Wow, thanks for all the feedback, we’ve been locked in a room looking at your feedback and working through it.
Just to confirm v2.3 will be available for a while to buy on the new Huel outlet page on Huel.com. The outlet page will be live in the next few days, simply scroll down to the footer where the link will be added. My estimate is that we will have about 2-3 months stock, but it’s tricky to know for sure and availability will vary between flavours, Professional and Gluten-free (some will be shorter, some longer).
If we see significant orders of v2.3 around the time the stock runs out we may consider creating more stock.
I’ve seen your thoughts on probiotics, tapioca starch and kombucha. The thing is that we still get loads of people complaining about gut issues, the causes of which can be wide ranging and extremely difficult to pinpoint. These 3 ingredients have been shown to help in some way when we’ve trialled them with around 20 people in the office and we reckon it helps.
Gut microbiome research being in its infancy the research has been around for 30 years/longer than @JamesCollier has been in nutrition. The probiotic we are using has been proven safe, effective over a 12 month shelf-life and may support good gut health.
Hear what you’re saying on natural vitamins and minerals. Agree that the isolated synthetic/natural forms are the same. However, a food’s structure can affect absorption and the wholefood can bring other beneficial nutrients. For example the vitamin C in acerola cherries is more stable than the isolated synthetic form.
Also massively improving sourcing and quality of the 6 main ingredients means that we no longer need to add biotin, choline or chromium as they now supply 100% of each.
To be fair, I never really thought about that. We were quick to decry any change to our beloved source of nutrition but as any new customer will tell you, there is definitely some room for improvement. One of the reasons I fell in love with this product in 2016 was because the formula was changing all the time, constantly improving… I guess we just got a bit spoiled having a dependable version we could rely on for such a long time
On a positive note I really love the idea of the new scoops I always thought 152 kcal per scoop was a weird amount I like the nice easy 200 amount but will I have to buy the new scoop with my next order?
Exactly what I thought, and wanted to know. Tim has said info is in article, but I’ve not been able to bring myself to read it all again to find it. I’m looking forward to an easier scoop size as I don’t take the time to weigh mine, and guesstimate with current scoop.
Scoops have always been free, no reason to believe they would start charging for them. I imagine the cost of manufacturing a new scoop or two for every single Huel customer outside the US is being absorbed into the price increase (the “new” scoops have been in the US since day one. I will really miss getting a laugh out of thinking that’s because our american cousins like bigger portions)
Well that’s understandable, and reassuring. The original article really made it seem like this was just for the sake of being natural. Thanks for providing a wider explanation!
FWIW, now that I’ve known what to look for, turns out that with regard to synthetic versus natural, the answer may be ‘It’s complicated,’ and varies according to the vitamin/mineral been discussed, rather than natural being wholly better than synthetic, or vice versa.
Not quite and Elliot as got it. The phrase I use most at Huel is “it depends”.
Vitamin C, which is a really sensitive vitamin that is one of the first vitamins to start to degrade after the 12 month shelf life, is a positive example.
Take vitamin C out of the orange and isolate it and this natural isolated form is equal to the synthetic form in terms of bioavailability (the proportion of the nutrient ingested that enters the body).
However, the natural isolated form is less stable than the synthetic form. However, having the vitamin C still in the wholefood (like in acerola cherries) dramatically improves its stability.
Calcium can be a negative example. Calcium carbonate contains a high amount of calcium and when taken with food is absorbed okay. Spinach is quite high in calcium but because of the matrix and antinutrients it contains the bioavailability is only 5% - that sucks.
So, it depends, the discussion is never black and white, natural vs synthetic there’s always more to it.
My opinions and pointed questions aside, it’s all because I like Huel and want it to stay brilliant, one thing I’ve not said is that I do appreciate the open discussion from you and team on the forum; don’t get that with many other companies.
And if V3 means an end to posts about people farting, that can only be a good thing
What about the reasoning behind replacing potassium iodide with kelp, which you don’t seem to have mentioned? I have heard of no positive nutritional benefit for doing this. Indeed kelp is known for high concentrations of heavy metals and arsenic, which would presumably not be an issue with the previous synthetic potassium iodide ingredient.
I’m pleased to hear that v2.3 may continue to be available, however. I have just taken delivery of 16 bags which together with my existing stock will take me through most of next year, and I will certainly take advantage of the new outlet.
These 3 ingredients have been shown to help in some way when we’ve trialled them with around 20 people in the office and we reckon it helps.
@Julian Honestly this really worries me. There are a lot of people both on here and around the internet who have expressed that they use Huel as a means of controlling IBS. 20 people isn’t a significant number and I wonder how many of these people suffer from either form of IBS.
For me certainly Huel is a way to alleviate the anxiety of potentially having stomach issues during work events / travel etc, and I think the addition of both of Kombucha and probiotics would definitely mean the end of Huel for me.
There’s a huge range of probiotics and they all do different things, I’ve found one that works for me alongside the current huel formula and adding an undefined form of probiotics to it may very well upset the balance, and I know several of my friends have Huel also already take probiotics and would have the same issue.
Kombucha I have heard very mixed reviews about in terms of IBS responses. I’d really urge you guys to reconsider these as there are so many people who suffer from IBS that might be affected / be put off by these changes. I certainly am of the camp that these things should really be added in as a booster, and not into the base formula itself because it has already shown such a mixed response on here.
Have these changes all been confirmed? If so, when will they be released and can we be warned so we can stockpile? Would be a shame to have to change up my diet completely but stockpiling would allow us for find alternatives for at least a couple of months.
Hi - as the original post - v3 is launched 17th December however the current Original flavour 2.3 formulation will continue to be sold. It has also been stated that the other 2.3 version flavours will continue to be offered until current stocks are depleted.
There is only a small amount of kelp in the Huel Powders. We have tested the Huel Powders for heavy metals and they are well within safe levels.
The species of probiotic is Bacillus Coagulans MTCC 5856 with around 150 million spores per 100g of Huel Powder.
Completely agree however, the kombucha in Huel will not provide probiotics due to the way it’s processed into a powder so will not be an issue.
IBS can be very individual. I would try Huel before assuming you can’t have it anymore as the a lot that would affect your IBS remains the same, carbs and fibre for example.
