The TRUTH about Meal Replacements

As a person who struggles with mental illness and her relationship with food as well as having money for food. Hule has been a lifesaver and a crutch i can come back to time and time again. I love cooking and it can never replace that, but without it I think i would be in a much worse position today then I am. Im glad Hule is "not the wrost" and I hope they can keep that title, because without them Life just wouldn't be as accessible for someone like me.

I met someone once who said he used Huel for most of his meals because he couldn't afford regular food or even fast food. It was the only thing keeping him from starving. I can see a lot of reasons why something like Huel would be a lifesaver for people suffering from poverty, chronic illness and/or extreme work schedules. Probably not the customer-base those meal replacement companies were originally aiming for....

Yes! I think meal replacements have their place, but end goal is making nutritious foods more accessible 👍

I liked Huel for my office job. Basically, it replaced my lunch meal which would either be terrible canteen food or terrible supermarket food (at 2x the price of huel). But I’d never use it when I meal prepped and immediately dropped it when I started working from home. I think that’s actually a decent use case. As a meal to replace meals that are purely functional and serve no joy. But as a wholesale replacement, that’s just sad.

I've found Huel to be instrumental in building a well-rounded healthy relationship with food. Instead of worrying about planning and prepping three meals and multiple snacks each day, I can consume Huel for breakfast and/or lunch, know I'm meeting my caloric and nutritional needs, and spend the time I do cook making fresh, healthy meals with local ingredients. If meal replacements are replacing dining out or worse from processed foods, it's an improvement for most people. These discussions don't have to be all or nothing. You don't have to choose between Huel and real food—you can have both. You don't have to go vegan to cut back on meat consumption. You don't have to exercise every day to get benefits.

I tried Huel and Saturo. Here's where it stands to me: sometimes I'm too focused on other things and I get really hungry. At that point I will eat anything, crisps, other random crap, etc... I always place meal replacement packs before snacks in the cupboard. Since it's easy to prepare and generally doesn't taste bad, that becomes my choice for a snack or quick in-between-meetings-lunch.

"If you want to be sad about that, too." This line made me chuckle, but I don't just feel sad when I watch your videos. I feel like I'm enjoying another informative deep-dive into an aspect I've not given much thought to. Thank you for producing them.

I have had Huel for breakfast or lunch or both every day pretty much since 2015 when they launched, it was the main thing which helped me come out of my eating disorder and I genuinely don’t think I’d be here without it. It saved me in my depression pits, it saves me on anxious days or agoraphobia ridden days. I work an office job and it helped me stay consistent in my recovery and to this day I stick with it even though I work from home now! I recommend to anyone with mental health struggles even though it’s mainly aimed at busy professionals

Something that annoys me is when people don't realise not everyone is a Foodie. It's something that comes up a lot in Huel reviews. I'm whatever the opposite of a Foodie is. Sure, tasty meals are nice, and I enjoy eating meals with people I love, but it's not a major motivator in my life, and that's okay . On the point at 11:00 - that isn't everyone's ideal world. Again, I like social eating, but not every single meal can practically be a wholesome bonding experience, and I fail to see why the extra time/effort/money is worth it for the meals that aren't. I'm not willing to invest more than than 10 minutes a day and significantly more disposable income than I have to on food. I get more enjoyment out of life doing other things with my time and money. And again, that's okay . Personally, about 35-50% of my meals have been Huel for the past two years. It's great: -takes <5 mins a day (including washup - no dirty dishes and cutlery is a major plus as well!) -I buy in bulk so very little fuss around deliveries/shopping - literally 1 delivery every few months, that's it. -minimal food packaging and almost zero waste (which I do wish the packets were somehow recyclable, I'm collecting packets in bulk so I can pay to have them recycled) -it's vegan (I'm veggie, not vegan, but I avoid animal products when I can) -it's reasonably healthy (compared to most realistic alternatives. On the 'you don't know what's in it' - we don't know what's in a lot of other foods as well, and not just classic junk food. Ultra-processed-food is opaque by it's nature, but at least I can be reasonably assured Huel hasn't dumped a load of gunk in as emulsifiers, preservatives, colourants...etcs, given it's just powder). -this is a dumb reason, but I quite like the fact I wouldn't starve right away in a zombie apocalypse. I also don't mind the taste. That's not putting a brave face on it - I honestly get about the same amount of satisfaction as out of a regular pasta. It's fine . II'd recommend it to anyone who eats to live, rather than lives to eat.

I’ve been using Huel for over a year now. As a vegetarian who is trying to get more protein in my diet, it’s kinda hard to hit over 100g of protein each day. The Huel Black Edition helps this out so much. I have for breakfast probably 3 times a week. It has 400 calories with 40 grams of protein and I usually have that with a fruit or something. It’s really a great way to jumpstart my protein for the day. I still do eggs, overnight oats, or something else for breakfast on other days cause you gotta change it up. I have tried all their other products and honestly they all taste awful. Pouring water into a bowl and microwaving some stale rice and quinoa does not taste good. Get your food normally and every now and then do the Huel Black Edition for breakfast. I think a bigger topic is that alll these companies use the term “Natural Flavors” in their ingredients but I believe that should be illegal. What the heck does Natural Flavors mean? Why is that in the ingredients portion and why don’t they have to write out the exact natural flavor that they are using? I think it’s a larger topic to discuss.

I AM OUTRAGED AT HOW MUCH YOUR VIDEO ALIGNS WITH MY OPINIONN!!! THANK YOU FOR TAKING SUCH A NUANCED STANCE ON A TECHNOLOGY TREND THAT MAKES PRACTICAL SENSE IN TODAY'S WORLD, YET FORESHADOWS A POSSIBLY BLEAK FUTURE. I MYSELF FIND HUEL A HELPFUL TOOL IN MANAGING MY 1-PERSON HOUSEHOLD AS A STRUGGLING STUDEND. AND I USE IT DESPITE THAT I LOVE COOKING AND CONNECTING WITH THE SOURCE OF MY FOOD, SO MUCH THAT I HAVE GROWN TOMATOES AND PEPPERS FOR MY FAMILY WHEN I HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO DO SO. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK AND KEEP IT REAL!

Real food is an experience for all the senses: taste, smell, mouth feel, and even the sounds of cooking and crunching a fresh carrot. That's something Huel can never replace. But as so many other commenters have said, powdered food does have its place, and is better than going without any nutrition at all.

As a person who used to reach for snacks between meals, Huel has been a life saver to help me eat healthier and not more expensive. Not to mention it’s a good workout drink.

I came to this video prepared to call you out but I think you tackled this really well. I have an ED that makes it very difficult to eat at times and having a stock of soylent and Jimmy Joy around is crucial for me. I'm so grateful options like this exist for people like me. Or people like my sibling who naturally can't get enough calories because their high metabolism and drinks like ensure are just so full of sugar. It's nice to have a low sugar option that is still high cal for them to consume. However, the goal really should be making food more accessible. These meal replacers are not that cheap compared to actual food but we need to do more to make real food accessible to more people. Still, to the naysayers in the comments, products like this really are great for people like me and have more of a place in the mainstream too (when is the last time sat down to eat a proper breakfast?). But it can be a cure all.

I have IBS, and just having huel for lunch at work has saved me a lot of hassle and stress. It being low Fodmap, affordable and quick to prepare is pretty great.

I still find it funny that soylent is named for soylent green. Something from a dystopian movie where it was made from people

I was working as on site IT support for a Trading company, the day to day was a huge mess with an excessive level of stress. Things had to be solved yesterday. In that enviroment, a healthy lunch was a far fetched dream. We ate whatever we could as fast as we could so we could be back on the front lines as soon as we could. Huel, was a life saver for many of us, a colleague started with it and spread like a wildfire in our department. We all very much hated the taste of it, but at least it kept us going in a quick way and we could use the extra time to relax a bit more instead of shoving food in our facehole as quickly as possible. So while I do understand the concerns of meal replacements, Huel was the only reason I didn't destroyed my health during those years. It was a positive thing for that time in my life. Plus their bag shelf life is surprisingly long too. I lead a much quieter life now where I can have a proper well prepared meal during lunch and Huel isn't part of my daily life anymore but every now and then when I need food in body and I only have 5-10 min for it, I still keep a pack of Huel around for these few occasions.

I'm a Chef, my profession has notoriously bad nutrition. Through a combination of lack of time, and the cost to cook on shift most end up with some chips or bread (although this is changing). Huel was a game changer for me. In spite of using supplements my diet had become deficient and after a few months on huel my joint pain eased and I had more energy and focus. My mood improved, as I had started to actually feed my body instead of just fueling it. I think it works well in the western diet as a replacement for breakfast or lunch, which for most people are nutritionally deficient meals.

A very good argument that supports incorporating huel in your diet is that most people have absolutely no idea how a balanced diet should look like. They don't consult health professionals and simply buy stuff that they like, and that they THINK is healthy. As a result, a huge number of people are deficient in various minerals like magnesium, iodine or calcium. Replacing 20-40% of your daily calorie intake with huel basically assures that those deficiencies won't progress to the point of becoming serious, even if your diet is lacking.

I've been using Huel for about 3-4 years now. I'm a very fussy eater and don't really eat a balanced diet. I started drinking huel over lockdown as being stuck at home made me very aware of what I was eating daily. I wanted something healthy I could use to fill me up. Huel now makes me feel really good and I feel a much heathier with it. I don't get heart burn any more which is a plus. I drink 2 a day during the week while at work. At the Weekends have 'normal' and 'normal' food for dinner each night. Good stuff aside, it can get very boring and dull drinking it 10 times a week. But it does make the 'normal' food I eat so much nicer. I think of it as part medicine just something that keeps me healthy. Its not for everyone, but it works great for me.