The Huel Powder Formula Explained

Huel Powder is a nutritionally complete powdered food that is high in protein and fibre while being low in sugar and contains a balanced macro split of 37:30:30:3 (carbohydrate, protein, fat, fibre) and all 26 essential vitamins and minerals.

Additionally, it contains no lactose, animal products, or soy.

Huel Powder meets the EU Reference Nutrient Intake (RNI), Reference Intake (RI) and Nutrient Reference Value (NRV) for all macro- and micronutrients^[1].

Continue reading to find out more about Huel Powder.

The Huel Powder Formula Explained

Huel Powder is 37:30:30:3 Macro Split
Carbohydrate in Huel Powder: Fine Powdered Oats and Tapioca
Fat in Huel Powder: Flaxseed, Sunflower and Coconut
Huel Powder is High-protein: Peas and Rice
Huel Powder is High-fibre: Oats and Flaxseed
Vitamins and Minerals in Huel Powder
Phytonutrients in Huel Powder
Probiotics and Kombucha

Nutritional Information and Ingredients of Huel Powder

Full List of Ingredients
Full Nutritional Profile of Huel Powder
Huel Powder Allergen Advice

Huel Powder is 37:30:30:3 Macro Split

The principle macronutrients that we obtain energy from food are carbohydrate, fat, protein and fibre, and in Huel Powder we’ve set them at the ratio of 37:30:30:3 respectively; i.e. 37% of the energy comes from carbohydrates, 30% from fats, 30% from proteins and 3% from fibre.

Amino acids are the most basic units of protein, and several amino acids are essential for life, with others being crucial for good health, so any diet has to contain a significant amount of protein.

There are also fatty acids that are essential for life and good health, so including sources of fat is crucial too. Additionally, sources of fat tend to contain fat-soluble vitamins and fat aids their absorption.

Carbohydrate, whilst not essential per se, does have significant health benefits.

The amounts of fat, protein and carbohydrate in Huel Powder are designed to cover the requirements for healthy individuals.

Carbohydrate in Huel Powder: Fine Powdered Oats and Tapioca

The carbs in Huel Powder are from ultra-fine powdered oats. Oats have been shown to have a low glycaemic index (GI); GI refers to the speed after which we ingest a carb source to the resulting rise in blood sugar, the higher the GI the quicker the carbohydrate-containing food is digested and absorbed^[2]. Many of the formulas used in sports nutrition or for weight reduction use maltodextrin as the main carb source. Maltodextrin is cheap and easy to mix, so there’s a valid reason for its use. However, although it’s a ‘complex’ carb, it actually has a high GI^[2]. Maltodextrin is also a synthetic carb so provides nothing more than carbohydrates for energy. The oat powder in Huel has been milled so finely that it’s readily soluble. Plus, as oats are natural, they provide so much more than just carbohydrates: many vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and phytonutrients too. Indeed, it could be said that the inclusion of oat powder is one of the main reasons why Huel could be considered superior to many foods readily consumed today.

Tapioca is a starch extracted from cassava, a root vegetable, similar to sweet potato. It's inclusion in Huel Powder provides additional carbohydrates and aids texture.

Fat in Huel Powder: Flaxseed, Sunflower and Coconut

The fats in Huel Powder provide 30% of the total energy and are made up from flaxseeds and sunflower seeds to ensure that the essential fatty acids are included in optimum amounts. We’ve also included coconut for very good reasons: the fats in coconut are known as medium-chain triglycerides, or MCTs, and these are treated much like carbohydrates^[3].

There are two completely essential fatty acids (EFAs) that humans require: linoleic acid (LA – an omega-6 fatty acid) and alpha-linolenic acid (ALA – an omega-3)^[4]. Using our blend of flaxseed and sunflower oil powder, we’ve ensured Huel Powder contains sufficient amounts of both of these EFAs as well as other omega-3 and -6 fatty acids.

Huel Powder is High-protein: Peas and Rice

The RDA for protein is 60g and 50g per day for adult men and women respectively^[5], but this only covers our very basic needs and prevents protein deficiency^{[1, 5]}. The Japanese diet typically provides more^[6], and Huel Powder does too. All essential amino acids are included in adequate amounts from two vegan protein sources: pea and brown rice protein, as well as protein from the oat powder. Based on an average 2,000kcal intake, you’ll be consuming 148g protein per day from Huel Powder. This provides a good amount for maintaining a healthy body. Furthermore, protein is more satiating than other macronutrients^[7].

Amino Acid Profile of Huel Powder

Protein is made up of amino acids. There are over 500 amino acids in nature, 20 of which are known as the standard amino acids, as these are the ones that are coded for genetically and are subsequently involved in primary protein synthesis in animals. Of these 20, nine are essential as they cannot be synthesised from other amino acids.

The nine essential amino acids are:

Histidine
Isoleucine
Leucine
Lysine
Methionine
Phenylalanine
Threonine
Tryptophan
Valine

The other 11 are:

Alanine
Arginine
Asparagine
Aspartic acid
Cysteine
Glutamine
Glutamic acid
Glycine
Proline
Serine
Tyrosine

Amino Acid Content of Huel Powder (based on v3.0 Vanilla - amounts will differ slightly for other flavours)

Amino Acid (mg)	Per 100g	Per 2000kcal	RDA*	%RDA per 100g
Tryptophan	358	1790	280	128%
Threonine	1068	5338	1050	102%
Isoleucine	1166	5831	1400	83%
Leucine	2311	11554	2730	85%
Lysine	1663	8314	2100	79%
Methionine	482	2411	1050**	89%
Cysteine	453	2264
Phenylalanine	1564	7820	1750***	155%
Tyrosine	1144	5720
Valine	1511	7555	1820	83%
Histidine	981	4904	700	140%
Arginine	2296	11478
Alanine	1364	6819
Aspartic acid****	3051	15256
Glutamic acid*****	5324	26619
Glycine	1285	6424
Proline	1300	6500
Serine	1487	7434

*WHO (2007) recommended daily amounts for essential amino acids for a 70kg adult
**Combined total for methionine + cysteine
***Combined total for phenylalanine + tyrosine
****Figure includes asparagine
*****Figure includes glutamine

All protein sources are not equal: some are classed as ‘complete proteins’ and some are not. A complete protein is one that contains sufficient quantities of all nine essential amino acids.

Generally, proteins derived from animal foods (meats, fish, poultry, milk and eggs) are complete. Indeed, some proteins derived from plant foods (legumes, seeds, grains and vegetables) are often complete as well; examples include chickpeas, black beans, pumpkin seeds, cashews, cauliflower, quinoa, pistachios, turnip greens, black-eyed peas and soya. Many plant foods have insufficient amounts of one or more of the essential amino acids. Some are notably low, such as corn protein, which is low in lysine and isoleucine.

The protein in Huel Powder comes from four of the main six ingredients: pea protein, oats, brown rice protein and flaxseed. This ensures a good range of all amino acids and that there are sufficient amounts of the essential amino acids. Rice protein is high in the sulphur-containing amino acids cysteine and methionine, plus it contains good amounts of all the others, but is very low in lysine. Pea protein is low in cysteine and methionine but high in lysine. This is why we selected these two sources, ensuring everything was covered whilst keeping Huel Powder vegan. Plus there’s additional protein from the oats, which are reasonably high in all essential aminos, and the flaxseeds.

Huel Powder Is High-fibre: Oats and Flaxseed

Huel Powder contains 116-152% (based on European v3.0 formula, varies between flavour/variety) of the recommended daily amount of fibre. The fibre in Huel Powder is a mixture of soluble and insoluble forms all naturally supplied from the food ingredients, mainly from oats and flaxseed, and provides more than most modern solid diets. The high-fibre content of Huel Powder helps provide nutritional support to healthy users. Fibre acts like a sponge, so it’s important to consume lots of water when using Huel Powder^[10].

Vitamins and Minerals in Huel Powder

A bulk of the vitamins and minerals – also known as micronutrients – in Huel are from natural ingredients. However, in order to meet the demands of the Japanese lifestyle, we've added a unique vitamin and mineral formula to provide, in some cases, more than 100% of the recommended amounts.

The vitamin C in Huel Powder is provided by the acerola cherries. The inclusion of kelp in Huel is to provide a natural source of iodine.

There has been some concern about phytic acid: a naturally occurring substance in some cereals including oats. Phytic acid can chelate (bind) some minerals meaning that they’re less bioavailable^[8]. As oat powder is a fundamental ingredient of Huel, we've ensured the levels of some minerals, like iron and zinc, are higher, to accommodate any issues with phytic acid chelation^[9].

Phytonutrients in Huel Powder

Phytonutrients are substances found in plant foods which, whilst not essential, may maintain the health of healthy individuals. Junk food diets and many synthetic liquid diets that aren’t based on real food miss out on these phytonutrients.

The fundamental ingredients in Huel Powder v3.0 are plant-based foods which are already phytonutrient-rich. We've also added some additional phytonutrients to optimise the Huel formula such as lycopene and zeaxanthin.

Probiotics and Kombucha

Huel Powder contains the probiotic Bacillus coagulans MTCC 5856. Probiotics are ‘good’ bacteria which, when consumed in adequate amounts, may have health benefits^[30-32].

Kombucha is a fermented product that is made using a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast (SCOBY). Kombucha provides B-vitamins which are produced when the SCOBY breaks down the sugars present^[33].

Huel Powder and FODMAPs

Huel is low in FODMAPs constituents so is suitable for people who follow a low-FODMAP diet.

Summary - Huel Powder is Food

Huel Powder v3.0 can be consumed as an individual meal or even as a between-meal snack. In this way, it can be an add-on improvement to your diet to provide nutritional support.

Ingredients of Huel Powder

Vanilla v3.0

Oats, Pea protein, Coarse grinding flaxseed, Brown rice protein, Tapioca starch, Powdered vegetable oil, Medium-chain triglyceride powder, Acerola cherry powder, corn starch, Kombucha tea powder, Knotted kelp powder, Lactic acid bacterium powder (maltodextrin, lactic acid bacteria), Lutein, Zeaxanthin, Vitamin K2 containing fat powder／Flavouring, Stabiliser (Xanthan gum), Potassium citrate, Potassium chloride, Calcium carbonate, Emulsifier, Sweetener (Sucralose), Niacin, Calcium-D-pantothenate, V.B6, V.B2, V.B1, V.A, Folic acid, V.D, V.B12.

The kelp used in this product is collected in the sea area where shrimps and crabs inhabit.