Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Soylent Coffee: Nootropics, fat, carbs, protein

arstechnica.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

61–70 of 80 posts

Re: Soylent Coffee: Nootropics, fat, carbs, protein

#61

Post by hatsunearu »

xenihn wrote: post #56
kbd wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> yet if you're on a pure Soylent diet... Soylent's marketing puts... people at serious long-term health risk. Even Rosa Labs doesn't recommend a pure Soylent diet. I liked Soylentconor's comment on reddit the other day, pointing out that the right way to look at Soylent is that it's "just food"[1] I'm obviously not arguing Soylent is perfect, but it's almost certainly better than what most people eat most of the tim…

>Even Rosa Labs doesn't recommend a pure Soylent diet. When did they stop marketing it as a full meal replacement?

Since when did meal mean your entire diet?

Re: Soylent Coffee: Nootropics, fat, carbs, protein

#62

Post by toasterlovin »

matthewwiese wrote: post #16

I'm glad to hear Soylent has broadened their product category with this addition. It seems (to me at least) to be a perfect solution for a morning routine; when we usually have a cup of coffee with breakfast, why not just roll that into Soylent and "save some time" (negligible imo but still a consideration) not to mention it will hopefully improve the taste tenfold. Ever since I've heard about Soylent I've wanted the…

I have great news for you: you don't need to afford Soylent because healthy, cheap, easy to prepare food already exists. Whole milk is my favorite, but if you can't handle milk, cheese, nuts, and yogurt are all zero prep time and much cheaper per calorie than Soylent.

Re: Soylent Coffee: Nootropics, fat, carbs, protein

#63

Post by toasterlovin »

vinchuco wrote: post #11

Sausages are a ground mix of meats. Is there an equivalent for a mix of vegetables, fruits, grains, meat, etc? It would make more sense as a complete cheap meal than a powder, except for being perishable. It brings to mind the 'diet problem' http://www.neos-guide.org/content/diet-problem for which, if optimizing for price only, often suggests that you eat mainly potatoes.

To my mind, the key foods which are healthy, cheap, and easy to prepare are whole milk, cheese, yogurt, and nuts. Last time I checked, they all came out much cheaper per calorie than Soylent.

Not exactly what you asked about, but, if I read you right, they accomplish what you're going for.

Re: Soylent Coffee: Nootropics, fat, carbs, protein

#64

Post by Kalium »

toasterlovin wrote: post #62
matthewwiese wrote: post #16

I'm glad to hear Soylent has broadened their product category with this addition. It seems (to me at least) to be a perfect solution for a morning routine; when we usually have a cup of coffee with breakfast, why not just roll that into Soylent and "save some time" (negligible imo but still a consideration) not to mention it will hopefully improve the taste tenfold. Ever since I've heard about Soylent I've wanted the…

I have great news for you: you don't need to afford Soylent because healthy, cheap, easy to prepare food already exists. Whole milk is my favorite, but if you can't handle milk, cheese, nuts, and yogurt are all zero prep time and much cheaper per calorie than Soylent.

Those also mostly require storage infrastructure not always so readily available - I've lived out of a hotel room with no fridge before. Maybe the person is lactose-intolerant - some friends of mine are. Maybe they are OK with the cost increment for the amount of time it buys them.

Or possibly they simply make personal choices about what they put in their own personal bodies differently than you.

Re: Soylent Coffee: Nootropics, fat, carbs, protein

#65

Post by cheald »

JohnTHaller wrote: post #53
chjohasbrouck wrote: post #41

One problem with products like Soylent is that the nutrition label is used for marketing, and as a result they consciously engineer the product to optimize for that. Nutrition facts labels and recommended daily intakes vary by country, and they're backed up by a lot of bad science and guessing games. Consider that the USDA recently lifted their recommended maximum intake of cholesterol from 300mg/day (1.5 eggs/day) t…

Which of these looks healthy? http://imgur.com/a/pDRTh

If I had to eat one of those blindly it'd be the bottom middle. Gotta balance those macros.

Re: Soylent Coffee: Nootropics, fat, carbs, protein

#66

Post by toasterlovin »

Kalium wrote: post #64
toasterlovin wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have great news for you: you don't need to afford Soylent because healthy, cheap, easy to prepare food already exists. Whole milk is my favorite, but if you can't handle milk, cheese, nuts, and yogurt are all zero prep time and much cheaper per calorie than Soylent.

Those also mostly require storage infrastructure not always so readily available - I've lived out of a hotel room with no fridge before. Maybe the person is lactose-intolerant - some friends of mine are. Maybe they are OK with the cost increment for the amount of time it buys them. Or possibly they simply make personal choices about what they put in their own personal bodies differently than you.

You can always push storage infrastructure off onto grocery stores. Stop by one in the morning, buy your calories for the day, eat them throughout the day.

I get that not everybody is me. I'm trying to provide the viewpoint that we don't need a new product to solve the issue of healthy, zero prep food. Plus, the existing options are way, way cheaper per calorie, which is a pretty important consideration, since most people seem to be resource constrained (including me).

Re: Soylent Coffee: Nootropics, fat, carbs, protein

#67

Post by Kalium »

toasterlovin wrote: post #66
Kalium wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Those also mostly require storage infrastructure not always so readily available - I've lived out of a hotel room with no fridge before. Maybe the person is lactose-intolerant - some friends of mine are. Maybe they are OK with the cost increment for the amount of time it buys them. Or possibly they simply make personal choices about what they put in their own personal bodies differently than you.

You can always push storage infrastructure off onto grocery stores. Stop by one in the morning, buy your calories for the day, eat them throughout the day. I get that not everybody is me. I'm trying to provide the viewpoint that we don't need a new product to solve the issue of healthy, zero prep food. Plus, the existing options are way, way cheaper per calorie, which is a pretty important consideration, since most p…

Not everyone has the option of putting infrastructure off onto a cheap, convenient, quick, readily available grocery store either. I've personally been in situations where such was not available. Plus, doing that is almost certain to nullify the intended cost advantages and impose extra time costs.

The viewpoint you endeavor to provide is one we are all aware of. After all, it's the default that Soylent exists to provide an alternative to. Myself, I found Soylent incredibly useful for caloric restriction in ways that whole milk, cheese, nuts, grocery stores, and the attendant required infrastructure are not.

Re: Soylent Coffee: Nootropics, fat, carbs, protein

#68

Post by toasterlovin »

Kalium wrote: post #67
toasterlovin wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can always push storage infrastructure off onto grocery stores. Stop by one in the morning, buy your calories for the day, eat them throughout the day. I get that not everybody is me. I'm trying to provide the viewpoint that we don't need a new product to solve the issue of healthy, zero prep food. Plus, the existing options are way, way cheaper per calorie, which is a pretty important consideration, since most p…

Not everyone has the option of putting infrastructure off onto a cheap, convenient, quick, readily available grocery store either. I've personally been in situations where such was not available. Plus, doing that is almost certain to nullify the intended cost advantages and impose extra time costs. The viewpoint you endeavor to provide is one we are all aware of. After all, it's the default that Soylent exists to pro…

I get that you like Soylent. More power to you. But I don't think most people are already aware of the alternatives to Soylent and how much cheaper they are. For instance, you said, in response to my comment about buying food from a grocery store every day, "doing that is almost certain to nullify the intended cost advantages".

According to Soylent's website, their drink is $2.69 per 400 calories. That same amount of money buys you 1 gallon of whole milk at the grocery store, which is 2400 calories, or a half gallon of organic whole milk, which is 1200 calories.

The numbers are similar for nuts, cheese and yogurt. And I haven't even gotten into eating olive oil, which can get you another 2x reduction in cost per calorie over milk.

That is a 3x - 12x decrease in food cost. In other words, that choice alone can make or break a household's monthly budget. And if food storage is an issue, the savings will pay for a fridge in short order.

Re: Soylent Coffee: Nootropics, fat, carbs, protein

#69

Post by Kalium »

toasterlovin wrote: post #68
Kalium wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not everyone has the option of putting infrastructure off onto a cheap, convenient, quick, readily available grocery store either. I've personally been in situations where such was not available. Plus, doing that is almost certain to nullify the intended cost advantages and impose extra time costs. The viewpoint you endeavor to provide is one we are all aware of. After all, it's the default that Soylent exists to pro…

I get that you like Soylent. More power to you. But I don't think most people are already aware of the alternatives to Soylent and how much cheaper they are. For instance, you said, in response to my comment about buying food from a grocery store every day, "doing that is almost certain to nullify the intended cost advantages". According to Soylent's website, their drink is $2.69 per 400 calories. That same amount of…

Any real grocery store near me will set you back $5-$6 for a gallon of organic whole milk. That's without factoring in that neither of them are along my commute, adding time.

I think most people who are willing to consider Soylent are well aware of the costs of the customary diets they have been eating for many years. I also think that most people who are willing to consider Soylent are looking to optimize differently from you.

Re: Soylent Coffee: Nootropics, fat, carbs, protein

#70

Post by maxerickson »

groks wrote: post #60
vinchuco wrote: post #11

Sausages are a ground mix of meats. Is there an equivalent for a mix of vegetables, fruits, grains, meat, etc? It would make more sense as a complete cheap meal than a powder, except for being perishable. It brings to mind the 'diet problem' http://www.neos-guide.org/content/diet-problem for which, if optimizing for price only, often suggests that you eat mainly potatoes.

Stew.

Soup too.
Post reply on HN