I Replaced My Lunch With This Superfood Shake For 1 Full Week — Here's How I Felt

Life is busy, and it’s not always easy to stick to a healthy diet—especially on busy workdays. I often find myself reaching for quick (read: less nutritious) options for lunch that rarely satisfy my taste buds or my appetite.

But not this week. Instead I replaced lunch with Huel’s Daily Superblend. While I’m not typically a fan of meal replacements shake, this plant-based option managed to change my mind.

Huel (or Human Fuel) was founded in 2015 with a mission to provide nutritionally complete and convenient food at a more affordable price, with minimal impact on animals and the environment. The brand makes a range of meals (including shakes, instant meals, daily greens, and snacks), each with at least 27 essential vitamins and minerals, protein, fats, carbohydrates, fiber and phytonutrients. 

Every Huel meal is plant-based and gluten-free, with sustainable ingredients such as oats, peas, rice, flaxseed, coconut, and sunflower. Alls meals are developed by a team of nutritionists and specialists.

Huel’s Daily Superblend is formulated to support your total nutrition needs, and the brand lists a whopping 154 health benefits on its site. Most notably, Huel Daily Superbelnd is meant to promote a healthy metabolism, immune health, digestive support, cognitive function, muscle function, and healthier skin, hair, and nails.*

The Daily Superblend is made with more than 87 vitamins, minerals, and whole-food sourced nutrients. You can find a full image of the nutrition label below, where you’ll see nutrients like vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin K, Folate, and Biotin; an organic superfruit blend with apple, elderberry, raspberry, tart cherry, and more.  

The brand also uses organic adaptogens such as ashwagandha, reishi, cordyceps, lion’s mane, lemon balm root, and maca; along with an organic greens blend containing broccoli, carrot root, spinach, and other antioxidant-rich greens; and an organic botanical blend with ingredients such as cinnamon bark, burdock root, and dandelion root. While the brand does say the product contains probiotics, the strain source of the included probiotics is not clear. 

I also appreciate what isn't in this powder, since many protein powders contain a much longer excipient list.

One single serving of Huel delivers 25 grams of protein, 7 grams of fat, and 26 grams of carbohydrates, including 6 grams of dietary fiber (technically making it an "excellent source"). One serving doesn't meet your daily needs for any of the nutrients included, but the brand’s recommendation is multiple servings per day. Admittedly, I love food too much to ever permanently replace meals with shakes.

Huel shines on taste. I’m on a journey to increase my protein intake. While I’d prefer all my nutrients to come from whole foods, I’ve tried at least a dozen protein powders in the past year alone. Huel tastes better than all of them (and I don’t give that praise lightly)!

Plant-based protein in particular is tough to get right. It often tastes “green,” doesn’t mix in well, and requires me to chug quickly in order to get it down.

To be clear, though: I have found other protein powders that I love, both plant-based and whey—but Huel’s stands out. Thanks to coconut milk powder, the texture is creamy (not chalky!). Even mixed with just water the drink has milkshake consistency.

I’ll caveat that I do prefer monk fruit extract (which is what Huel uses) over other sweeteners, so I may be biased, but the flavor is rich and sweet. When given the choice, I’d always go with chocolate, but I also enjoyed the vanilla flavor.

A drink that tastes good doesn’t do me much good if it isn’t also keeping me full and supporting my health. We’ve covered Huel’s ingredients, but let’s get into how I felt while testing the Hule Daily Superblend.

I typically eat lunch around 1 p.m. and my standard options are avocado toast with an egg, leftovers from dinner (typically a protein, grain, and vegetables), or a smoothie and a protein bar when I’m really rushing.

You could choose to mix Huel with a smoothie, but for the purpose of a true, honest review I mixed the powder only with water. This also made things as quick and easy as possible; to make my shakes I simply poured 1.5 cups of water and two scoops of the powder into the Huel shaker and shook it for about ten seconds.

We’ve discussed Huel’s ingredients and how they could support your well-being, but there are a few caveats to keep in mind when deciding if Huel is right for you.

There are a few threads online from people who say they’ve experienced stomach pains and gas while taking Huel, of course mixed in with rave reviews from those who claim skin improvements, better sleep, and more energy.*

When it comes down to it, everyone’s dietary needs are unique. While the brand markets its products as a replacement for your typical diet, I’d strongly recommend speaking with a health care professional before making such a drastic change.

It’s also worth considering that, because this is a plant-based supplement, it’s not as bioavailable as animal protein—and it’s also not as complete a protein source. And while the brand does note gut health benefits, the exact probiotic strains are not shared on Huel’s label.