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Soylent 2.0

blog.soylent.com

191–200 of 235 posts

Re: Soylent 2.0

#191

For me Soylent would have to be incredibly inexpensive to replace a meal or two a day. I like the idea of a cheap way to avoid going out when I don't feel like cooking, but I'm thinking ~$30 a month to replace a meal a day, not $102

I drink a syntha-6 protein shake every morning after working out or as a quick meal replacement and it works great. Costs about a buck a serving.

Re: Soylent 2.0

#192

I've never really understood the hype for Soylent. It does seem like a great idea for your earthquake kit, camping, etc, but as daily food? If I am rushed for time, I'll just grab an Odwalla smoothie or similar. Can someone educate me about what I am not getting from a decent smoothie that Soylent provides? (I am probably not the target demographic as I enjoy eating, and variety).

Based on the last time I looked at a label on a 12-20ish (I don't know the size offhand) Odwalla bottle, it's probably about 2-300 calories, mostly from sugars, with 0 fat, little protein (unless it's a supplemented flavor which I'm not sure Odwalla makes), maybe some vitamins but not fortified either.

A meal of Soylent is 679 calories with exactly a third of all your daily requirements. It is literally a battery for humans.

If you eat anything but Soylent it is a literal certainty you are slowly starving yourself of nutrients you just happen to not get in your preferred diet. This makes sense, because, like many things, humans aren't automatically optimal at engineering diets. This is why we have startups, because they can take this crazy idea (what if we made the optimal utility food), take VC funding, and create something special. Never before in human history have we been so privileged and lucky to be alive.

Re: Soylent 2.0

#193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's...significantly more expensive than I thought it would be per day.

Some quick comparisons: 2000 calories in Big Macs: $17.87 at a US McDonalds 2000 calories in SlimFast meal replacement shakes: $13.13 at Wal-Mart 2000 calories in SlimFast powder: $8.94 at Wal-Mart

> 2000 calories in Big Macs: $17.87 at a US McDonalds

How did you get that?

According to McDonald's own nutritional information [1], you'd consume 1,070 calories per medium meal. Via:

Big Mac: 530 calories

Medium Fries: 340 calories

Medium Drink: 200 Calories

In order for your maths to work each meal has to cost $8.94. The most expensive medium big mac meal I can find is $8.03 in DC, or $16 for your 2K calories.

[0] http://www.fastfoodmenuprices.com/mcdonalds-prices/

[1] http://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en/food/full_menu/full_menu_expl...

Re: Soylent 2.0

#194
post #77

Why spend energy producing and transporting heavy water and plastic bottles with this pre-mixed Soylent? Everyone already has plentiful water and receptacles at home. Seems like a retrograde step, unless I'm missing something?

Soylent has a better texture after hydrating for some time.

It also goes bad in 3-4 days, even refrigerated.

Re: Soylent 2.0

#195
post #13

My first thought whenever I see soylent is that we have studies proving that we can't replace breast milk with baby formula. Some of that is due to immune system being passed on to the infant, but we haven't yet mastered the nutritional content of real food to the point where we can confidently say it's safe to eat Soylent or another similar product regularly. It takes me back to the whole issue with processed dog fo…

What should we be feeding dogs?

Check out BARF (biologically appropriate raw food, bones and raw food). It's possible to formulate the meals yourself, but it's hard to get the nutrients right. Several companies offer a balanced raw refrigerated/frozen product.

We had concerns about bacteria from the raw meat, so we feed a freeze dried raw food (Stella and Chewy's[0], no affiliation, just a happy customer). It can be expensive, costing around $5 per day to maintain a 15 lb dog, but our dog is a picky eater and loves it.

Raw food will most likely result in smaller, firmer stools. They're easier to pick up, and they dry out and deteriorate faster.

[0] Stella and Chewy had a recent recall due to listeriosis. Fortunately, none of our lots were affected.

Re: Soylent 2.0

#196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's like people think that they know some nutritional secret that soylent hasn't thought of. I take them on their word that they're taking this seriously and every time I read a comment about "Soylent is so clueless! How could they have thought of 'X'?!" then I google "soylent X" and find an extremely detained post explaining how they're taken 'X' in to account.

Dunning-kruger in effect. We are all at least layman when it comes to nutrition and health, so you get people who dont know what they dont know commenting on something to reassure their views. They dont do the research, because they already "know" the right answer. We should be skeptical of any food stuff the purports to be nutritionally near perfect, but Soylent looks like its on track.

> Dunning-kruger in effect

Are you talking about Soylent or people criticising Soylent?

Because, for a company that's supposed to have done all tue research, they've made a couple of errors.

That might not sound like much but liquid feeds are not new; there are plenty of people that have experience in liquid feeds; so there's not much excuse to make the mistakes Soylent made.

Re: Soylent 2.0

#197

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some quick comparisons: 2000 calories in Big Macs: $17.87 at a US McDonalds 2000 calories in SlimFast meal replacement shakes: $13.13 at Wal-Mart 2000 calories in SlimFast powder: $8.94 at Wal-Mart

> 2000 calories in Big Macs: $17.87 at a US McDonalds How did you get that? According to McDonald's own nutritional information [1], you'd consume 1,070 calories per medium meal. Via: Big Mac: 530 calories Medium Fries: 340 calories Medium Drink: 200 Calories In order for your maths to work each meal has to cost $8.94. The most expensive medium big mac meal I can find is $8.03 in DC, or $16 for your 2K calories. [0]…

I divided 2000 calories by the calories in a Big Mac and multiplied by the average price of a Big Mac in the US in July 2015. This calculation does not depend on the cost of foods that aren't Big Macs.

Re: Soylent 2.0

#198
post #127
post #13

My first thought whenever I see soylent is that we have studies proving that we can't replace breast milk with baby formula. Some of that is due to immune system being passed on to the infant, but we haven't yet mastered the nutritional content of real food to the point where we can confidently say it's safe to eat Soylent or another similar product regularly. It takes me back to the whole issue with processed dog fo…

There are plenty of very healthly adults raised on formula. There is not strong evidence either way and your comment is a great example of how fringe and trend chasing nutrition can be. The same can be said for soylent and probably every other diet fad out there. Will it kill you? No. Is it the secret to eternal health and well being? Also no. So tired of diet fads on HN.

The only child in my family that was breast fed did not end up with terrible allergies. I've heard other similar anecdotes. It should be taken with a grain of salt until further research on this type of thing is done.

Re: Soylent 2.0

#199

I looked through the thread and I see too many negative comments. Guys, let's take a minute to appreciate how freakin' amazing Soylent is. It's like a space food every kid dreams about. It is insanely convenient. It can solve so many problems in the world. Thank you, Soylent team, I wish you luck, your startup is amazing!

> let's take a minute to appreciate how freakin' amazing Soylent is

Soylent just markets a standard weight gainer as a total food replacement. Not sure why this is "freakin' amazing."

Re: Soylent 2.0

#200
post #12

Is Soylent ever going to be sold in Europe? I would love to try it.

Any reason you want Soylent? There are plenty of liquid feeds on sale in EU. Ask a pharmacist.
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