Huel - The Future of Food?

9/10/2015

For full disclosure purposes, I received a pack of Huel Powder for free in return for an honest review. I am not being paid to talk about or advertise their products. All opinions of the product are my own.
You wake up in the morning. It's time for breakfast. You reach in your cupboard for the white plastic packaging containing that beige coloured powder. Grab the only container from your cupboard. A shaker Cup. Fill it with water and add said beige powder. Shake up - Drink - Done.

Lunch? Dinner? Repeat the above steps!
What does this sound like to you? If I'm honest - it sounds very monotonous, boring.. and quite hellish.

What are you going on about, you ask?  Huel. This stands for 'Human Fuel'. It's a nutritionally complete powdered food and has everything that your body needs. Protein, carbs, fats, vitamins, minerals - It checks them all. It's made from real food - before you even need to ask - It contains a carefully chosen blend of vegan protein(rice and pea), oats, flaxseed, sunflower lecithin, MCT from coconut, and a vitamin and mineral blend.
All you need to do is add water and you're pretty much good to go. No food shopping, cooking, minimal washing up. Great, Right....?

When I was approached to try out the product - my first thought was a definite no. I've never been one to believe in 'meal replacements', I like food, I learnt how to balance life and food - I lost over 100 lbs doing just that.

The future of food is such a bold statement to make. One that made me at least want to do some research into it. I eventually decided to give the product a whirl.

I was in two minds when I first received it. On one side - I was skeptical - How on earth could something like this become the 'future of food'? Drinking your meals, all made the same way, the same flavour, everything the same. It seemed like an insane concept.

After trying out Huel for a while and from doing a bit more research - I was able to understand better, the other side of the argument - the benefits of a product such as Huel - which actually far out weigh the negatives.

Here are just a few of the positives:
Nutrition The main advantage to the product, is that it has all the nutrition that you need. Is it perfect? Probably not, but I'm sure it's not very far off. Without looking at and analyzing all your food labels whilst you're doing your weekly shop - you won't really know whether you're getting everything your body needs - I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be! This takes care of everything for you, so simply too. You can read more about Huel Nutritional Content HERE
Food Waste Did you know, that in the UK alone, 30% of all food is thrown away? That's shocking! Huel highlights the fact that the world produces 1.5 x enough food to feed every person on the planet - but yet 800 million people don't have enough food to eat. Huel aims to reduce the amount of food wastage - there's no leftovers and it only needs water to make - so it's pretty minimal.
Weight loss/gain/maintenance
Each person will have a certain amount of calories they will need to eat in order to lose, gain or maintain their weight. Huel provides all the information needed to work out the combination of powder/water you would need to equal a certain amount of calories. All you would need to do is divide your total calories into the 3 separate meals - work out measurements of Huel/water and you're done!

Huel have made their product so that it is something that you're not likely to get addicted to! The product flavouring is very bland. They don't want you, wanting more of it. I can only speak for myself on this one - but I got obese because I loved food, the taste of food and had an addiction to food. Huel takes this away.
Time Saving It almost pained me to include this one. Eating is one of the most important things that we need to do in order to survive - so why do we ever get to a point where we do not have enough time to grab something to eat?

Such is life, however - it does happen - even I have been in a situation where I've been SO busy at work, that I've skipped lunch. We can all get caught up in hectic situations where we do not have enough time to make a meal for ourselves - Huel can be made with no time at all and it can solve this problem.

I can also say there has been countless occasions where I have gotten home from work - feeling utterly exhausted - and the last thing on my mind has been cooking a meal. I've often ordered a takeaway instead of cooking a meal for myself. Now, what would be better here? A greasy - unhealthy takeaway? or minute of mixing together Huel for a completely balanced meal? I think it speaks for itself.

So, How did I get on with it?
I'm not gonna lie - I thought it was pretty rough. I like my food - I got obese because I like my food so much. I struggled with the taste - I know where Huel are coming from when they want to make it so it's not addicting. I certainly didn't find it addicting in the slightest. It was pretty bland, a slight vanilla taste to it - it tasted like really watered down original porridge oats. I wasn't a fan - but I stuck with it.
There was no chance I was going to do 3 meals everyday with it. I was going to try Breakfast and Lunch - but I really struggled and ended up just replacing one meal(either Breakfast or Lunch - depending on my mood). I think it's fairly obvious that I would not be able to do this all out with just 3 shakes a day. I like textures and tastes - I missed food.

On the up side - the shake is REALLY filling - when I have it for breakfast - I am comfortably full right up to lunch time(and I sometimes even have to wait longer for lunch!), where I would usually have a snack in between - so I was quite surprised.

So, who do I think Huel is suited for?
I feel like Huel would be great for people that want to gain/lose weight without all the extra hassle of counting calories(I've been through it, it's definitely hassle!) and making sure they've got balanced meals - 3 lots of Huel portioned out correctly using the measurements - and you're good and all set.

It would probably also be great for people with long term illnesses who might rely on getting in all the necessary nutrients that they need - including all the vitamins and minerals. Huel would provide all of this in such a simple solution.

I also find myself coming back to Time Saving - I really think that Huel would be beneficial for those that lead a busy/hectic lifestyle - Huel would give people the opportunity to get in all the nutrients that they otherwise would have missed if they'd have skipped a meal - and it doesn't take a long time at all.

Since work is where I'm busiest and most likely to skip a meal - I'll be keeping my Huel and shaker there in my drawer for times where I need something quick that has everything that I need.

So, Do I think it will be the 'future of food'? I don't personally - I see it's benefits - I just can't imagine a world where everyone is drinking what they need to survive - it seems so weird! but who knows?!

Question: How do you feel about a product such as Huel becoming 'The Future of Food'? Could you imagine only drinking the nutrients that you need everyday? Let me know your thoughts!


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3 comments

  1. this is REALLY INTERESTING, Laura. Id never heard of it and LAUGHED when you said it would never be addiction either :-) ((sharing))

    ReplyDelete
  2. @carla birnberg Thanks! It's certainly been an eye opener - I can see it's benefits - I just still can't imagine a world where everything is just drinking what need to survive. It seems so surreal!

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  3. Great article Laura. I am an avid user of Huel. I actually like the taste but more than that I love the convenience of it all. I have a shake for breakfast, some solid food mid-morning like a couple of bananas, Huel for lunch, Huel for an afternoon snack then a healthy meal at night after my workout. works great and the results have been incredible.

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