Soylent Green is...dinner?

[tboo]

Shane Snow tried it for 2 weeks straight:

http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2013/08/20/soylent/

I wouldnt be able to do that. Bleh.

 

[BurnItDwn]

This is terrible idea.

 

[alkemyst]

manbeef.com

Careful that is now a porn/pseudo dating site.

 

[Kaido]

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/08/ars-does-soylent-day-2-my-god-what-have-i-gotten-myself-into/

Thoughts on that:

1. He's only on Day 2 - he may have had a not-so-great diet before that

2. He may have food allergies. I'm pretty much allergic to everything in Soylent, unfortunately

 

[Kaido]

"It tastes like apprehension"

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/08/ars-does-soylent-day-4-the-soylent-powered-man/

And the finale:

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/09/ars-does-soylent-the-finale-soylent-dreams-for-people/

He only did it for like 5 days, so that's not much of a test, but he seemed to get over the gas on day 2 haha.

 

[Kaido]

Premium Soylent rival fuels the food drink revolution:

http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-11/14/commercial-soylent-variant

"Soylent's goal is to be synthetic and affordable," argues Ikola "Ambro is organic and premium". This means dumping powers for actual recognisable ingredients such as nuts, brown full-grain rice, wild berries and cocoa. The core profile is as follows; fat comes from nuts (organic almond, organic pecan, organic, organic hazelnut, organic walnut); carbohydrates mainly from organic whole grain rice and quinoa; protein via whey protein; most vitamins and trace nutrients are supplied by the rest of the ingredients such as wild berries, spinach and spirulina.

 

[Kaido]

So I just found out I have a buddy who has been on a homebrew version of this stuff for the past six months or so (recipes are available online). In a nutshell, his review was:

1. Fills you up, works great as a meal replacement
2. Doesn't give you the same feeling as eating (i.e. the "ah, that was a good meal" feel)
3. But it takes the hunger away. It basically just removes the hunger feeling. There's no joy in drinking it, like you would get from eating a meal, it just removes hunger. Fixes that problem quickly. So if you're focused on efficiency, i.e. running around at work & just need something quick, it's great.
4. Very convenient & he will continue to use it, especially for lunches

I still like the concept. Unfortunately I have crazy food allergies & finding sources that fit the recipe structure & my nutritional requirements has not been easy, so I haven't been able to give it a go myself. Guess I'll stick with smoothies & protein powder for now, haha!

Some resources:

Sub-reddit
DIY Recipes
Forum
Soylent blog
Facebook page

 

[Howard]

So what about all the stuff that is otherwise good for you that doesn't count as a macro or vitamin/mineral? Lycopene, the blueberry stuff, antioxidants in broccoli, etc.

 

[Kaido]

So what about all the stuff that is otherwise good for you that doesn't count as a macro or vitamin/mineral? Lycopene, the blueberry stuff, antioxidants in broccoli, etc.

It actually has 500μg of Lycopene:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soylent_(food_substitute)#Ingredients

I'm curious about how people do on it long-term. My friend's brother has been on it for more than 6 months now with great results - lost some weight & eating at work is a breeze now, plus you can still eat "real food" whenever you want.

 

[Ruptga]

I've read about this, and apparently it costs just as much as eating like a regular college student. I guess this would remove the indecision of whether to have canned ravioli or canned stew for dinner, but that's not quite enough to win me over.

 

[Wonderful Pork]

I've read about this, and apparently it costs just as much as eating like a regular college student. I guess this would remove the indecision of whether to have canned ravioli or canned stew for dinner, but that's not quite enough to win me over.

I believe the argument for Soylent is that its more nutritionally complete versus canned ravioli, pizza, etc.

Personally the nutritional profile is skewed too high in carbohydrates for me (84g per 670 calorie serving, working out to about 250/day)

 

[John Dime]

Found it: http://www.vice.com/motherboard/life-after-food

If I recall, it covers cost.

 

[Howard]

It actually has 500μg of Lycopene:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soylent_(food_substitute)#Ingredients

I'm curious about how people do on it long-term. My friend's brother has been on it for more than 6 months now with great results - lost some weight & eating at work is a breeze now, plus you can still eat "real food" whenever you want.

No choline?

 

[Kaido]

Soylent survivor: one month living on lab-made liquid nourishment:

http://www.theverge.com/2014/7/17/5...e-month-living-on-lab-made-liquid-nourishment

 

[Hail The Brain Slug]

No choline?

It does have some amount of choline.

I've been "eating" Soylent for over a month now, however I have not completely eliminated food. 40% of the days I have only Soylent (Usually work days), 50% of them I have one meal with Soylent for the other 2/3 of my day, and around 10% of my days I forego the Soylent altogether (Usually because I forgot to mix a batch the night before, it's too gritty to consume immediately after mixing).

Suffice it to say that I feel AWESOME. The only times I feel fatigued, sluggish, or slow-minded are when I've downed a fat cheeseburger or something equally fatty. I used to feel like that all the time. Most of the time I am overflowing with energy and although I still enjoy doing a bit of absolutely nothing at times, I've been extremely productive.

Food also tastes amazing after I've had only Soylent for > 24 hours.

Edit: Also forgot to mention I no longer consume caffeine on a daily basis. I used to feel like I had to have it to function and because of this I had tried to stop drinking caffeine many times, unsuccessfully. After I started using Soylent, it's almost like I forgot about caffeine because I have no need of it.

 

[Mr.IncrediblyBored]

^ That just tells me your diet was probably bad before trying Soylent. Eating at least decently with regular exercise would give you most of the feel-good without the sludge.

 

[IGemini]

I've been seriously considering giving this a try before the year ends. Changes to my diet have radically improved my mood since winter, but I'll give this one a go in near future.

 

[Imp]

Looked into this... Too expensive for me after factoring in shipping.

 

[Lonyo]

^ That just tells me your diet was probably bad before trying Soylent. Eating at least decently with regular exercise would give you most of the feel-good without the sludge.

Yes, but half the point is that you don't have to consider eating "properly" because it's been done for you with the powder.

Sure, eating healthily on your own isn't impossible, but not everyone can be bothered to put the effort in, and Soylent means there's no effort required to have a somewhat reasonable diet.

Which is also what the people who criticise it seem to miss. "Oh, but how do you know it has everything people need in it?"
Well, considering that obesity is a significant problem, it's clear that most people DON'T have proper diets, therefore something like Soylent is an easy way to improve many people's diets, even if it isn't perfect. Maybe if you eat the required amount of healthy stuff and don't eat crap already you don't need Soylent, but there are enough people who clearly don't do that and could definitely benefit from something that does it for them.

Perfect diet with no Soylent > Soylent > Diet of typical American.
It's better than what the majority have, therefore it's good, even if it's not perfect.

 

[Kaido]

Perfect diet with no Soylent > Soylent > Diet of typical American.
It's better than what the majority have, therefore it's good, even if it's not perfect.

That's it right there: it's better than what a lot of people are eating, haha :thumbsup:

I have friends who bring in 2-liter Mountain Dews at work, start drinking them at breakfast (no joke), and have them emptied before they leave. That can't be good for you

 

[Hail The Brain Slug]

^ That just tells me your diet was probably bad before trying Soylent. Eating at least decently with regular exercise would give you most of the feel-good without the sludge.

No. I used to eat very healthy while I was living in San Diego and running upwards of 30 miles a week. I never felt as good as I do now with moderate exercise and Soylent.

 

[NikolaeVarius]

No. I used to eat very healthy while I was living in San Diego and running upwards of 30 miles a week. I never felt as good as I do now with moderate exercise and Soylent.

Totally not a placebo effect.

 

[BUTCH1]

In the article is a link where real nutritionist people highly recommend to use products already on the market from Nestle and Abbot who have done it properly and who's products have been used safely for years, the cost is a lot higher than "solyent", about $450 a month but I wouldn't trust a silicon Vally coder to come up with a product that's safe for long-term use, this man has zero education about nutrition, diet or the complex needs of the human body, I'd put my faith in a company that's done the proper research and has proper labs and trained experts in place. That being said for $450/month you could just go to the store and buy and cook real food and enjoy something tasty as well as a side benefit., link here..http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/03/14/rob-rhinehart-has-a-crazy-plan-to-let-you-go-without-food-forever-it-just-might-work/

 

[Jeff7]

In the article is a link where real nutritionist people highly recommend to use products already on the market from Nestle and Abbot who have done it properly and who's products have been used safely for years, the cost is a lot higher than "solyent", about $450 a month but I wouldn't trust a silicon Vally coder to come up with a product that's safe for long-term use, this man has zero education about nutrition, diet or the complex needs of the human body, I'd put my faith in a company that's done the proper research and has proper labs and trained experts in place. That being said for $450/month you could just go to the store and buy and cook real food and enjoy something tasty as well as a side benefit., link here..http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...u-go-without-food-forever-it-just-might-work/

Unfortunately there's also no shortage of nutrition "experts" that are also into things like homeopathic remedies, crystal energy, and BS like that.
"I ate a thing and drank a lot of water, and it made me feel better afterward, therefore I'm an expert!"


I'm not sure who to turn to though. Someone under the influence of Monsanto&Friends, a programmer, a self-claimed nutritionist who has a degree in Communications.....or are there any real doctors or scientists working on something like this?
But I do like the idea of an engineer type of person making a food. See problem. Solve problem. Optimize.
Interview on Colbert Report.

Love it - his description of why he made this. Another techie who's really lazy when it comes to food.
(I'm the sort who doesn't like foods that require a person to produce them, like stuff you'd find carefully prepared in a fancy restaurant. I prefer to see food made by machines. I'd pay extra to have a place like Burger King where I could watch a team of robots assemble a burger to-order. I just find cooking and food preparation to be mindless, repetitive labor for comparatively minimal rewards. Eating is something I do in order to satisfy a very basic and ancient requirement for a body that can't yet be field-upgraded.)
So I probably fit into his original target market.



I think I'll give this stuff a shot.







.

 

[Howard]

It does have some amount of choline.

I've been "eating" Soylent for over a month now, however I have not completely eliminated food. 40% of the days I have only Soylent (Usually work days), 50% of them I have one meal with Soylent for the other 2/3 of my day, and around 10% of my days I forego the Soylent altogether (Usually because I forgot to mix a batch the night before, it's too gritty to consume immediately after mixing).

Suffice it to say that I feel AWESOME. The only times I feel fatigued, sluggish, or slow-minded are when I've downed a fat cheeseburger or something equally fatty. I used to feel like that all the time. Most of the time I am overflowing with energy and although I still enjoy doing a bit of absolutely nothing at times, I've been extremely productive.

Food also tastes amazing after I've had only Soylent for > 24 hours.

Edit: Also forgot to mention I no longer consume caffeine on a daily basis. I used to feel like I had to have it to function and because of this I had tried to stop drinking caffeine many times, unsuccessfully. After I started using Soylent, it's almost like I forgot about caffeine because I have no need of it.

Do you cook the oat flour or drink it raw?