Has anyone else tried Soylent?

[Reducto]

For those who don't know, Soylent is a meal replacement powder. The idea is that you mix up one pouch of the stuff per day with water and it provides everything your body needs and nothing more. You can still eat normal meals and snacks if you want, but you no longer HAVE to.

I ordered a one week supply to try it out and I'm currently on day 2. I haven't been hungry at all, and in fact have to push myself to finish off the whole jug. I have been drinking one glass at a time and following it up with a few pineapple chunks to get some taste in my mouth.

Has anyone else tried this or looked into it? Food procurement, storage, and preparation has been a hassle for me when I'm on the road and it would solve a lot of problems to only have a box of pouches to deal with.

 

[Lostinspace]

Soylent green is us!

 

[LeeRevell]

Well, for good health of all "onboard systems" we need fiber and bulk. I wouldn't rely on this stuff for very long......

 

[ZoNiE]

Stay away from the green stuff, especially on tuesday.

 

[Almost There]

After reading the contents and the nutritional information provided at that link I wouldn't touch it with a 20' pole (nor the proverbial 10' either... )

And that was before I pulled up this website

http://www.meghantelpner.com/blog/the-soylent-killer/

Mostly it just confirmed my suspicions about what was in the stuff.

And quite truthfully, even with the high prices of food here in Ontario I can eat whole fresh natural foods for less that they want for a 1 week supply.

 

[Reducto]

Most of the ingredients Meghan had a problem with have been changed since then. They refine the product as new information comes in.

If she actually analyzed my diet before this even she'd agree I'm better off on the Soylent.

 

[Almost There]

Most of the ingredients Meghan had a problem with have been changed since then. They refine the product as new information comes in.

If she actually analyzed my diet before this even she'd agree I'm better off on the Soylent.

I looked at the Soylent list of ingredients not hers'. The stuff is mostly either man made chemicals or manufactured from GMO corn, soy etc.
 
Another problem with using it in addition to whatever you eat is that you end up with a low fibre, high sodium, high caloric intake that will add to whatever health problems already exist.

I will refrain from getting on a soapbox about good nutrition and how easy it is to achieve it...

 

[GotSmart]

No, and after reading the companies list of ingredients, I will not.

 

[LeeRevell]

I eat enough chemicals as it is......

 

[johnny b]

At that price, I'd rather take the all natural protein that comes from "....... PEOPLE!!"

Calling Dr. Lecter....

 

[Spirituallifetime]

Have you seen the movie Soylent Green 1973. In an over populated word people ate a green stuff called Soylent Green. I think the protein in it came from the elderly people that were euthanized!
It doesn't look like it is nutrient dens but you could survive on it for a while. Better get a good supplement with all the minerals and vitamins that your body needs! I have just started taking a supplement that is giving me back my energy and starting to feel better, the food we get today just doesn't have enough minerals in it to keep us healthy.

 

[Moby T]

I've been using it for 90% of my meals for 2 months.  I use the newest version 1.4.  I've had no problems so far.  It's fast, convenient and saves a lot of money !  I think the naysayers have not researched it enough.

 

[Ken in Anaheim]

I don't know about Soylent buy I have mixed lentils and TVP (textured vegetable protein) chunks together for a quite tasty faux chili. FWIW
KinA

 

[highdesertranger]

what I find hard to believe is they named it Soylent. I wonder what idiot thought of that. I wouldn't touch it just because of the name. highdesertranger

 

[GotSmart]

If you cant pronounce it, do you really want to eat it?

 

[mconlonx]

I looked into this a while ago. I was also scared off by the commercial product, but there's a whole community out there going the DIY route to tailor for personal taste, allergies, metabolism, etc. https://diy.soylent.me/

I also read the Meghan Telpner article which focused on the commercial product, but said nothing about the DIY recipes. She then goes on to suggest a smoothie recipe which requires a blender, frozen foods, a freezer, a refrigerator, etc. Very inconvenient things in a vandwelling situation. She complains about the vitamins used (all the names we can't pronounce), but then suggests other versions of multivitamins instead... which could very well sub-in to a DIY soylent recipe. There's other sugars to use, other starches, etc., to address most of her points.

While I'd never rely on something like soylent for a full day's worth of meals, a dry powder with essential nutritional values in a minimalist package sounds like a great thing to have in case of emergency, when food stocks are running low in remote locations, or to extend consumption of other food on board.

And c'mon people, get over the name. Brilliant marketing to get people looking at a product and obviously not made from humans, but essentially what Soylent Green was all about -- complete nutrition in a simple package.

 

[cdiggy]

Maltodextrin as a main ingredient? I think I will pass. Has a lot of good stuff in it but I can't put that much processed crap in my body. Plus it has sucre lose in it. I will stick to real food.

 

[GotSmart]

Maltodextrin as a main ingredient? I think I will pass. Has a lot of good stuff in it but I can't put that much processed crap in my body. Plus it has sucre lose in it. I will stick to real food.

[font='Droid Sans', Arial, sans-serif]Maltodextrin is a starch-derived food additive that is commonly used as a thickening or filling agent in a range of commercial foods and beverages. It is nearly tasteless but is often described as being slightly sweet. Most nutritional experts consider the substance to have basically a “zero sum” content, which means that it contains very little in the way of calories, vitamins, or other [/font][font='Droid Sans', Arial, sans-serif]nutrients[/font][font='Droid Sans', Arial, sans-serif]. It is mostly used to bulk products up and to improve their texture and appearance.[/font]

 

[cdiggy]

[font='Droid Sans', Arial, sans-serif]Maltodextrin is a starch-derived food additive that is commonly used as a thickening or filling agent in a range of commercial foods and beverages. It is nearly tasteless but is often described as being slightly sweet. Most nutritional experts consider the substance to have basically a “zero sum” content, which means that it contains very little in the way of calories, vitamins, or other [/font][font='Droid Sans', Arial, sans-serif]nutrients[/font][font='Droid Sans', Arial, sans-serif]. It is mostly used to bulk products up and to improve their texture and appearance.[/font]

It is a starchy carb.. 510 calorie serving seems as though it is loaded with calories. Also said it s a 'polysaccharide', whatever the hell that is. As a thickener in small amounts you pretty much caNt get away from it. As a main source of food I think I will pass on it.

 

[Reducto]

That's an old ingredient list. 1.4 does not contain Maltodextrin or oil packets.

I would agree that it's likely not as good as an ideal veggie-heavy diet, but that's not what it's replacing. I occasionally try to fix my diet but my hunger gets way out of control and I wind up eating lots of fast food and demolishing any junk food that might be nearby. So far on this stuff I have not had any cravings or any hunger at all, really. I just down a glass every few hours and try to time it so I'm finishing one batch every 24 hours. My diet soda usage is down to near zero from its previous level of "I'm too embarrassed to say". My body seems to be happy with what it's getting, which has never been the case for me.

There's a lab in town that will do a full blood workup for like $45. I'm going to get one tomorrow for a (belated) baseline and again after I've been on it for a while.