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Soylent Closes $50M Series B Round Led by GV

blog.soylent.com

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Re: Soylent Closes $50M Series B Round Led by GV

#481

Post by _nullspace »

johnfn wrote: post #29
scott_s wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Ample which is similar to Soylent but a bit more health conscious with ingredient choice What does that mean? How did you make this judgement?

If you go to what they've written up on their website, https://www.amplemeal.com/products/ample , you can see they've taken and written about a lot of care in selecting ingredients. Off the top of my head, probiotics are a big thing that you don't see in Soylent. Spirulina is included. Omega 3 fatty acids. The emphasis on whole foods rather than nutrients is another thing important to me. From what they've written it…

I recently tried Ample Original and AmpleX, and I like Ample Original quite a bit. The only other product I've tried is from Super Body Fuel, though that one had a pretty different macronutrient profile and required some preparation.

I agree that the focus on nutrition is a huge benefit. In addition, I appreciate the transparency of the company and what seems to be a desire to iterate and improve on their product. Today, they announced a few small tweaks to their formula and released a "change log" (their choice of word) detailing the reasons behind their choices.

Do you personally feel any physically different or have noticed any health improvements upon switching to Ample from Soylent?

Re: Soylent Closes $50M Series B Round Led by GV

#482

Post by mastarubio »

I have been using Soylent for breakfast for roughly 1.5 years and it has been great. I've lost weight and I feel healthier. I haven't got sick during this time either from a flu or serious cold. It's a great time saver when used as a breakfast food and will help save you precious time in the morning before you go to work. Time that you could spend sleeping rather than stuck in a drive-through or making something. Works for my busy lifestyle. And I like the fact that I am getting all those nutrients. While I realize it's not perfect now, it's nice to know that they are continually trying to improve it with the different versions. If it's at least half as nutritious as Soylent claims it is, that's a win in my book. And to think it might actually get to that holy grail where it's genuinely great for you then that will be something special. Realistically, this is probably a slow march, but one that I am proud to be a part of. Mixes great with fruit, peanut butter, honey and other food items too which I know is healthy for me.

Re: Soylent Closes $50M Series B Round Led by GV

#483

Post by briandear »

hammock wrote: post #344
deeth_starr_v wrote: post #256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed, while the intentions of Soylent are probably sincere, when I first heard about it my response was "nope nope nope". My parents were hippies and we grew/raised most of our food when I was a kid. But my grandparents had embraced the new space-age diet: margarine in place of butter, tang instead of orange juice, kraft instead of cheese, etc. I thought it tasted awful compared to real food. As we have found out,…

>"eat what your grand-grand parents ate" Not possible, unfortunately. Meat and vegetables are so totally different now. For example meats are raised on GM corn and antibiotics, altering their balance of omega 3's, impact on gut health, and other things. While today's vegetables are massively decremented in micronutrients- and may have less arsenic-based pesticide residue than your greatgrandparents', but more of othe…

Any peer reviewed, legitimate studies that suggest GM corn causes problems with beef? It's popular to critique GM, but it often seems like a knee-jerk reaction rather than based on actual scientific studies. And by studies, I don't mean an article in Mother Jones, but actual science.

Re: Soylent Closes $50M Series B Round Led by GV

#485

Post by irq11 »

fghvbnvbnfe wrote: post #381
irq11 wrote: post #248

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The things i'm talking about are a single pouch per meal. There's no more or less waste than mixing up a sack of goo. Many can be eaten dry in a pinch. Have fun eating dry soylent. I can't really speak to the exact sodium content, but it's more than reasonable for emergency rations or hiking or SAR. You're not eating this stuff every meal for the rest of your life, and if you are, you deserve what you get.

Yes. That single pouch is a significant problem when you generate several a day. They are intended to be used for meal prep, which involves hot water. They're fairly heavy and large, and you have to carry them out with you. You can save a significant amount of weight when packaging your own food by using smaller, lesser weight bags with a separate reusable insulator. Remember, we're talking about people that will pay…

Last time I checked, Soylent comes in packages, and requires water to eat.

So sure, you can combine your nutrient goo powder into a single sack, and thereby save a tiny fraction of the weight of the food (and water) itself. But you're splitting hairs.

I picked a mountain house pouch-based product at random on amazon, and the packaging weight was .06oz on a gross of 5oz, or 1.2%. Which is, of course, nothing. I have heard exactly zero people, ever, complain about the weight of their dried food packaging. I've heard lots of people complain about camping food being boring and flavorless.

If you like Soylent, fine, but the claim that this stuff is the obvious best product for campers is silly.

Re: Soylent Closes $50M Series B Round Led by GV

#486

Post by deeth_starr_v »

cabinguy wrote: post #465
leshow wrote: post #421

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or you could take an omega-3 supplement and eat normal beef. There isn't much evidence to show that grass-fed beef has any measurable effect on health.

There isn't much evidence to show that supplements do either.

Agreed, research here is that supplements don't have an impact.

Edit: For pregnant women and others for sure. But in the general population no

Re: Soylent Closes $50M Series B Round Led by GV

#487

Post by funwithjustin »

mastarubio wrote: post #482

I have been using Soylent for breakfast for roughly 1.5 years and it has been great. I've lost weight and I feel healthier. I haven't got sick during this time either from a flu or serious cold. It's a great time saver when used as a breakfast food and will help save you precious time in the morning before you go to work. Time that you could spend sleeping rather than stuck in a drive-through or making something. Wor…

How is Soylent different from meal replacement or protein powders that have existed for years?

Re: Soylent Closes $50M Series B Round Led by GV

#488

Post by Tiksi »

davycro wrote: post #235
rubatuga wrote: post #155

Although I was initially brought onto the hype train by great marketing and the promises of health and complete nutrition, I realize that my initial reliance on Soylent was actually part of a deeper problem, brought on by problems such as depression and inappropriate time management. When in reality I should have had enough time to eat out or possibly even cook a meal, I found myself relying on Soylent. I didn't leav…

For medical training, Soylent has been wonderful. On emergency shifts I often won't have 10 or 20 minutes to go to the cafeteria for a meal as there are too many acute patients. I used to rely on energy bars to get me through but I much prefer Soylent. They are quicker to eat and I know that I am drinking a someone balanced meal. I usually drink about three in an eight hour shift. You raise a great point about self r…

>To stop cooking entirely is madness,

Does that include takeout/eating out? Because I know tons of people (myself unfortunately included) that have stopped cooking entirely and rely on takeout. It's not ideal but I wouldn't call it madness.

Re: Soylent Closes $50M Series B Round Led by GV

#489

Post by enraged_camel »

cptskippy wrote: post #376
vidarh wrote: post #363

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Estimates like 2400kcal might work if you have a physically demanding job 40 hours a week. Running 30 miles a week and spending 2+ hours a week rock climbing will lift cause you to expend only maybe 500kcal a day extra on average, but if you spend the rest of that time being sedentary, you're still unlikely to end up at any more than 2000-2200kcal. Overall I think the typical old advice of 2500kcal for men and 2000 f…

Source?

Um, you were eating (or claiming to be eating) X calories a day and you were gaining weight. That should be the only "source" you need.

Re: Soylent Closes $50M Series B Round Led by GV

#490

Post by epmaybe »

mastarubio wrote: post #482

I have been using Soylent for breakfast for roughly 1.5 years and it has been great. I've lost weight and I feel healthier. I haven't got sick during this time either from a flu or serious cold. It's a great time saver when used as a breakfast food and will help save you precious time in the morning before you go to work. Time that you could spend sleeping rather than stuck in a drive-through or making something. Wor…

I too have used soylent for breakfast, for maybe the last 4 or 5 months. And funnily enough, I've gained more weight! Which was the goal for me, as I'm a little underweight and needed to stop skipping breakfast.

I've been using their coffiest drink, and kill two birds with one stone. I do sometimes miss the experience of making my own coffee though, so I may try the powder instead.

I will say though, at the beginning I was not a fan. Bowel movements changed, felt weird and bloated, and so on. But it stabilized after a few weeks.

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