One question I have is where he acquires these materials, if not through some form of agriculture.
I mean, harvesting wheat isn't exactly what I would call "inefficient"
This Man Thinks He Never Has to Eat Again
41–50 of 516 posts
Re: This Man Thinks He Never Has to Eat Again
#42>Soylent contains all of the nutritive components of a balanced diet, but with just a third of the calories... This worries me. It's not a misquote, either. From his blog^0 : >...I get all the nutrition and energy I need with about 1/3 the calories the average American consumes... The average American consumes 2,757 calories^2 . There's a term called the Basal Metabolic Rate. It is the amount of calories your body ne…
I suspect this is an example of oversimplification; it doesn't make sense to say "1/3 the calories" without including the quantity. The actual meaning is probably closer to "equivalent nutrition from an average American diet would require consuming 3x more calories", which sounds reasonable.
The article mentions that he can raise or lower his weight by simply changing how much of the stuff he drinks, so consuming more calories is simply a matter of drinking an extra glass at "dinner".
Re: This Man Thinks He Never Has to Eat Again
#43Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm not a doctor, but I suspect his digestive system won't be happy in a long term.
[deleted]
Just 5 grams of fibers, from what I've read.
AFAIK, dietary fibers are required to properly properly expel wastes and to maintain a healthy gut flora (which is not only used for digestion, but cooperates with immune system). And from what I've read, a normal amount is considered somewhere between 20-35g (daily).
Re: This Man Thinks He Never Has to Eat Again
#44>Soylent contains all of the nutritive components of a balanced diet, but with just a third of the calories... This worries me. It's not a misquote, either. From his blog^0 : >...I get all the nutrition and energy I need with about 1/3 the calories the average American consumes... The average American consumes 2,757 calories^2 . There's a term called the Basal Metabolic Rate. It is the amount of calories your body ne…
But isn't it a plus to put yourself at a slight caloric deficit, so you can make up the difference with whatever real food you indulge in?
Re: This Man Thinks He Never Has to Eat Again
#45> I started wondering why something as simple and important as food was still so inefficient, given how streamlined and optimised other modern things are.
Things must be really different in Atlanta....
EDIT:
Downvotes? Really? On a site presumably full of hackers, you are gonna tell me "modern things" are really streamlined and efficient? Software for the most part isn't. Cars aren't. Houses, apartments, restaurants, workplaces, none of it is. Come on. It's a pretty absurd statement.
Re: This Man Thinks He Never Has to Eat Again
#46From the "recipe"[1]:
This mechanism can also metabolize protein and fat, but the brain can only use Glucose for energy. In fact, the brain uses 25% of the body's glucose, though it accounts for only 2% of its weight.
This would have me concerned if I were considering this. While 100% true, it neglects the entire ketone metabolic pathway[2], which the brain will use fine instead of glucose. If this something big like this has been missed (it's the foundation of many very-low carb diets, treatments for epilepsy and other brain disorders, etc), what subtle things have been missed?
Re: This Man Thinks He Never Has to Eat Again
#47His approach assumes (among other things) that we know absolutely EVERYTHING there is to know about nutrition.
I'm fairly confident that that's not a good assumption. And that a long-term diet of his soylent will lead to some nasty deficiency. (Of course, if he's willing to be the research guinea pig for the rest of us, more power to him.)
Re: This Man Thinks He Never Has to Eat Again
#48I'd be really curious to learn how his teeth and gums are doing. If you can find a way to eat without ever having food touch your teeth or gums, I'd imagine you'd have incredible oral health. Thoughts?
Re: This Man Thinks He Never Has to Eat Again
#49Setting aside the question of whether the subject is actually feeding his body everything he needs (a question that he appears to readily acknowledge as "good skepticism"), I have to wonder about the consistency of statements like these:
we'll have to give up many traditional foodstuffs like fresh fruits
and veggies, which are incompatible with food processing and scale.
Soylent can largely be produced from the products of local agriculture
Re: This Man Thinks He Never Has to Eat Again
#50>Soylent contains all of the nutritive components of a balanced diet, but with just a third of the calories... This worries me. It's not a misquote, either. From his blog^0 : >...I get all the nutrition and energy I need with about 1/3 the calories the average American consumes... The average American consumes 2,757 calories^2 . There's a term called the Basal Metabolic Rate. It is the amount of calories your body ne…
Actually there is a lot of evidence to show that calorie restriction can lead to longer lifespans. I'm not a nutritionist, doctor or someone who is on a calorie restriction diet (though I'm sure I eat less than the average American).