Introduction to meal replacements

Meal replacements are intended as a substitute for a solid food, usually containing controlled quantities of calories as well as nutrients and necessary vitamins and minerals. Along with the nutrition benefits, meal replacements can help you save time and money, becoming a popular alternative for busy people looking for convenient and healthy meals.

vybey delivers balanced and convenient meals, no contracts, delivered quickly when you need it. You can be assured that vybey is arguably the best meal replacement shake available in the UK due to its premium nature.

Under The Microscope: vybey and Huel 

There are many products available on the market who claim to be the best meal replacement shake making it difficult to know which meal shake is best for you. Today, we are going to compare the vybey salted caramel meal shake to Huel salted caramel v3.0. Huel are the UK market leaders in meal replacement shakes. We are going to put both products under the microscope to help you make the best decision.

After diving deep into the nutritional information of both the vybey salted caramel meal shake and the Huel salted caramel v3.0 the three main takeaways are:

• Both Huel and vybey can be considered as a 100% nutritional meal.
• vybey contains premium ingredients including nootropics and probiotics compared with Huel’s more basic nutritional profile.
• Huel has a significantly higher level of sodium (salt) than vybey.
• The vybey shake includes organic ingredients. Huel does not.

Comparing the nutritional values of vybey vs Huel in the above table it can be said that although vybey offers a marginally greater dose of carbohydrates, fibre, and protein, both options offer a complete meal.

The products may look the same and can be used for the same purpose however, certain premium ingredients included in vybey suggest that they are in fact very different!

Let us switch on the microscope for you…

Sodium (Salt) Comparison

The reason that manufacturers add large amounts of salt to their products is to improve the flavour of the product and increase the shelf life (salt is a preservative)[3].  It's a cost effective and simple way to improve flavour but has significant impacts on our health if too much sodium is taken in our diet.

As a nation, our waistlines are growing. Today, the UK has one of the highest rates of obesity in the world with more than 6 out of 10 adults being overweight or obese.[4] Hypertension is a significant risk factor for cardiovascular disease and there is convincing evidence that as sodium intake increases, blood pressure increases[5]. The World Health Organisation (WHO) also recommends that adults reduce their sodium intake to 2000mg/day[6]. Please see table below for sodium comparison between the two meal shakes. 

While it is advised to not eat more than 6g of sodium a day, the average person in the UK consumers just over 8g – a third more than is recommended[7]. As such, any way in which we can greatly reduce our sodium intake is great – especially when it still tastes great!

Probiotics Comparison

Compared to vybey, there is a lack of probiotics (in particular Bacillus Coagulans) in the Huel salted caramel powder. The Huel salted caramel powder has a dose of only 150mn compared to vybey’s 1bn. The dose of the probiotics (Bacillus Coagulans) in the Huel shake is so small that it is unlikely to have any real effect. Probiotics are a healthy form of bacteria that improve gut health and digestion[8]. Our internal health is just as important as our external appearance and for this reason, we’ve ensured vybey has as many unique benefits as possible to offer a premium product. These additional premium ingredients arguably set vybey far ahead of local and global meal replacements in Australia & Europe/UK respectively.

Nootropics Comparison

At vybey, along with the 26 different vitamins and minerals within our complete meal powder, we have included the Lion’s Mane nootropic. To our knowledge we are the only meal shake brand that includes this premium ingredient in our products. Lion’s Mane is an edible and naturally occurring medicinal mushroom. Lion’s Mane has been shown to benefit the brain, heart, and gut[9] and even ranks fourth for the highest antioxidant level among 14 different species of mushroom⁶. The positive effects on the brain can include:

• Mental wellbeing
• Mood in relation to motivation
• Concentration and attention
• Increase blood flow around the brain
• Improves transmission of nerve impulses

These innovative food ingredients have been added to vybey to help our vybers to perform at their highest level.

Organic and Premium Ingredients

Furthermore, vybey has numerous organic ingredients including coconut flour, flaxseed flour, brown rice protein and cocoa powder. Again, highlighting the premium and healthy ingredients of vybey’s meal replacement shake. Huel have included some of these ingredients in their meal shakes but none are organic. Organic foods often have more beneficial nutrients, such as antioxidants, than their conventionally grown counterparts and people with allergies to foods, chemicals, or preservatives may find their symptoms lessen or go away when they eat only organic foods[10]. We want what’s best for our vybers and incorporating organic foods are a great way to give our customers that extra 1%.

Conclusion

The primary objective of the vybey and Huel shakes is to offer nutritionally complete meals and it can be said that both products achieve this. However, choosing an option that is lower in sodium (salt) and contains a healthy dose of probiotics, organic, and premium ingredients such as Lion’s Mane nootropic will help contribute to achieving optimal performance, greater nutritional benefits and ultimately better health.

To help you out with comparing like for like, we have included a detailed nutritional table below of both vybey and Huel Shakes.

Please let us know your thoughts on our article by sending a message to hello@vybey.co.uk – We would love to hear from you! 

References 

[1] VYBEY, 2021. Nutritional Information. [online]  Available from https://vybey.com.au/pages/copy-of-nutritional-information

 [2] HUEL, 2022. The Huel Powder Formula Explained. [online] Available from: https://uk.huel.com/pages/the-huel-powder-formula-explained

 [3] Institute of Medicine (US), 2010. [online] Committee on Strategies to Reduce Sodium Intake. Henney JE, Taylor CL, Boon CS, editors: National Academies Press (US); Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK50956/

[4] Cancer Research UK. Overweight and Obesity Statistics. [online] Available at: https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/health-professional/cancer-statistics/risk/overweight-and-obesity

Ha, Sung Kyu, 2014. “Dietary salt intake and hypertension.” Electrolyte & blood pressure: E & BP vol. 12,1: 7-18.

[5] Who.int. 2022. Salt reduction. [online] Available at: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/salt-reduction#:~:text=For%20adults%3A%20WHO%20recommends%20that,relative%20to%20those%20of%20adults

[6] Action On Salt. UK Salt Reduction. [online] Available at: https://www.actiononsalt.org.uk/uk-20salt-20reduction-20programme/145617.html/

[7] Gammone, M. A., Riccioni, G., Parrinello, G., & D'Orazio, N, 2018. Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids: Benefits and Endpoints in Sport. Nutrients. [online] 11(1), pp. 46. Available from: https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/11/1/46

[8] Mori, K., Inatomi, S., Ouchi, K., Azumi, Y., Tuchida, T., 2008. Improving Effects of the Mushroom Yamabushitake (Hericium Erinaceus) On Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Double-Blind Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial. Phytotherapy Research. [online]. 23(3), pp. 367-372. Available from: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ptr.2634

[9] Lai, P., 2013. Neurotrophic Properties of the Lion's Mane Medicinal Mushroom, Hericium erinaceus (Higher Basidiomycetes) from Malaysia. International Journal of Medicinal Mushrooms. [online]. 15(6), pp. 539-554. Available from https://www.dl.begellhouse.com/journals/708ae68d64b17c52,034eeb045436a171,750a15ad12ae25e9.html

[10] Robinson, L., Segal, J. and Segal, R., 2020. Organic Foods: What You Need to Know - HelpGuide.org. [online] HelpGuide.org. Available at: https://www.helpguide.org/articles/healthy-eating/organic-foods.htm#:~:text=Organic%20foods%20often%20have%20more,Organic%20produce%20contains%20fewer%20pesticides