Results of the 2015 Soylent Eaters Survey • Hacker News Board

Re: Results of the 2015 Soylent Eaters Survey

#31

Post by daenz » Thu, Feb 26, 2015, 7:31 PM UTC

im3w1l wrote: post #17

AlyssaRowan wrote: post #12

I wonder, why the gender gap? Could it be associated in some way with these products' resemblance to existing products with a strong marketing differential between genders? Men might think of protein shakes: you know, whey protein GMC-type stuff, that kind of thing. Women, on the other hand, might think of diet shakes: Slim-Fast and the like. These might both have a broadly "body improvement" type outlook, but one of…

Seems to happen to most New Technology-hobbies.

"Because the patriarchy discourages women from feeling empowered to try new things." -from a feminist

Re: Results of the 2015 Soylent Eaters Survey

#32

Post by devindotcom » Thu, Feb 26, 2015, 7:36 PM UTC

seanflyon wrote: post #28

sowhatquestion wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

P.S. Weirdly enough, I crave it most in the morning. There's no better breakfast than a simple Soylent and coffee (roughly one part Soylent, two parts coffee). Somehow, Soylent ended up being the best non-dairy coffee creamer of all time.

Assuming you mix it hot, how does that effect the Soylent? Does anything break down and lose nutritional value?

Priorities, man! How does it affect the coffee!! Does it lose its delicious coffee value?

Re: Results of the 2015 Soylent Eaters Survey

#33

Post by freehunter » Thu, Feb 26, 2015, 7:42 PM UTC

MollyR wrote: post #16

AlyssaRowan wrote: post #12

I wonder, why the gender gap? Could it be associated in some way with these products' resemblance to existing products with a strong marketing differential between genders? Men might think of protein shakes: you know, whey protein GMC-type stuff, that kind of thing. Women, on the other hand, might think of diet shakes: Slim-Fast and the like. These might both have a broadly "body improvement" type outlook, but one of…

Maybe a larger percentage of men are more competitive than women and are constantly trying to get a cutting edge, and are willing to even avoid eating to get a competitive advantage. I know I'm not. I like eating food, and taking a lunch break.

Back in college I was a weight lifter, and protein-sparing modified fasts weren't uncommon in the group I was in. Basically drink 1400 calories of protein and eat nothing else. Not low-carb, zero carb. You would do that until you cut your fat down enough to bulk again. It worked, and you lost weight quick. Let's not talk about the potential damage to your kidneys though...

I did know some women in the group who would do that as well, so I can't say it's exclusively men, but women were definitely a minority when it came to power lifting. Not sure if that's what's going on here or not. Maybe it's that mostly people who follow tech news know about the product, and the tech industry does tend to lean more towards men. Who knows?

Re: Results of the 2015 Soylent Eaters Survey

#34

Post by dikaiosune » Thu, Feb 26, 2015, 7:45 PM UTC

stcredzero wrote: post #10

I tried Soylent. It made me fart. A lot. Really a lot. It was pretty unprecedented in my life, and I'm generally pretty gassy and have even had the bout of the vegetarianism thing where I pressure cooked and ate lots of beans. Right now, I'm "changing my relationship with food" but by cooking everything myself. I almost exclusively roast and steam things. So long as you can plan things ahead a little bit, on about a…

Re: flatulence, I found that the Rosa Labs version (capital S Soylent) does that way worse than many of the DIY versions. I'm sure that some of the other commercial soylents are similarly not as bad for flatulence. I currently make:

http://diy.soylent.me/recipes/quidnycs-superfood-for-him (there's a "for her" version as well that my fiancee has had good luck with)

It accounts for 50-100% of my calories depending on the day. Fairly inexpensive, good nutrition, and very scalable for different calorie needs. Most importantly no farts.

Re: Results of the 2015 Soylent Eaters Survey

#35

Post by pizza234 » Thu, Feb 26, 2015, 7:48 PM UTC

AlyssaRowan wrote: post #12

I wonder, why the gender gap? Could it be associated in some way with these products' resemblance to existing products with a strong marketing differential between genders? Men might think of protein shakes: you know, whey protein GMC-type stuff, that kind of thing. Women, on the other hand, might think of diet shakes: Slim-Fast and the like. These might both have a broadly "body improvement" type outlook, but one of…

I've lived with many different people, and on a general guideline, women in general put more effort and attention to food (I don't live in US, though, so I speak for some other countries).

Soylent surely tickles the nerdy nerve of some people, but (fortunately) real food is still a pleasure for many; adding the fact that it's possible to prepare such food spending relatively little time, I can imagine that people who are already inclined to cook (as above) would not switch to substitute food.

Re: Results of the 2015 Soylent Eaters Survey

#36

Post by sowhatquestion » Thu, Feb 26, 2015, 7:48 PM UTC

seanflyon wrote: post #28

sowhatquestion wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

P.S. Weirdly enough, I crave it most in the morning. There's no better breakfast than a simple Soylent and coffee (roughly one part Soylent, two parts coffee). Somehow, Soylent ended up being the best non-dairy coffee creamer of all time.

Assuming you mix it hot, how does that effect the Soylent? Does anything break down and lose nutritional value?

Yes, sadly, Soylent is made from the world's most fragile ingredients. If you modify it in any way that you would normal food, it becomes useless, nutritionally inert goo that even Oliver Twist would reject.

Re: Results of the 2015 Soylent Eaters Survey

#37

Post by sowhatquestion » Thu, Feb 26, 2015, 7:51 PM UTC

arh68 wrote: post #11

sowhatquestion wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

P.S. Weirdly enough, I crave it most in the morning. There's no better breakfast than a simple Soylent and coffee (roughly one part Soylent, two parts coffee). Somehow, Soylent ended up being the best non-dairy coffee creamer of all time.

You're saying you mix it? Do you drink it cold, or hot? I've never considered that. I agree on mornings. It fills that infinite vacuum of hunger I get some mornings pretty well.

It's kinda lukewarm, but I don't mind. I tried it with iced coffee once, and that worked better, but I'm too lazy to brew iced coffee all the time.

Re: Results of the 2015 Soylent Eaters Survey

#38

Post by MollyR » Thu, Feb 26, 2015, 7:54 PM UTC

freehunter wrote: post #33

MollyR wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe a larger percentage of men are more competitive than women and are constantly trying to get a cutting edge, and are willing to even avoid eating to get a competitive advantage. I know I'm not. I like eating food, and taking a lunch break.

Back in college I was a weight lifter, and protein-sparing modified fasts weren't uncommon in the group I was in. Basically drink 1400 calories of protein and eat nothing else. Not low-carb, zero carb. You would do that until you cut your fat down enough to bulk again. It worked, and you lost weight quick. Let's not talk about the potential damage to your kidneys though... I did know some women in the group who would…

Fascinating. Does this mean your 1400 calories of protein came from 7-8 protein drinks a day ? Where could I get more information on this that isn't "bro science" ?

Re: Results of the 2015 Soylent Eaters Survey

#39

Post by tunesmith » Thu, Feb 26, 2015, 7:55 PM UTC

stcredzero wrote: post #10

I tried Soylent. It made me fart. A lot. Really a lot. It was pretty unprecedented in my life, and I'm generally pretty gassy and have even had the bout of the vegetarianism thing where I pressure cooked and ate lots of beans. Right now, I'm "changing my relationship with food" but by cooking everything myself. I almost exclusively roast and steam things. So long as you can plan things ahead a little bit, on about a…

Regarding the flatulence, Soylent just came out with version 1.4 which is supposed to largely address that issue. Less oat flour, more digestive enzymes, etc.

Re: Results of the 2015 Soylent Eaters Survey

#40

Post by Karunamon » Thu, Feb 26, 2015, 7:55 PM UTC

quadrature wrote: post #27

Animats wrote: post #13

With Soylent, employees will only need 5 minutes for lunch. Once somebody starts bottling this stuff premixed, it's going to be huge with startups.

I really hope that's not what we've come to.

I wouldn't be too worried - but the stuff is a godsend if you are running your tail off every now and then and need something cheap and easy to keep your energy up.

I think that's Soylent's niche. Imagine those days when you're too (busy/lazy/unskilled/low on cash) to cook or get takeout, so now you've got this alternative that's probably better for you than the stuff you would have gotten anyways.