The Huel Complete Protein Formula Explained

Huel Complete Protein is vegan protein powder that is rich in protein with 20g per 110 calorie serving, fiber, no added sugar, and has all 27 essential vitamins and minerals. 

Like all Huel products, Huel Complete Protein contains no lactose or any animal products, no soy, and no GMOs. 

Unlike Powder v3.1 and Black Edition, which are both 400 calorie meals, Complete Protein should not be used as a meal. It is designed to be used as a protein powder, which means it can be a good boost of protein in your day whether enjoyed simply by mixing with water or added to your favorite foods. 

The macronutrient split of Huel Complete Protein is 11:10:76:3 respectively; i.e 11% of the energy comes from carbohydrates, 10% from fat, 76% from protein and 3% from fiber.

The Complete Protein works to the HHS and USDA's Dietary Guidelines and Daily Value (DV) requirements for all macro- and micronutrients, and proportionates them to provide what you need from a 200 calorie snack[1].

Huel Complete Protein: Protein from Peas, Faba and Brown Rice

For healthy adults, the DRI recommends that 10-35% of calories should come from protein, or a minimum of 0.8g of protein per kg body weight per day [1]. The recommendation of 0.8g of protein per kg body weight per day is the recommendation to prevent deficiency. Particularly active people or athletes need more than the minimum amounts of protein. This is because when we exercise, whether it is endurance or strength-based training, we experience an increased rate of muscle protein breakdown. In order for the body to recover from exercise and adapt, it needs to be provided with the building blocks of protein, i.e. amino acids. 

The ‘optimal’ amount of protein in a meal to maximally stimulate muscle protein synthesis (MPS), in other words, the process of building new muscle, falls somewhere between 20-40g protein for healthy individuals. The range is dependent upon the individual’s lean mass (the amount of muscle someone has), height, the type of exercise you do, metabolic rate and other factors [2]. Huel Complete Protein provides 20g protein per serving, and contains all the essential amino acids.

Huel Complete Protein is a vegan protein powder made from a unique blend of three plant protein sources; pea, faba and brown rice protein. By combining these three sources of protein, Huel Complete Protein provides adequate amounts of all the essential amino acids. 

Amino Acid Profile

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 genetically and are subsequently involved in primary protein synthesis. Of these 20, nine are essential as they cannot be synthesized from other amino acids.

The nine essential amino acids are:

• Histidine

• Isoleucine

• Leucine

• Lysine

• Methionine

• Phenylalanine

• Threonine

• Tryptophan

• Valine

The other eleven are:

• Alanine

• Arginine

• Asparagine

• Aspartic acid

• Cysteine

• Glutamine

• Glutamic acid

• Glycine

• Proline

• Serine

• Tyrosine

Generally, proteins derived from animal foods (meats, fish, poultry, milk, and eggs) are considered complete proteins because they provide all nine essential amino acids.  Some plant foods are also complete proteins, including quinoa, buckwheat, and soy. You can also combine plant foods (legumes, seeds, grains, and vegetables) to get all nine amino acids. Many plant foods have insufficient amounts or one or more of the essential amino acids. The protein in Huel Black Edition comes primarily from pea protein and brown rice protein. This ensures the inclusion of all essential amino acids in sufficient amounts. The protein from brown rice 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. Plus there’s additional protein in smaller amounts from the flaxseed. Combining ingredients Black Edition powder is both high in protein and vegan.

Three of the EAAs are categorised as branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs), and these are leucine, isoleucine and valine. Not only are BCAAs substrates of the MPS process, but leucine is of particular importance as it acts as a stimulatory signal for MPS [3]. Think of it as the ignition to a car engine. Huel Complete Protein has a total of 9g EAAs and 5g BCAAs per serve.

Huel Complete Protein: Fiber

The fiber in Huel Complete Protein is a mixture of soluble and insoluble forms. The fiber content of Huel Complete Protein primarily comes from the chicory and corn fiber used in Huel. Fiber is an essential nutrient, so we are sure to include it in our Complete Protein formula.

Huel Complete Protein: Fat

The small amount of fat present in Huel Complete Protein of flaxseed oil powder. This helps with the absorption of fat soluble vitamins present in Complete Protein, such as vitamin A, D, E and K [4].

Huel Complete Protein: Vitamins and Minerals

While some of the vitamins and minerals (also known as micronutrients) in our Complete Protein powder are from natural ingredients, we use a micronutrient blend to fortify the product to ensure we are providing all the essential vitamins and minerals.

There have been numerous studies in the past 20 years demonstrating that, for many micronutrients, levels higher than the DV may have beneficial effects to health. For example, it’s widely considered that the amount of vitamin C we’re recommended to consume is too low [5-7], so we’ve added a bit extra in the Huel Complete Protein formula compared to some of the other vitamins and minerals. Benefits of consuming more vitamin C include a healthy immune system, healthy skin and antioxidant properties, and it also helps the absorption of some minerals like iron [8].

Huel Complete Protein Cautions and Allergen Advice

As some conditions require dietary intervention, like with any food or protein powder, please heed the notes below for the following conditions:

• Diabetes mellitus: For those with type 1 and type 2 diabetes, Huel Complete protein can be a part of a carbohydrate controlled diet. Please review the carbohydrate, sugar and other nutrition facts for Huel Complete Protein to see if/how it can fit your current dietary recommendations.

• Inborn errors of metabolism: If you have a glycogen storage disorder (GSD) or other inborn error of metabolism where you require dietary manipulation, you should consult your doctor or specialist clinician before using Huel Complete Protein. 

• Celaic: Huel Complete Protein is gluten-free and is made with no gluten-containing ingredients. 

• Phenylketonuria (PKU): Huel Complete Protein is not suitable for those who suffer from phenylketonuria (PKU).

• FODMAPs: Huel Complete Protein does contain FODMAPs and is not suitable for a low-FODMAP diet. Read more about Huel and FODMAPs here.

• Pregnancy & lactation: Huel Complete Protein can be included in the diet of those who are pregnant or breast feeding, however it should be limited to one serving per day. Please review more information about Huel and pregnancy in our FAQ. If you have questions about suitability, we suggest you discuss with your doctor if there are any clinically specific reasons why they wouldn’t be suitable. 

•  Children: Huel Complete Protein powder is not suitable for Children under 4 years old. However, older children may include Complete Protein as part of a balanced diet that includes a variety of other foods. For more information please see our Children, Adolescents and Huel article.

• Eating disorders: Huel Complete Protein powder can be consumed by individuals with eating disorders as a useful source of protein if it is an appropriate fit for their current meal plan. However, we recommend that individuals with eating disorders only use Huel after discussing it with their doctor or relevant clinician.

• Medications: There may be specific drug-nutrient interactions relating to a particular medicine you're using, so we recommend you read the drug information provided with your prescription, and if you have any further concerns, please discuss them with your doctor.

Allergen Advice

We thoroughly assess our ingredients and the processes we use to make Huel and whenever we identify potential routes of allergen contamination we will first take steps to eliminate the possibility of any contamination of our product. However, where it is not possible to remove the risk we will clearly highlight any allergens that might be present on our product packaging (and ingredient lists) in line with current US food safety guidelines.

However, we recognize that individuals can have allergies to any protein in any ingredient therefore if you have a specific allergy that is outside of the remit above, please contact us directly and we will do our best to guide you on which products are suitable.

Huel Complete Protein is gluten-free. It’s also avenin-free: it does not contain any oats so is also suitable for those with an oat intolerance and those with celiac who have an adverse reaction to oats.

References

1. Office of Dietary Supplements. (n.d.). Nutrient recommendations. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. https://ods.od.nih.gov/HealthInformation/nutrientrecommendations.aspx.

2. Burd; N, et al. Protein-Containing Food Is More Than The Sum Of Its Constituent Amino Acids For Post-Exercise Muscle Anabolic Potential. Date Accessed: 04/07/21. [Available from: https://www.gssiweb.org/sports-science-exchange/article/protein-containing-food-is-more-than-the-sum-of-its-constituent-amino-acids-for-post-exercise-muscle-anabolic-potential

3. Philp A, et al. Signals mediating skeletal muscle remodeling by resistance exercise: PI3-kinase independent activation of mTORC1. J Appl Physiol (1985). 2011; 110(2):561-8.

4. NHS. (n.d.). Different fats: Nutrition. National Health Service. Retrieved February 27, 2025, from https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/eat-well/food-types/different-fats-nutrition/#:~:text=A%20small%20amount%20of%20fat,with%20the%20help%20of%20fats.

5. Deruelle F, et al. Vitamin C: is supplementation necessary for optimal health? Journal of alternative and complementary medicine (New York, NY). 2008; 14(10):1291-8.

6. Combs J, et al. The Vitamins. 4th ed. Burlington: Elsevier Science; 2012.

7. Hathcock JN, et al. Vitamins E and C are safe across a broad range of intakes. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2005; 81(4):736-45.

8. Institute LP. Oregon State University. Vitamin C. Date Accessed: 04/07/21. [Available from: https://lpi.oregonstate.edu/mic/vitamins/vitamin-C]