Huel, if you didn’t know, is a nutritionally complete powered food that you add to water in order to make a “meal”. It is supposed to contain all the body’s nutritional requirements in a balanced blend of fats, carbohydrates and proteins as well as vitamins, minerals and fibre. It has been around for a few years now and it seems like more and more people are involving it in their diet. Perhaps you have seen it advertised or noticed a shaker of the stuff in the hands of a friend or colleague and are wondering what it’s all about? Why would anyone want to include powered food as part of their diet instead of just eating a proper meal?
What Huel is great for
Huel has many advantages and there are quite a few occasions where it is ideal to use in place of what you might consider as food. The main advantages that I have found in my experience are:
- Convenience. the thing that Huel really has going for it is that it is quick and simple to make: add some powder to water, give it a quick shake and you are good to go. For better results you can use a blender and add some extra ingredients for improved flavour. This takes a little longer but is still far quicker than making a cooked meal or packed lunch.
- Nutrition. Huel has been designed for complete nutrition. It contains a balanced mix of carbohydrate, protein and fat with added vitamins and minerals. Everything the body requires. In theory you could subsist exclusively on Huel.
- Versatile. It comes in many different varieties. The core product is the powder which comes in various flavours as well as unflavoured. This allows you to mix in whatever ingredients you like to change the flavour. It can also be used as an ingredient in cooking and baking. As well as the powder there is Huel Ready-to-drink, Huel granola and Huel bars, all of which come in various flavours.
- Vegan. Huel does not use any animal products and can therefore claim to be entirely vegan.
- Low Cost. The minimum purchase of 28 meals / 14000 calories works out at £1.61 per meal. Greater savings can be made by buying more and there are also subscription options making even further savings. It’s not the cheapest food available but it is fairly low lost and much cheaper than other convenience foods which won’t have the nutritional credentials that Huel has.
- Low waste. The powered version has a shelf life of 12 months. The minimum purchase is 2 bags which will last 28 meals. Even occasional Huellers are fairly unlikely to have to bin out of date Huel.
- Community. Huel has a very active forum where you can find advice, recipes, feedback and experiences from quite a large community. The company’s staff are also prominent on the forum and regularly engage with their customers.
Disadvantages of Huel
It takes a special type of person to consume nothing but Huel. It may have a complete nutrition profile as far as the human body is concerned but I don’t think it has everything you need from food. The main aspects which I feel let it down are:
- Not very social. There is virtually no social element to Huel in the same way as when people sit down for a meal with friends or family. This can actually lead to excluding yourself from a social occasion or forcing someone else to eat on their own, for example if someone has to go to the work cafeteria on their own as you were the only other person on a lunch break at the same time. This could be a little unfair on others. Why should they be forced to eat alone just because you wanted to have a meal for one?
- It’s quite boring. At its most basic it’s a flavourless, slightly thick liquid. OK, so most people are going to add some flavourings or will blend in fruit or other ingredients to make a sort of smoothie but it’s still not the most exciting way to have a meal; even if it was the best smoothie ever, you won’t really take the time to enjoy it compared to a home cooked meal.
- Messy. The water and Huel mixture is a little hard to wash off blenders and shakers, try not to spill any and if you do don’t let it dry, it will be a nightmare to remove!
- Cravings. A shaker of Huel does actually fill you up, it does provide all the calories you need and satisfies your complete nutritional requirements After a couple of days, however, you might find yourself craving bad food: more carbs, burgers, pizzas! It’s nutritionally complete in theory but not satiability complete in practice.
My experience with Huel
I first learned about Huel when it was featured on an episode of Dave Gorman’s Modern Life is Goodish. In the episode he played a marketing video produced by Huel Ltd which featured people who had started using Huel. He made fun of the bizarre way it was presented and marketed, comparing it to drug users or some kind of cult. At the time I found it quite amusing that anyone would use this in place of food. It’s important to note that he wasn’t actually mocking the product, just Huel’s marketing department.
A few months later I was at a festival ordering a beer from a stall and I noticed that the server was wearing a Huel t-shirt. I asked him if he actually used it and what he thought. He explained that he worked numerous festivals and that Huel helped him to get the correct calories and nutrition while keeping up with the busy pace of working long hours at the festivals. A sort of light bulb moment came for me and I realised that there were lots of occasions when I resorted to eating improperly because of lack or time or because I was travelling. Maybe I was at the gym between meal times and needed some post-workout nutrition. I also thought it might be useful when camping or hill walking as it would reduce the weight of cooking equipment as well as the raw ingredients being very light. I decided to order some and see if it would be useful.
The first order includes a shaker and a t-shirt and, in my case, a bag of vanilla (now known as original) and a bag of unsweetened and unflavoured. I began experimenting with blending different things in such as fruit, peanut butter and chocolate power. I also started to think about where and when I would be consuming Huel and when it was better to have a cooked meal. I now usually have Huel a maximum of twice a day, for breakfast and lunch and then have a traditional meal in the evenings. I usually do not have Huel if I am at home, only if I am at work or travelling.
To sum up
It’s now been over 2 years and I have come up with several recipes and ways to enjoy Huel. I’m going to post more articles with some of my favourite ways to make it more interesting. It definitely does have a place in my food intake but it will never completely replace everything I eat. It may not be the most exciting food in the world but this has the unexpected upshot of making you appreciate normal food a bit more. It is essentially a convenience food but one that provides excellent nutrition. It’s important to recognise its usefulness but also its limitations and come up with a balance. Nutrition is important but so is sitting down for some proper home cooking or going out for a nice meal with friends. I would encourage people to at least try it if they think it may be useful.