Soylent - What if You Never Had to Worry About Food Again? (People Not Included)

[Clash Perez]

For many people, on many occasions, food is a hassle, especially when trying to eat well. Suppose we had a default meal that was the nutritional equivalent of water: cheap, healthy, convenient and ubiquitous. Soylent will be personalized for different body types and customizable based on individual goals. It allows one to enjoy the health benefits of a well balanced diet with less effort and cost.

Spoiler: show

Soylent Version 0.8
For anyone who struggles with allergies, heartburn, acid reflux or digestion, has trouble controlling weight or cholesterol, or simply doesn't have the means to eat well, soylent is for you.

Soylent frees you from the time and money spent shopping, cooking and cleaning, puts you in excellent health, and vastly reduces your environmental impact by eliminating much of the waste and harm coming from agriculture, livestock, and food-related trash.

There are problems with the current state of food

50% of the food produced globally is wasted, and food makes for the largest component of municipal garbage. If not for this waste there would be plenty of food to adequately nourish everyone alive. 2 million people are killed annually by smoke inhalation from indoor cooking stoves alone. 70% of americans are overweight or obese. 1 in 7 people globally are malnourished, and 1 in 3 in the developing world suffer from deficiency. Countless others are living hand-to-mouth, subsistence farming, hindering economic development. Even in the developed world, agriculture is the most dangerous industry to work in by occupational injuries and illnesses, and obesity is on the rise.

By taking years to spoil, dramatically reducing cost, and easing transportation and storage, soylent could have a dramatic effect on hunger and malnutrition. Proceeds from the purchase of soylent enable us to work with aid partners and reduce hunger and environmental impact both in the United States and the developing world.

Think about what the future of food looks like. Imagine everyone having a customized, efficient, nutritious default diet and the freedom to eat for leisure as desired. It is a bright, healthy future indeed.

https://campaign.soylent.me/soylent-free-your-body
http://blog.soylent.me/

I'm pretty curious about this. While I do like going out to eat with friends and family, I've always viewed the day-to-day eating as an unwanted inconvenience rather than something to be enjoyed. As such, I tend to eat whatever can be quickly obtained and consumed rather than planning healthful meals. Something that is quick, healthful, and cheap seems like it would be perfect for general meals.

[SamanosukeShiva]

Vice/Motherboard did a documentary on it living on soylent for 30 days, tldr; it taste like shit, not FDA approved, not entirely sanitary either.

[shepardG]

marketing bullshit... just get some protein from GNC.

Also, at no point in that video did i see this:
http://www.bariatricchoice.com/media...tle20_blue.jpg

Which is just the most retarded thing, to not use these. He was drinking that lumpy ass bullshit... seriously he never even really compared this to the thousands of protein powders out there. Silly shit i tell ya.

[Clash Perez]

Just watched the Motherboard video, and had a few comments:

Soylent's definitely not for everyone. If you're a foodie you'll probably hate it, as evidenced by the reactions of the food critics they brought in to try it. The intended audience is people for whom food is an afterthought, not for those who've made food their vocation.

From the opening scene of the video with the powder making a mess all over the desk, it seemed pretty obvious that he was going into the test expecting to hate everything about it. The fact that he begrudgingly admitted that it wasn't as bad as he expected, and he generally felt pretty good seemed telling to me. I think the biggest part of his issue with using Soylent was that he was eschewing all other food, to the point of turning down lunch/dinner invitations with friends because of it. I doubt that most people will be so religious about it. I certainly won't.

The comments about the packaging facility being unclean etc. were definitely on-point, but that was more of a prototyping facility. A professional third-party packaging company will be the ones mixing and shipping the retail product, not a bunch of bros in shorts in Oakland.

Soylent Green was a novel before a Charlton Heston movie, and it was soy-and-lentil-based until the movie execs wanted more pop for the ending.

marketing bullshit... just get some protein from GNC.

Also, at no point in that video did i see this:

Spoiler: show

http://www.bariatricchoice.com/media...tle20_blue.jpg

Which is just the most retarded thing, to not use these. He was drinking that lumpy ass bullshit... seriously he never even really compared this to the thousands of protein powders out there. Silly shit i tell ya.

Yeah, I don't know why he insisted on using a hand whisk instead of a blender or a shake bottle. It sounded like that's what the guys from Soylent recommended, I dunno.

As far as just buying protein powder, it's not intended to be a supplement. They're attempting to make a product that has balanced nutrition, i.e., carbs/slow carbs/fats/protein/fiber as well as all of the RDA of vitamins and minerals. As far as I know there isn't a comparable product on the market that is both relatively cheap and intended for general use rather than augmenting one's diet with extra protein. Please correct me if I'm wrong; I'd love to have access to something like this now, and the Soylent people are having delays due to constant tweaks to the formulation to try to get the taste and consistency where they want it before finalizing it. They were supposed to be shipping starting in the next week or so, but it's been pushed back to late February or early March now.

[shepardG]

while i couldn't find a nutritional table of soylent's "ingredients" it can't be far off of this :

http://www.gnc.com/product/index.jsp?productId=4060881

I'm not a huge met-rx fan, but that was the first product i clicked on. that's 18 packs... so not nearly as cost effective as soylent, but there probably isn't the supply and demand.

Looking at the makeup on soylent on wikipedia, they definetly have alot more carbs than any protein meal replacement things...
that will probably go along way in keeping you satisfied hunger and energy wise... so there's something to that.

still.... i can't get over the fact that he didn't use a blender bottle... boggles my fucking mind.

[Obev]

"Healthful" isn't even a word.

Definitely not for me. Cooking and eating well are two of my favourite things. It doesn't even take more than about 20 minutes to rustle up a quick curry which probably costs a lot less than $3.10 a head, and ten minutes to wolf it down. I don't waste food, I eat well, and despite type 1 diabetes I've no food-related health problems. Who's so busy they need to shave half an hour off their day by drinking soybean gunk instead of a square meal?

[Cream Soda]

What's even in it? in terms of a "balanced nutrition"?

[Clash Perez]

"Healthful" isn't even a word.

Definitely not for me. Cooking and eating well are two of my favourite things. It doesn't even take more than about 20 minutes to rustle up a quick curry which probably costs a lot less than $3.10 a head, and ten minutes to wolf it down. I don't waste food, I eat well, and despite type 1 diabetes I've no food-related health problems. Who's so busy they need to shave half an hour off their day by drinking soybean gunk instead of a square meal?

As someone who enjoys eating, I can see why you would feel that way. Personally, most of the time I spend thinking about food, I'm trying to decide which of my options sounds the least distasteful. I rarely enjoy eating, and I enjoy cooking even less frequently. Having a quick and nutritious meal at hand without having to devote more than a few moments' time for preparation sounds like an amazing prospect.

Spoiler: show

Healthful (adj.): conducive to health; wholesome or salutary.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/healthful
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/healthful
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/healthful

[Clash Perez]

What's even in it? in terms of a "balanced nutrition"?

From their blog:

Macronutrient Profile:

Spoiler: show

Oat Flour (210g) - As the only whole food ingredient in Soylent, oat flour provides several different essential macronutrients simultaneously. However, it is primarily used as a source of starch. Oat starch is a complex carbohydrate, which is broken down slowly by the body and absorbed into cells as glucose.
Oats are very nutritious overall as they also provide some protein, fat, iron, phosphorous, and more. Our oat flour is conventionally grown in the United States. Whole oat grains are processed into a powder for solubility and tested for impurities.
As a whole food source there are several non-nutritive substances in oats such as Phytic acid, which can potentially interfere with calcium and iron intake. However, the ratio of minerals to phytic acid means there is ample available for absorption and no tests have indicated any trouble absorbing either one.

Maltodextrin (132g) - As the primary source of energy for the body, carbohydrates are the largest component of Soylent by mass. The starch in Oat Flour makes up the bulk of this nutrient and the rest is provided by Maltodextrin.
Maltodextrin is an oligosaccharide, or a medium-long chain of glucose units composed of both 1->4 and 1->6 glycosidic bonds. Maltodextrins are classified by “dextrose equivalence” or DE. Dextrose, a monosaccharide is the simplest unit of sugar. Higher DE means shorter average chains with a DE of 100 applying to dextrose. Our chosen maltodextrin is derived from corn and has a DE of 10.
Monosaccharides and disaccharides are simple sugars which are lower in molecular weight such as glucose, fructose, dextrose, or lactose, while complex carbohydrates are longer chains of sugars (polysaccharides) linked together such as starches.
Starches are long chains of glucose molecules linked together by glycosidic bonds, and are broken down slowly by the body, thus preventing a spike in blood sugar (spikes in blood sugar are problematic because they lead to spikes in insulin (a hormone released by the pancreas that encourages cells in the liver, skeletal muscle, and fat tissue to take up glucose). Gradually, through frequent spikes of insulin, the body may adapt to pay less attention to these signals resulting in “insulin resistance”, a precursor to type II diabetes.
Preliminary tests by beta testers and founders abiding by WHO glycemic index testing guidelines have found the GI to be rather low. More formal testing is planned for early 2014.

Brown Rice Protein Isolate (102g) - Proteins are broken down into their constituent amino acids and either metabolized for energy, or used as building blocks for new protein synthesis by cells. All proteins are made of the same 20 amino acids, 11 of which can be synthesized by the body. This leaves 9 that must be consumed in the diet, in different amounts.
Our brown rice protein has a complete amino acid profile, meaning it provides enough of each essential amino acid, in addition to all non-essential, to supply the body with its needs. Individual amino acid requirements are provided by the WHO, based on decades of research.
Rice protein tends to have applications issues such as a “chalky” texture profile, but modern processing techniques have produced finer mills and better tasting blends.

Canola Oil (56g) - Fatty acids are a type of lipid and are essential to the body. Some essential vitamins, such as A, D, E, and K are fat-soluble and require fat to be transported and absorbed by the body.
Like amino acids, fatty acids can be either metabolized for energy or used as cell components. Linoleic acid, for example, is abundant in cell membranes, and must be consumed in the diet as it cannot be synthesized by the body.
Canola oil is mostly Oleic, Linoleic, and alpha-Linoleic acids which are omega-9, omega-6, and omega-3 fatty acids, respectively. Canola oil is also attractive because it contains very little saturated and negligibly low levels of trans-saturated fats, which are not required in the diet and are risk factors for heart disease.

Fish Oil (6.4g) - Fish oil is a popular source of the Omega-3 fatty acids recommended in the diet by the American Heart Association. Though technically only ALA is essential, the conversion factor to DHA and EPA which occurs in the body is poor and direct supplementation is advised.
DHA is found in synaptic membranes of the brain and both EPA and DHA have been found to improve overall mental health and stability.
Soylent contains roughly 1g of each omega-3 fatty acid per day, which is comfortably in excess of the amount recommended by the AHA. The USDA has also made mention of officially recommending EPA and DHA for inclusion in the diet, though the amount is undecided.

Fiber (38g) - While not nutritionally essential, fiber is crucial for the overall health of the body and digestive system. Fibers such as cellulose contain molecular bonds unable to be broken by the body’s natural enzymes, and is instead metabolized by the multitude of microorganisms that colonize the human gut. While the grand diversity and function of the microbiome is beyond the scope of this post, the IOM recommends 38g of dietary fiber each day for an active male.
Most of the fiber content in Soylent comes from the oat powder, some in the form of Beta-glucans, the only dietary fiber currently recognized by the EFSA to be able to reduce a disease risk. Other fibers come from xanthan gum and gum acacia, which will be further addressed in a later post.

Macronutrient Ratio - As advised by our nutritional advisor, F. Xavier Pi-Sunyer, M.D., MPH, Soylent has a Carbohydrate/Fat/Protein ratio of 50/30/20. Pi-Sunyer is professor of medicine at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City. At St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center he serves as chief of endocrinology, diabetes, and nutrition, and is director of the New York Obesity Research Center. Dr. Pi-Sunyer is also a senior attending physician at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital and New York-Presbyterian Hospital. This and general agreement within the field gives us confidence that this is a good macronutrient ratio for the general population.

Micronutrient Profile:

Spoiler: show

Potassium (3500mg) from Potassium Gluconate (15,750mg) - Potassium is used in every animal and plant cell as the primary intracellular ion, used to maintain electrolyte balance and cell membrane potentials. These potentials, when released, provide a current spike that are crucial for neurotransmission, muscle contraction, and heart function. Potassium is produced commercially from the mineral Sylvite (KCl), most of which is used as agricultural fertilizer, since heavy crop production rapidly depletes soil of Potassium. Most Americans and Europeans consume less than half the recommended amount of Potassium in their diets. This amount of Potassium would require eating more than 8 bananas / day.

Sodium (1500mg) from Sodium Chloride (2100mg) - Sodium is the extracellular counterpart to Potassium, a cation used in pH balance and membrane potentials. Sodium is largely absent in plants and as such is difficult to get from a purely plant-based diet. Sodium Chloride is mass-produced by the evaporation of seawater and, due to our specialized taste receptor for the mineral, is highly desired in the diet. Americans on average consume more than twice the recommended amount, which increases the risk of cardiovascular disease. Salt prevents the growth of microorganisms by drawing water out of their cells by osmosis, and as such was one of the first preservatives. Historically, incorporating additional salt into soil will prevent the growth of plants and as such is an effective way to punish the lands of your enemies. Chloride is also essential for the regulation of pH.

Calcium (1000mg) from Calcium Carbonate (2500mg) - Bones are made of metal. The mineral Calcium is used for signalling and pH balance, but the vast majority of it is used to structurally support bones and teeth. Calcium carbonate is primarily used in the construction industry as a building material and comes from rocks such as calcite and limestone.

Phosphorus (700mg) from Oat Flour - Phosphorus is used by all known forms of life. It is critical in providing part of the structure of DNA and RNA, and carrying energy as a major component of ATP. Originally Soylent used Monosodium Phosphate, but the oat starch alone now contains enough phosphorus to meet a person’s needs.

Magnesium (400mg) from Oat Flour - Magnesium has also been found in all forms of life due to its crucial interactions with phosphate. Over 300 enzymes require Magnesium, including all that interact with ATP. Originally Soylent used Magnesium Gluconate, though presently the oat content provides enough.

Vitamin Bp (550) from Choline Bitartrate (1375mg) - Choline (C5H14NO), is important for 3 crucial functions in the body, structural integrity and signalling functionality of cell membranes, synthesis of acetylcholine, a common neurotransmitter, and as a source of Methyl (CH3) groups for several biochemical pathways.

Vitamin C (90mg) as Ascorbic Acid - Vitamin C is an essential cofactor (non-protein chemicals that bind to proteins and facilitate that protein’s function) in eight different enzymatic reactions, most of which involve collagen synthesis, which is why its deficiency presents as scurvy. Most plants and animals can synthesize vitamin C but humans and simians have lost an enzyme required to complete biosynthesis. Today ascorbic acid is produced industrially from glucose by the Reichstein process, which won Tadeus Reichstein the Nobel Prize in 1933.

Vitamin B3 (16mg) as Niacin - Niacin is essential in several enzymatic reactions involving metabolism and hormone synthesis. Niacin deficiency, the deadly disease Pellagra, was common in the United States, especially among the poor, until 1938 when fortified bread substantially eliminated the condition. Thousands of tons of Niacin are synthesized annually from 3-methylpyridine.

Vitamin E (15mg) as Alpha-tocopherol - Vitamin E can be any one of eight fat-soluble compounds serving many purposes such as enzyme cofactor, gene expression modifier, antioxidant, and several neurological functions. The alpha-tocopherol version is by far the best studied and the best absorbed and accumulated in humans. Most Americans get their Vitamin E through fortified breakfast cereals.

Zinc (11mg) from Zinc Sulfate (27.5mg) - Zinc plays ubiquitous biological roles in humans. It is found in over 100 enzymes, across every enzyme class and plays a particularly important role in synaptic plasticity and learning as well as DNA and RNA metabolism and apoptosis. Over 12 million tonnes of zinc are produced annually, mostly for industrial use. Nearly a quarter of the global population suffers from Zinc deficiency, causing infection and diarrhea. It is also the most common micronutrient deficiency in agriculture as much of the cropland in Turkey, India, and China is now deficient of Zinc, leading growers to fertilize artificially.

Iron (8mg) from Oat Flour - Iron is found in every living organism, thanks to its flexibility as electron donor and acceptor. Humans mostly use iron as part of Hemoglobin, the most abundant protein in red blood cells, which carries Oxygen around the body. There are also dedicated proteins for transporting and storing iron, transferrin and ferritin. Despite how commonplace iron is in food it is one of the most common deficiencies, possibly due to its complicated metabolism. Iron accounts for 95% of the world’s metal production, over 1.5 trillion tonnes annually, most of which comes from China.

Vitamin B5 (5mg) as Calcium d-pantothenate - Pantothenate is required to synthesize coenzyme-A and as such is essential to all forms of life. Due to its common presence in food and low daily requirements, deficiencies are rare. Pantothenate can be synthesized industrially from any lactone and beta-Alanine.

Manganese (2.3mg) from Manganese Sulfate (6.4mg) - Manganese ions are important because they serve as cofactors for many different kinds of enzymes in the human body. A particularly important enzyme in which manganese plays a key role is superoxide dismutase which binds and removes superoxide free radicals (which are an inevitable byproduct in systems that utilize oxygen).

Vitamin B2 (1.3mg) as Riboflavin - Riboflavin often reacts with other molecules to create complexes which serve as cofactors for a variety of different classes of proteins. Importantly, these cofactors then have the ability to function as electron acceptors or donors depending on the need. This allows for the extraction of energy from molecules such as carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. Without Riboflavin, the body would not be able to create ATP (the main form of cellular energetic currency) from a variety of different pathways, including the citric acid cycle.

Vitamin B6 (1.3mg) as Pyridoxine HCL - Pyridoxine is a form of vitamin B6 together with pyridoxamine and pyridoxine, which are all converted into pyridoxal 5’-phosphate (PLP), the active form of vitamin B6 in the human body. PLP is a cofactor that facilitates a few different kinds of reactions; chief among them being the metabolism of amino acids (the synthesis through breakdown), synthesis of neurotransmitters such as Serotonin, Dopamine, GABA etc., and Hemoglobin synthesis and function.

Vitamin B1 (1.2mg) as Thiamin HCL - Thiamine is important for the creation of cofactors for a number of biochemical reactions that include carbohydrate metabolism, nucleotide formation, and neurotransmitter synthesis. The most well studied cofactor derivative is thiamine pyrophosphate (TPP), which plays a critical role in carbohydrate metabolism by converting pyruvate from glycolysis into acetyl CoA for the citric acid cycle. Deficiency in this vitamin can cause a host of neurological conditions including Beriberi and Wernicke’s Encephalopathy.

Vitamin A (900ug) from Retinyl palmitate (1636ug) - This vitamin is important for cellular growth and communication, the immune system, and vision. Perhaps best known for it’s role in helping to maintain healthy vision, an active form of vitamin A called retinol is a cofactor that binds to the opsin protein to create rhodopsin (the protein responsible for absorbing light in the eye, allowing us to see). Deficiency in vitamin A is common among children in the developing world can often lead to blindness. Promisingly, “Golden” rice has recently been engineered to synthesize Vitamin A and may serve to reduce this common deficiency in the developing world.

Copper (900ug) from Copper Gluconate (6429ug) - Copper is an important cofactor involved in a variety of proteins which function to promote the growth, development, and maintenance of a variety of processes in the body. It is notably involved in the creation of new red blood cells, a key element of the electron transport chain, and converting free radicals to more safe molecules. Since copper is so ubiquitous, deficiencies are fairly rare and often manifest themselves with other vitamin deficiencies simultaneously.

Vitamin B9 (400ug) as Folic Acid - Acts as a coenzyme in the form of tetrahydrofolate (THF) which is important for the formation of nucleotides and amino acids. Due to its importance in the formation of nucleotides, it is especially needed during times of cell division such as pregnancy and infancy. People lacking sufficient levels of Folic Acid often suffer from anemia and/or improper absorption of nutrients. Pregnant women lacking Folic Acid may give birth to infants with spina bifida at a higher than normal incidence.

Iodine (150ug) from Potassium Iodide - Is an essential trace element that is incorporated most notably as a key part of thyroid hormones T4 (thyroxine) and T3 (Triiodothyronine). Each of the hormones contains 4 atoms of iodine in T4 and 3 in the case of T3. Thyroid hormones are essential for governing the rate of metabolism. Due to the importance of this element, salt is often fortified with iodine.

Vitamin K (120ug) as Phytonadione - Is a fat soluble class of vitamins which assists with the creation of proteins that assist with processes that include regulating metabolic pathways in bone and proper blood coagulation. One way that a member of the vitamin K family regulates bone density is by inhibiting the formation of too many osteoclasts, which are bone cells that are important for demineralization (taking minerals out of the bones). Warfarin, a popular anti-coagulant drug inhibits an enzyme (vitamink K epoxide reductase) that allows for the recycling of vitamin K after it has played a key role in the clotting process. Vitamin K is abundant in leafy green plants because it functions well as an electron acceptor during photosynthesis.

Selenium (55ug) from Sodium Selenite (120ug) - Is a trace element that functions as a cofactor to that allows for the regeneration of enzymes with antioxidant properties. One such enzyme is thioreduxin reductase, which regenerates a number of antioxidants including vitamin C and allows them to continue to neutralize harmful free radicals. Interestingly, mercury is highly reactive with selenium and thus exposure to mercury may cause the irreversible inactivation of these enzymes, thus leading to an increase of oxidative damage (especially in the brain where oxygen consumption is so highly). Notably, Selenium also serves as a cofactor in proteins that affect the activation of thyroid hormones.

Molybdenum (45ug) from Sodium Molybdate (98ug) - Is a principal component of the molybdenum cofactor which is a critical part of enzymes which break down key intermediates in different metabolic systems. One such enzyme is sulfite oxidase, which oxidizes sulfite molecules and thus is important in metabolizing sulfur containing compounds. Molybdenum cofactor deficiency, which can occur via genetic mutations that affect the ability of the cofactor to form, can lead to the accumulation of sulfites and usually results in death. Molybdenum deficiency by itself is almost never seen except in a few cases of parenteral nutrition (which is one reason why we made sure to include it!).

Chromium (35ug) from Chromium Chloride (106ug) - Chromium is a trace element present in many foods and water sources and holds a controversial place in the nutritional world. The only recorded cases of chromium deficiencies have been due to parenteral diets. It is often included in small amounts in vitamin blends just to be on the safe side. Even if it is not essential, since it is present naturally in many different food sources it is at worst quite benign.

Vitamin B7 (30ug) as Biotin - Is a key cofactor in several carboxylases (enzymes that add COOH onto other molecules). This is important for synthesizing fatty acids, amino acids such as isoleucine and valine, and carbohydrates such as glucose. Deficiency of this vitamin can cause a whole host of symptoms including anemia, skin and hair conditions, as well as lethargy. Interestingly, this deficiency can sometimes be caused by the habitual consumption of egg whites which contain a protein called avidin that binds with high affinity to biotin, preventing absorption by the body.

Vitamin D (15ug) as Ergocalciferol - Is a fat-soluble vitamin that is important for allowing the intestinal absorption of calcium and phosphate. It may be consumed orally as well as synthesized from cholesterol by mammals exposed to sunlight. A deficit in vitamin D is known to cause osteomalacia—a softening of the bones (Rickets in children). Interestingly, vitamin D is produced industrially by exposing a sheep’s wool grease product or alternatively yeast or mushroom extracts to intense UVB light.

Vitamin B12 (2.4ug) as Cyanocobalamin - Many of vitamin B12’s functions can be covered by folic acid (B9) and B12 can also be used to recharge folate. However, there are a few functions specific to vitamin B12 which include the isomerization of methylmalonyl-CoA to succinyl-CoA which is an important intermediate in the citric acid cycle (and thus important for extracting energy from carbohydrates). B12 also plays an important role in myelination of the nerves and generation of blood cells. Thus perhaps it is no surprise that deficiencies in this vitamin can cause different forms of anemia and neuropathy.

[Xantavia]

As someone who enjoys eating, I can see why you would feel that way. Personally, most of the time I spend thinking about food, I'm trying to decide which of my options sounds the least distasteful. I rarely enjoy eating, and I enjoy cooking even less frequently. Having a quick and nutritious meal at hand without having to devote more than a few moments' time for preparation sounds like an amazing prospect.

Sounds like you haven't actually found anything that tastes good to you. I just can't imagine not having a favorite food or two that you just get a craving for every once in a while.

[Abandon]

didn't it end up in the book/movie that they were eating people?

[noblemountain]

In the movie, Soylent Green ended up being people. The book is just about population growth and the problems that a society faces with unchecked population growth. It was more about India than America, though it applies to the whole world now. The author joked that if he wanted to make a lot of money, he would import rubbers to India.

[Indalecia]

didn't it end up in the book/movie that they were eating people?

Then Xenogears went and did the same trick in homage to it.

[Khajit]

I cant beleive anyone is actually stupid enough to name a food/drink of indeterminate matter Soylent. Actually I can but it's truly a sight to behold.

[Moss]

I cant beleive anyone is actually stupid enough to name a food/drink of indeterminate matter Soylent. Actually I can but it's truly a sight to behold.

That was my first thought as well, lol.

"Healthful" isn't even a word.

Definitely not for me. Cooking and eating well are two of my favourite things. It doesn't even take more than about 20 minutes to rustle up a quick curry which probably costs a lot less than $3.10 a head, and ten minutes to wolf it down. I don't waste food, I eat well, and despite type 1 diabetes I've no food-related health problems. Who's so busy they need to shave half an hour off their day by drinking soybean gunk instead of a square meal?

You also have to have all of the ingredients on hand, have to clean up after yourself, and many things take longer than your 20 minutes for curry. It's silly to act like this has no utility for people trying to save money or time on one meal or more a day.

[ringthree]

"Healthful" isn't even a word.

Definitely not for me. Cooking and eating well are two of my favourite things. It doesn't even take more than about 20 minutes to rustle up a quick curry which probably costs a lot less than $3.10 a head, and ten minutes to wolf it down. I don't waste food, I eat well, and despite type 1 diabetes I've no food-related health problems. Who's so busy they need to shave half an hour off their day by drinking soybean gunk instead of a square meal?

British definition of curry, or American?

[Obev]

British definition of curry, or American?

Americans have a different definition? Indian food. Chicken, vegetables, rice. Spicy. Creamy sauce in a shade of orange or red.

You also have to have all of the ingredients on hand, have to clean up after yourself, and many things take longer than your 20 minutes for curry. It's silly to act like this has no utility for people trying to save money or time on one meal or more a day.

Refrigerator. Spice rack. Dishwasher. Twenty minutes. It's really not a big deal. I'm not saying this has no utility to anyone - just that, as someone who enjoys his food, replacing a square meal with three dollars of soy gunk from a bottle sounds like trading down.

[BaneTheBrawler]

hmm. this stuff seems interesting. i certainly wouldnt give up normal food all the time but assuming i could tolerate it this could let me keep eating the few foods i like/dont bother me without being malnourished. really fucking hate trying new shit in the name of nutrition only to find it wiping out three to four days of my life.


edit: check your dishwasher privilege. also, no one said it was going to taste great, you just keep saying shit like "who would do that" and people are telling you who and why.

[Moss]

I'm not saying this has no utility to anyone - just that, as someone who enjoys his food, replacing a square meal with three dollars of soy gunk from a bottle sounds like trading down.

Then it isn't for you.

I love good food and like to cook occasionally but there are many times when I have neither the time nor desire to cook.

[ringthree]

Americans have a different definition? Indian food. Chicken, vegetables, rice. Spicy. Creamy sauce in a shade of orange or red.



Refrigerator. Spice rack. Dishwasher. Twenty minutes. It's really not a big deal. I'm not saying this has no utility to anyone - just that, as someone who enjoys his food, replacing a square meal with three dollars of soy gunk from a bottle sounds like trading down.

American's call curry, curry. British people call all food, curry.