Huel is presented as a nutritionally complete food, quick and easy to make, perfect for tight schedules and on-the-go meals. I was initially drawn to it during a health kick I had a few years ago, and while looking for a protein supplement I came across the brand. Since then, I have used Huel on and off for about two years mostly as supplemental shakes and as an ingredient in breakfast recipes such as pancakes and oatmeal. While I generally trust the brand and have read positive reviews, I want to verify its promoted health benefits for myself and for anyone considering making Huel a staple in their diet.

Eating has always been a personal struggle for me. In examining my relationship with food, I find that I often set lofty goals for healthy eating, only to push too hard and burn out quickly. This pattern is consistent across various lengths of time: from skipping breakfast just to binge eat before dinner, to eating extremely strict for a week if only to justify my overconsumption later that month. While gravitating toward the extremes of dietary habits, a true and sustainable middle ground has remained elusive.

A common factor across these extremes is my tendency to gravitate toward quick, ready-to-eat foods that require minimal preparation. While I enjoy cooking and believe it’s an essential skill, I am not motivated to invest much time and effort in every meal. When I eat well, there are lots of raw and grab-and-go foods such as vegetables, fruits, salads, canned fish, and beans. When I eat poorly these tend to switch to processed options such as chips, cookies, and fast food.

With this said, I am drawn to Huel as a potential tool to mediate my tendency for convenience and my goal for a healthier, more consistent diet. My experience thus far has been mostly positive: I like the flavor and texture, it is quick enough to make that I am not tempted to more convenient options, and I can use it in other recipes if I am tired of the same shake. I have not experienced weight loss using Huel, though I have tended to use it as a snack more so than a meal replacement. Also, there haven’t been any downsides aside from flatulence, which is well documented as a drawback for users due to increased fiber and protein intake.

However, while I am intrigued by the potential of Huel to improve nutritional outcomes, I have been hesitant to add it to my diet as a true meal replacement or a recurring staple. This is due mainly to a lack of understanding of nutritional science, and a general distrust of processed food (despite my unfortunate preference for chips, cookies, and fast food). In addition, while there are several testimonials to Huel as a positive actor in people’s health, I have not seen a wealth of data to depict clear health outcomes from Huel itself. I do trust these personal experiences, but I would also like to verify them with my own exploration.

As such, I plan to conduct a case study on myself using Huel as a primary source of daily calories, following a handful of other studies that have done so with 20, 4, and 2 participants. While these studies all chose to control caloric intake by consuming only Huel for their duration, I intend to adapt the general paradigm to my specific case. In particular, I aim to test Huel as a healthy staple in a busy working lifestyle, without fully compromising meal variety or shared meals with others. The same general measurements will be taken, but instead of a full diet of Huel, I will allow for a meal or two per day to be consumed with fairly strict adherence to nutrient and calorie tracking.

In addition, I plan to expand self-report assessments to include my attitudes toward the non-Huel meals of the day. These questions are meant to capture any feelings toward meal planning such as my willingness to cook, attention to meal quality, and temptation for snacks or quick fixes. An expansion in this area of assessment may capture behavioral and habitual improvements in dieting as well, with the belief that quick and easy meals twice a day will allow for in increase in cooking and a more mindful approach to eating decisions.

With all this said, I hope to capture any significant changes in body composition and nutrition that occur during this trial, as well as document my own behavioral tendencies as they develop. I understand that there is only so much that a case study can contribute in a scientific sense, but I see this as a great opportunity to test a product that I’m personally interested in while learning about my food habits, and share these findings in an open and honest way. The goal of this self study will be to measure the impact of Huel in a program for improved nutrition and sustainable dieting, rather than a complete replacement of meals.