What is the diuretic ingredient in Huel?

Nutrition
1

I have been trying Huel Vanilla and I’m 100% sure it is having a diuretic effect unrelated to water intake. For a few hours after I drink it I have to urinate at least every 40 minutes and it poses an obstacle to leaving the house.

Possible candidates for causative ingredient are:

  • Sucralose
  • The probiotic??

Less likely candidates:

  • Gluten (I eat quite a lot of bread without problems)
  • Large amounts of vitamins (I only have 100g a day so the vitamin amounts are not excessive)

Has anyone else experienced this and/or done any detective work on this already?

2

I drink mainly UU and the reason I think its because comparing to traditional foods you are having much more water per calorie.

It not bad per se

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3

Just to clarify, the diuretic effect is unrelated to water intake. I am 100% sure I’m drinking the same amount of water on Huel days as on non-Huel days.

4

Have you tried to drink the same amount of water (600ml or whatever) at once like you do with huel?

I bet that if you do that you will pee like a fountain in 30 mins

5

I find if you replace the water with gin it helps.

4 Likes
6

Yes, I’ve tried that. It doesn’t cause me to feel a constant, noticeable need to urinate for hours like Huel does. The night after I have Huel I also have to wake up to urinate multiple times in the night, which I normally don’t. It’s quite a significant difference.

7

wow that is weird

8

Caffeine has a diuretic effect.

9

using the Vanilla not the coffee version

10

You’re right…but what else could have a diuretic effect?
Maybe the shake contains more fluid than a solid meal.
Maybe sucralose causes insulin spikes and consecutive insulin resistance and diabetes - but this would be a long-time effect, which does not seem to be the case here, either…

Do you have a better suggestion?

11

none of the ingredients from what I can see and the virtually zero trace amount of caffeine certainly wouldn’t - maybe the change in fibre/water processing balance as Adrian suggested. I Usually replace two meals a day with Huel and there seems to be a very narrow tipping point on fluids. If I keep my water intake balanced just right then its fine - one glass of water to many and I’m in the same boat. Getting a perfect hydration balance consistently though is virtually impossible.

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12

As Huel has a high fibre content it should be the opposite - because fiber delays or even inhibits the absorption of water from the intestines. This would explain why some people get diarrhea from Huel, but not a diuretic effect…

Perhaps some phytonutrient interferes with his aldosterone metabolism…when browsing the literature on pubmed I just couldn’t find which one it might be…

13

I know - thats why they encourage you to drink more fluids to counter it - thats the balance I was referring to.

14

I guess it could also be the salt intake - if you are drinking the same amount of fluids as usual - introducing a Huel meal and so reducing your sodium levels may also trigger water release. if this were the case I would have thought your body would normalise in a few days of keeping to the same diet.

15

such a good suggestion! Does bourbon works too?

1 Like
16

To be honest with you, I think bourbon actually pairs better with Huel than gin does.

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17

Reminds me, must get some more Bailey’s for my Christmas Huel…

3 Likes
18

What do bourbon, gin and baileys have to do with what I or what Phil_C said?

19

@hunzas @Mollaka etc please take off-topic conversation elsewhere

20

Thanks for all the suggestions, I really appreciate the help with this. Some really interesting ideas here. Especially @mbs your comment about phytonutrients and aldosterone metabolism, and @Phil_C if i do give Vanilla Huel another go I’ll certainly try adding a bit of salt to test this, thanks for the suggestion.