chemical processes which could cause health risks for those eating it. I’ve ordered some Stevia plants so that I can try adding the leaves to the unsweetened Huel. Not sure how successful that’ll be but it’s worth a try.