Soylent Green is...dinner?

[l0cke]

I've heard a lot about this, worth a try. Just ordered some 2.0.

 

[TheVrolok]

http://m.abbottnutrition.com/brands/products/jevity-1_5-cal

 

[destrekor]

http://m.abbottnutrition.com/brands/products/jevity-1_5-cal

Probably nowhere near as cheap.

And I just perused the ingredients - it isn't really all that special. Maltodextrin, corn syrup, casein proteins, canola oil, and corn oil are the major caloric ingredients.

Most of those are not really of that high of a quality. Canola oil as your primary daily fat source is a very bad oil (yes, this an issue I have with Soylent as well). It has a 2:1 ratio of Omega 6 to Omega 3, which overall is about what you want for your total diet, but it's not really that great of an oil in general. It's produced using a hexane wash, and does contain a trace amount of trans fat.

What makes it that much worse is that corn oil is the second fat source. That one is nearly 60:1 Omega 6 to Omega 3... which is comically more typical of the American diet, sure, but that's why we're in terrible health and have a lot of circulatory issues, among a host of other things. A good diet is roughly 2:1 6 to 3.


Overall it's a good product when you need to have enteral feeding - but if not, you can do a heck of a lot better.

 

[Kaido]

I've heard a lot about this, worth a try. Just ordered some 2.0.

Seems to be a backlog. Their website says it ships within 48 hours; I setup a subscription order on the liquid, didn't get a shipping notification until today (4 days later), and it doesn't even have a tracking number yet:

We are happy to inform you that shipping labels have been printed for your order. Please note in some cases it may take 24-48 hours for your tracking number to become active.

Not that the order has been packed or shipped...but that the labels have been...printed. Yay? The shipping estimate is "November 11, 2015 to November 17, 2015". I guess Amazon Prime has spoiled me...I'm looking at a 2-week turnaround from placing the order to actually getting it. Guess if you like it, you'll have to plan ahead quite a bit for now, at least until production catches up with the demand (or they improve their shipping process).

 

[Kaido]

A couple interesting Soylent competitors -

Ambronite:
http://us.ambronite.com/

Bertrand:
http://bertrand.bio/

 

[TheVrolok]

Probably nowhere near as cheap.

And I just perused the ingredients - it isn't really all that special. Maltodextrin, corn syrup, casein proteins, canola oil, and corn oil are the major caloric ingredients.

Most of those are not really of that high of a quality. Canola oil as your primary daily fat source is a very bad oil (yes, this an issue I have with Soylent as well). It has a 2:1 ratio of Omega 6 to Omega 3, which overall is about what you want for your total diet, but it's not really that great of an oil in general. It's produced using a hexane wash, and does contain a trace amount of trans fat.

What makes it that much worse is that corn oil is the second fat source. That one is nearly 60:1 Omega 6 to Omega 3... which is comically more typical of the American diet, sure, but that's why we're in terrible health and have a lot of circulatory issues, among a host of other things. A good diet is roughly 2:1 6 to 3.


Overall it's a good product when you need to have enteral feeding - but if not, you can do a heck of a lot better.

You can get it a buck fifty a can and it's actually formulated by nutritionists.

 

[destrekor]

You can get it a buck fifty a can and it's actually formulated by nutritionists.

Huh, never would have guessed it would be that cheap.

As for being formulated by nutritionists, yes, I assumed it was, as it is a health care product for people who cannot eat solid foods and need an enteral feeding tube.

That said, it is formulated to be apparently as cheap as possible while maintaining decent health. It isn't something you would want to consume for your whole life, and it is definitely not catered to that type of diet. It is effective for what it is, but is nutritionally lacking in the long-term. There aren't even any Omega 3s outside of the ALA in Canola, and the body is terrible at converting ALA into EPA and DHA. Without DHA specifically, and also EPA, your brain and heart/circulatory health will deteriorate, especially when faced with such an overload of Omega 6s which will increase inflammation.

For short term or emergency or end-of-life, that's all perfectly fine, but it will not lead to a long healthy life if you consumed this daily starting when you are younger and living off it daily. Such people who have too, are bedridden, and aren't exactly in any shape to thrive, and won't live a long healthy life.

Nutritionists can know all the answers and purposefully make a product that is geared toward a specific use case that isn't 100% nutritionally sound.

 

[destrekor]

A couple interesting Soylent competitors -

Ambronite:
http://us.ambronite.com/

Bertrand:
http://bertrand.bio/

Ambronite, I'd argue, is definitely not meant to consume for every meal. Soylent shouldn't proposition themselves as 100% meal replacement either, but it's affordable.
Ambronite, on the other hand, is definitely a better formulated product, but it is priced out of the three meals a day category for all but the folks with untold amounts of money. Roughly $10 for a single meal.

 

[Kaido]

Ambronite, I'd argue, is definitely not meant to consume for every meal. Soylent shouldn't proposition themselves as 100% meal replacement either, but it's affordable.
Ambronite, on the other hand, is definitely a better formulated product, but it is priced out of the three meals a day category for all but the folks with untold amounts of money. Roughly $10 for a single meal.

Just a quick check on the website to see what the cheapest route for Ambronite would be:

1. One meal is 500 calories
2. 10 meals for $85.15 on subscription
3. Each subscription-priced meal would cost ~$8.16
4. 2000 calories daily = 4 meals = $32.64
5. 31-day month = $1,011.84

Dang

In comparison, the cheapest Soylent is the powdered v1.5 on subscription, which is 7 bags for $54. One bag is 2,000 calories, so a day's worth is ~$7.72 (or $1.93 per 500-calorie meal vs. Ambronite's $8.16 per 500-cal meal). In a 31-day month, that's $239.32. So you basically get 4 month's worth of Soylent for the price of one month's worth of Ambronite. Ouch.

 

[destrekor]

Just a quick check on the website to see what the cheapest route for Ambronite would be:

1. One meal is 500 calories
2. 10 meals for $85.15 on subscription
3. Each subscription-priced meal would cost ~$8.16
4. 2000 calories daily = 4 meals = $32.64
5. 31-day month = $1,011.84

Dang

In comparison, the cheapest Soylent is the powdered v1.5 on subscription, which is 7 bags for $54. One bag is 2,000 calories, so a day's worth is ~$7.72 (or $1.93 per 500-calorie meal vs. Ambronite's $8.16 per 500-cal meal). In a 31-day month, that's $239.32. So you basically get 4 month's worth of Soylent for the price of one month's worth of Ambronite. Ouch.

Yeah, Ambronite is clearly targeting those who tend to spend a fair bit for lunch but for who knows what nutritional quality. This is for those types, more executives than anything, that want to skip the time needed to get that expensive and nutritionally-questionable lunch, and instead have a quick easy and very healthy lunch and not stop working.

Also, it's for those who just want a very healthy option for lunch, and it being quick is that much more awesome.

If I routinely spent $8 or $9 a day on lunch, I'd look into that. But I don't - rarely, definitely not daily.

 

[l0cke]

Seems to be a backlog. Their website says it ships within 48 hours; I setup a subscription order on the liquid, didn't get a shipping notification until today (4 days later), and it doesn't even have a tracking number yet:



Not that the order has been packed or shipped...but that the labels have been...printed. Yay? The shipping estimate is "November 11, 2015 to November 17, 2015". I guess Amazon Prime has spoiled me...I'm looking at a 2-week turnaround from placing the order to actually getting it. Guess if you like it, you'll have to plan ahead quite a bit for now, at least until production catches up with the demand (or they improve their shipping process).

I got a shipping notification the same day, but it's still in the "shipping label created" phase. Scheduled delivery for Saturday though, we'll see how it turns out.

I definitely checked Amazon to see if I could get it there first.

 

[Kaido]

Yeah, Ambronite is clearly targeting those who tend to spend a fair bit for lunch but for who knows what nutritional quality. This is for those types, more executives than anything, that want to skip the time needed to get that expensive and nutritionally-questionable lunch, and instead have a quick easy and very healthy lunch and not stop working.

Also, it's for those who just want a very healthy option for lunch, and it being quick is that much more awesome.

If I routinely spent $8 or $9 a day on lunch, I'd look into that. But I don't - rarely, definitely not daily.

Yeah, that makes sense.

I was surprised at how cheap the powdered Soylent is. $2,818 gets you a year's supply @ 2000 calories a day. That would let you control your food budget pretty tightly for sure, as well as monitor your daily caloric intake pretty efficiently :thumbsup:

 

[Kaido]

I got my 12-pack of Soylent 2.0 in yesterday. Initial thoughts:

1. Packaging is very Apple-esqe; plain white bottle with a tiny logo. Kind of 1984-ish actually

2. It's even more bland the previous versions (for better or for worse). Powder = cardboard flavor, liquid = paper flavor, i.e. neutral but even more bland.

3. It tastes like sugar-free Ensure. It has that vaguely "nutty" flavor. Completely drinkable at room temperature (my buddy said he chilled his & it was worse, he only drinks it at room temp now).

4. It's a bit sandy in the back of your throat. I swished it around my mouth & couldn't detect any grittyness, but you definitely get a fine-sand feel when & after you swallow it.

5. Has a pretty funky aftertaste. Not horrible but definitely not good. Drinking it is not bad at all (extremely neutral), but the slightly weird smell combines with the strange aftertaste and makes me shudder a bit, almost like when you swallow cough syrup.

6. I chugged the first one. Oops. It's like swallowing a brick. Definitely go the "sip it" route - get a straw if you can, to slow down consumption. Erg...

7. I had one for dinner last night, and again for breakfast this morning. It definitely removes hunger! Like 5 minutes after drinking it, the hunger is gone...it's like throwing a band-aid over the itch, just makes it go away quickly with no effort. I'd rather buy the powdered stuff due to the cheaper price, but the liquid is just so dang convenient...unscrew, drink, toss the bottle. It's not gritty on your tongue like the powdered version, although the aftertaste is somewhat unpleasant.

8. It definitely has less of an impact on my body than say fast-food. My brain is at 100% this morning, vs. like 80% if I have like a breakfast sandwich or something. I'm noticeably more online mentally after drinking it vs. just grabbing take-out. I usually only get that clear of mental alertness if I eat clean by cooking the food myself.

TL;DR: Tastes weird (but you can drink it in 5 minutes & then be good for a few hours, so meh), removes hunger with zero effort, reasonably-priced, will buy again.

 

[Linux23]

marked for later.

 

[Eli]

Got 21 meal supply of the powder.

This will be interesting...

 

[Eli]

Well, that's not as bad as I thought it would be.

Other than the chalky taste, it's actually kinda good. I like that type of nutty flavor.

 

[Kaido]

Well, that's not as bad as I thought it would be.

Other than the chalky taste, it's actually kinda good. I like that type of nutty flavor.

Yeah, it's platable. Not great, but not...terrible.

I think I actually prefer Soylent 1.5 (powder) over 2.0 (liquid). The bottled stuff doesn't seem to agree with me 100%. One odd thing is that it's giving me horrible bad breath (so bad I can taste it, haha). iirc the algae is the biggest change, so maybe that's the culprit. Didn't get that on 1.5 at all. I waited a few days between bottles to make sure it wasn't something else - just had a bottle of 2.0 for breakfast & it tastes like I just woke up without brushing my teeth or something

 

[destrekor]

Well, that's not as bad as I thought it would be.

Other than the chalky taste, it's actually kinda good. I like that type of nutty flavor.

Yeah I usually have it for lunch on weekdays. I actually kinda look forward to it. It's fulfilling, and the taste, while neutral, is rather pleasant and agreeable.

I usually add a scoop of either chocolate or vanilla ON Gold Standard whey. For me, it helps make it so it lasts me the rest of the afternoon, plus has the amount of protein I find to be satisfactory for my daily intake when combined with the rest of my diet. 20g in 500 calories is too low of a protein content so I am forced to add some.

But overall that oaty, nutty taste is great.

 

[Kaido]

Yeah I usually have it for lunch on weekdays. I actually kinda look forward to it. It's fulfilling, and the taste, while neutral, is rather pleasant and agreeable.

I usually add a scoop of either chocolate or vanilla ON Gold Standard whey. For me, it helps make it so it lasts me the rest of the afternoon, plus has the amount of protein I find to be satisfactory for my daily intake when combined with the rest of my diet. 20g in 500 calories is too low of a protein content so I am forced to add some.

But overall that oaty, nutty taste is great.

Yeah, I've got some cookies & cream protein powder coming in tomorrow to add protein content & flavor to mine, I'll see how it goes. Absolutely hated blending in a banana with the Soylent powder, hopefully this works out better!

One of the best side effects of Soylent is how much better real food tastes. If I do Soylent for breakfast & lunch, even eating something like Burger King for dinner tastes phenominal. So it basically amps up the flavor of my 'legacy food' meals haha. It's the same effect if you've been out working or playing outside all day & have worked up an appetite, it makes everything you eat tastes awesome.

 

[n7]

Got my bottles of 2.0 last night.

It's super bland and plain. Like oatmeal liquid mush.
Very drinkable though, which is good as I was worried I'd hate it.
What are you guys all using for adding flavour?

I got some vanilla extract I'm going to try, but very open to trying just a bit of something to make it a bit tastier.

 

[l0cke]

Mine finally shipped after 7 days of "shipping information received". Should be here Saturday. I wonder if they are still so slow to ship if you have a subscription?

 

[Linux23]

In mother Russia soylent drinks you. Comrade.

 

[l0cke]

Got my 2.0 in today. Is it wrong if I actually like it? I guess I'll see if I still like it when I'm done with the box.

 

[Ferzerp]

I got some of this as a test. I agree with the "oatmeal liquid mush" part.

Well, other than the mush, there is no mush, but the taste is very, very faint and reminds me of oats. It is also slightly gritty. Your teeth can feel it when you bite afterwards. I'm still feeling full 3 hours later. Though one bottle isn't really enough to be dinner, I have no desire to eat anything else right now. I don't know if it is because it is keeping me full, or just because the bizarre experience has sort of turned me off to the idea of food for a while. I bought a 12 pack (the smallest they sell), and I am undecided on whether or not I will buy more.

 

[Kaido]

I got some of this as a test. I agree with the "oatmeal liquid mush" part.

Well, other than the mush, there is no mush, but the taste is very, very faint and reminds me of oats. It is also slightly gritty. Your teeth can feel it when you bite afterwards. I'm still feeling full 3 hours later. Though one bottle isn't really enough to be dinner, I have no desire to eat anything else right now. I don't know if it is because it is keeping me full, or just because the bizarre experience has sort of turned me off to the idea of food for a while. I bought a 12 pack (the smallest they sell), and I am undecided on whether or not I will buy more.

Yeah I still have a whole box of my liquid, I prefer the powdered.

Although now that I'm on my food allergy medicine, I haven't really had much for months because I can eat dairy & gluten again, so I am getting very, very fat :biggrin: