Boom times in Silicon Valley call for hard work, and hard work — at least in technology land — means that coders, engineers and venture capitalists are turning to liquid meals with names like Schmoylent, Soylent, Schmilk and People Chow. The protein-packed products that come in powder form are inexpensive and quick and easy to make — just shake with water, or in the case of Schmilk, milk. While athletes and dieters have been drinking their dinner for years, Silicon Valley's workers are now increasingly chugging their meals, too, so they can more quickly get back to their computer work.
Demand for some of the powdered drinks, which typically mix nutrients like magnesium, zinc and vitamins, is so high that some engineers report being put on waiting lists of one to six months to receive their first orders. And the drinks are taking off across techie social circles. Venture capitalists have also poured money into the companies that offer the meal replacements, and investors including Alexis Ohanian, a founder of Reddit, count themselves as fans of the drinks.
[Editor's Comment: Original Submission]
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Here's Soylent's New Product. It's Food.
Mr. [Rob] Rhinehart first pitched Soylent to the world with a post titled "How I Stopped Eating Food." Now his successor Mr. [Bryan] Crowley says that Soylent's customers — and everyone else — should definitely keep eating food.
Asked if new customers should consider living solely off Soylent, Mr. Crowley said, "We don't recommend it, no. Absolutely. 100 percent. We don't recommend, not because we don't think it's healthy or we don't think it's there. It's a very difficult thing to do and our research tells us that it happens for a very limited amount of time." (Mr. Rhinehart himself moved the company toward gentler "meal replacement" messaging before stepping down in December 2017, when he announced Mr. Crowley as his own replacement.)
Now Soylent has edged closer to something its customers might recognize as food.
There are other reasons to tell a less provocative story. In 2017, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency informed Soylent that its product didn't meet agency requirements for "meal replacement," which halted the company's expansion in that country. In 2016, the first attempt at solid Soylent — the Food Bar — was quickly pulled from circulation after customers reported vomiting and diarrhea.
The company is working hard to ensure its products are not merely safe to eat, but also tasty and enjoyable. "That's the big word that we talked a lot about," Mr. Crowley said. "Before it was all about function. Original Soylent was function, function, function. Now you hear words like enjoyment in our mission."
Stargate SG-1 s04e01.
Previously: Soylent Halts Sale of Bars; Investigation into Illnesses Continues
Soylent Meal Replacement Sales Blocked in Canada
Related: The Other Soylent Finally Ships
Ambronite: Organic Soylent Alternative
In Busy Silicon Valley, Protein Powder Is in Demand
Soylent 2.0 is Coming: Food Replacement Premixed in Bottles
Spore Scare Stops Shipments of Soylent Superfood
Soylent Stops Selling Powder While it Investigates Customer Sickness Complaints
Soylent Has Arrived At Walmart
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Placenta on Wednesday May 27 2015, @11:49AM
I used to belong to a gym, several years ago. The biggest and machoest men there would drink all sorts of these powder concoctions. But then they'd walk around the changing room naked after taking a shower, and they'd have absolutely shrunken testes. I'm not talking about constricted testes due to a cold shower. I'm talking about them having normal sized penises, but no visible scrotums. It was the weirdest thing. Was that caused by these powder drinks, or was that caused by something else?
(Score: 4, Insightful) by kaszz on Wednesday May 27 2015, @11:55AM
Anabolic steroids?
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 27 2015, @12:21PM
It was caused by steroids.
Steroids are hormones. Gym freaks take the kind of steroids that are testosterone. But the body is efficient, it sees that they have enough testosterone in the blood so it reduces maintenance of the testicles since they don't need to produce testosterone any more.
It is the same old story - use it or lose it.
Also these drinks like soylent are not really "protein powder" -- yes there is protein in it, but there is everything else in there too. They are more like Ensure than Muscle Milk.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Wednesday May 27 2015, @12:49PM
Nope [wikipedia.org]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 27 2015, @01:05PM
(a) Holy shit! Could you have linked to a less helpful webpage?
(b) Close enough [wikipedia.org]
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Wednesday May 27 2015, @02:32PM
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Wednesday May 27 2015, @08:06PM
Yes, but OP claimed that all steroids are hormones, I fail to see how the bile acid (a steroid) can be called a hormone.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 27 2015, @08:48PM
Autism for the lose.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 27 2015, @10:07PM
Pedantry for the lose. Pedantry always loses.
(Score: 2) by Balderdash on Thursday May 28 2015, @12:43AM
If you puke bile onto a whore, she will doubtless moan.
Therefore it is totally relevant.
I browse at -1. Free and open discourse requires consideration and review of all attempts at participation.
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Thursday May 28 2015, @07:34AM
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 27 2015, @01:12PM
Which begs the question. Why are you in the gym shower and locker-room checking out other dudes junk?
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 27 2015, @01:43PM
The question is the answer. It's one of the several nuisances about working out in a gym.
(Score: 2, Disagree) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 27 2015, @01:51PM
*perks
(Score: 1) by Placenta on Wednesday May 27 2015, @09:54PM
I was in there to shower and change before driving home.
If you saw numerous naked men walking around and they had penises, but no visible scrotums, you'd look, too.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 27 2015, @09:59PM
> If you saw numerous naked men walking around and they had penises, but no visible scrotums, you'd look, too.
If you were looking you'd look too!
(Score: 1) by BananaPhone on Wednesday May 27 2015, @04:18PM
Creatine does. And causes male infertility.
and its desired effects (Muscle gain) are also temporary.
Stop taking it and the muscles fade.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 28 2015, @11:34AM
It was caused by them not getting enough reach-arounds. Reach-arounds help to keep the balls pulled out.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by bziman on Wednesday May 27 2015, @12:45PM
One of my great joys in life is food. And the best food comes from local farms. Where you can look at a meal and know where each component came from, and in fact might have seen the pig or cow or spinach in a field before becoming your meal.
I can't imagine being so busy that I would give up food.
But I guess that's why I write software in Colorado and not California.
(Score: 3, Funny) by takyon on Wednesday May 27 2015, @12:52PM
One fat spinach blunt coming right up.
These Ensure® pioneers are disputing the notion that taste is a necessary part of the human experience. And as long as they don't drop dead from unexpected malnutrition or fill the room with expected flatulence, we should let them. The Silicon Valley unicorn waits for no one.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by Immerman on Wednesday May 27 2015, @04:48PM
>as long as they don't drop dead from unexpected malnutrition... we should let them.
How is that any of our business?
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 27 2015, @01:10PM
> I can't imagine being so busy that I would give up food.
While I am sure there are some people who use it for that, I'd say 99% do not.
It is about avoiding bad food. The modern american diet is shit. Especially for people putting in a lot of hours at the office. By giving up the effort of worrying about what food to choose, they don't have to worry about making poor choices out of convenience, cravings or marketing.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 27 2015, @01:15PM
So instead they drink something that looks and apparently taste like liquid sludge. Mmmmmmmmm ... Yummy in the tummy.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday May 27 2015, @01:22PM
The word you're looking for is "optimal". It is optimal nutrition for the quantified self. Soylent is necessary for enlightenment. If the Buddha was around, he would choose Soylent.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 1) by KGIII on Wednesday May 27 2015, @10:49PM
I am slowly working that path, enlightenment - I am a Buddhist, and I do not think Buddha (heh, which one? :D) would drink that. His enlightenment came AFTER he realized that doing stupid crap is, well, doing stupid crap and not enlightened. That would include drinking Ensure instead of eating. Not because Ensure is bad, it may be, but because finding pleasure in a meal is a good thing. Now he would probably have been pragmatic if Ensure was the only thing he had and it being the only thing he had he might have found it good. I am a bit skeptical about my attempt to ascribe to Buddha what I do not know so I will couch this by stating that the above is my opinion.
"So long and thanks for all the fish."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 27 2015, @10:55PM
Does your buddha say that you must take pleasure everywhere it is possible?
Maybe he does, given how he's so often depicted as a jolly fat man.
(Score: 1) by KGIII on Thursday May 28 2015, @12:43AM
Everywhere does imply no moderation, so, it would be unlikely. Moderation doesn't mean dissatisfaction intentionally. One could choose to drink these things but the reason is important as is the result.
"So long and thanks for all the fish."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 27 2015, @01:33PM
> So instead they drink something that looks and apparently taste like liquid sludge.
As someone who is drinking soylent on a regular basis, it isn't anything like that.
It looks and tastes like a vanilla milkshake. You can add flavoring, I like the "cookies and cream" syrup I found at the grocery.
(Score: 2) by looorg on Wednesday May 27 2015, @01:41PM
Which then begs the question. Why do you do it? Is it health reasons? Time reasons? Saving money? Why do you feel the need to replace cooking and eating with a shake?
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 27 2015, @01:48PM
Exactly for the reasons I've already given - to make it easier to avoid bad choices.
In the past I used a personal chef but I found that the amount of variety actually encouraged cravings, I'd eat the right food and then go out and buy crap. By taking the variety out of the equation I avoid the "tipping point" that kicks off cravings.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday May 27 2015, @01:53PM
A personal chef, eh? Celeb Soylent-drinking Soylentil perhaps?
I take it you factor the cookies n cream syrup into your nutritional accounting. Do you roll your own Soylent or get it mailed?
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 27 2015, @02:00PM
> A personal chef, eh? Celeb Soylent-drinking Soylentil perhaps?
It was only marginally more expensive than one of those frozen diet meal plans like nutrisystem.
> I take it you factor the cookies n cream syrup into your nutritional accounting. Do you roll your own Soylent or get it mailed?
The syrup is zero-calorie.
I buy the premade soylent.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Thexalon on Wednesday May 27 2015, @03:01PM
I think there are a lot of people (mostly but not exclusively bachelors) who see cooking as an unpleasant chore rather than as a relaxing activity like I always have. As far as I can tell, these are people who never learned how to cook, and either content themselves with what they can heat up in a microwave or paying somebody else to do it for them. That means they miss out on the creativity and artistic aspect of it.
They also miss out because being a good cook is a great way to impress a (would-be) partner.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 4, Informative) by urza9814 on Wednesday May 27 2015, @03:23PM
That argument can be applied to everything. Some people just aren't that into food, man...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 27 2015, @03:59PM
FINISH HIM
(Score: 5, Funny) by Anne Nonymous on Wednesday May 27 2015, @04:38PM
> they miss out on the creativity and artistic aspect of it.
says the guy whose sig line is
> Feed America - vote Donner Party 2016!
I'll pass on the dinner invitation, thanks.
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Wednesday May 27 2015, @04:43PM
Well played. I hadn't even noticed that the serious comment and the joke sig were at odds.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 27 2015, @08:10PM
That isn't begging the question. Begging the question would be, for example, he drinks it for health reasons because it is so healthy. Or he drinks it as a time saving device because it saves him time.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 28 2015, @12:31AM
> That isn't begging the question.
Unfortunately you are wrong.
Language evolves and we are way past the point where begging the question only means making a circular argument. So many people have, and continue to, use it to mean "raises the question" that it now can mean both. I expect that in 20 more years the original meaning will be archaic.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 28 2015, @11:55AM
Ah, the standard retort of the ignorant: I don't understand a word and I use it wrong, but that's ok because "language evolves". Words have absolutely no meaning anymore because, well, language evolves and a word now means what I want it to mean.
You intellectual relativists are really something else.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 28 2015, @11:04PM
I don't suppose you recognize the irony in the fact that your claim that his use of "begging the question" is correct because it now means that something else, that in itself is begging the question?
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Wednesday May 27 2015, @06:44PM
Having said that, as we're working hard, and time is money, presently we're cooking very little. However, we've now discovered some lovely local restaurants which do great quality lunchtime specials at pocket-change prices, so we're eating out a lot now. Three in particular sell proper restaurant food as part of the lunch special - no pile of meaty slop on a dollop of starch, or any crap like that - our favourites are the mexican, the indian, and the texmex. And as we're often tired or rushed in the evenings, that will be something simple, like salads containing fantastic Lithuanian dried meats or salamis and wonderful Dutch mature cheeses. Life is good, and good food is part of that good life.
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 3, Informative) by takyon on Wednesday May 27 2015, @12:57PM
The last time we had a Soylent [shake] discussion, the DIY site was broken. Now it seems to work.
Schmoylent [soylent.me] is one of these DIY recipes, not a double trademark infringement.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 1) by KGIII on Wednesday May 27 2015, @10:55PM
Your comment makes me want to fork a Linux distro just so I can call it MacWinNix. If I go RedMacWinHat I might be able to get a triple trademark lawsuit going.
"So long and thanks for all the fish."
(Score: 3, Funny) by takyon on Wednesday May 27 2015, @10:58PM
If you go BigRedMacWinHat you can get the elusive pentatrademark violation.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 1) by KGIII on Thursday May 28 2015, @12:45AM
Imma getting the source for Mandriva. This MUST be done.
"So long and thanks for all the fish."
(Score: 5, Insightful) by looorg on Wednesday May 27 2015, @01:05PM
"The time wasted by eating is ..." I don't think I would, could or even want to trade real cooking and food for a protein shake. Liquid meals are for people without teeth and/or taste buds. I think I spend, on average, about an hour a day making and eating my food. It's totally worth it for me at least. I have a really hard to time see how you could be so busy as to not eat proper food. Sure you could skip like a day and eat something minor but to live for weeks on this sludge? To read that Elon Musk apparently thinks it would be an awesome idea to cut out real food is just plain silly. He is so god damn rich he could have someone make all his food for him. He is to busy to take like 20 minutes to eat a meal? I'm sure he could get an assistant to chew his food for him and just spit it into his mouth. That should save him a few precious minutes of chewing each day. I seriously doubt those extra 20 minutes would make or break his company. It's like the people in traffic that think getting to work is a F1-race.
“I am getting sick of the taste,” Dan Sparks, an engineer for Clever, recently told Mr. Mittal. “I am thinking I’ll have to start flavoring it.”
I guess that just says it all. Doesn't these protein shakes, just like their diet shake siblings, usually come in exciting flavors such as strawberry and chocolate. Utterly disgusting.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday May 27 2015, @01:20PM
If people want to emancipate themselves from food and taste, what's wrong with that?
You aren't sold on any convenience or taste arguments, but what about health? Soylent is the ultimate measured approach to calorie and nutrient control. It's perfect for the quantified self and wearable IoT.
Dan Sparks doesn't like the "taste", but I've read quotes about proponents that want even less taste. They want it to taste neutral like water, not the vaguely doughy taste of some versions.
It's no surprise that Elon Musk is thinking about Soylent. A nutrient sludge would be optimal for space travel and the man is America's top Martian.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by looorg on Wednesday May 27 2015, @01:35PM
Emancipate themselves from food and taste? Eating is now like slavery? Sure. If you don't want to eat or taste them that is a personal preference I guess. I just doubt that the time saved here would be massive. That seems to be what the article really is saying, even tho I do believe there is more to the story then time saving. There might also be the case that people just don't know how to cook anymore, or can't be bothered to learn. It's not like when you cook that is all you do. There is time to think about other things. It's not like you are a kitchen-zombie standing there looking into the oven or staring at the pot waiting for something to boil. Cooking in some regard is about time-management.
I also do believe that time spent away from your desk can be productive. It's not like you don't or can't think of "work-stuff" when you are not chained to your desk. As I recall now certain high-tech places such as Google as their own kitchen staff and cooks. Sure there might be a security thing involved as in they don't want their people off their property talking to strangers over meals -- secrets might slip out. But there is also a social aspect to eating. Something that is probably lost when your meal is sipped at the kitchen sink before you go back to your desk.
But a real meal is as far as I know quite healthy, sure it depends on what you make and how you cook it but beyond those factors. If it wasn't I'm sure my doctor would have indicated that something was horribly wrong with my diet. It has not happened so far. The thing for the people mentioned in the article is the time-factor. They want to save time. So they don't want to eat take-out food or reheated leftover or whatnot. Which is deemed "unhealthy" then I guess. If that is the case or not I'm not sure. Having a pizza, a burger or taco or whatnot every now and then is dietary fine I would think. To live on it every day probably not as much.
Having the shakes taste like water would probably be an improvement.
I'm not surprised Musk is thinking about nutrient sludge, Mars and space stuff either. I'm surprised he wants to eat it here, on earth, as a replacement for a real meal cause he is to busy and he thinks it will save him so much time.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by JeanCroix on Wednesday May 27 2015, @01:25PM
(Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday May 27 2015, @01:29PM
You don't need to be a Silicon Valley revolutionary to choose Soylent. You just share a goal of transcending human limits.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 5, Funny) by JeanCroix on Wednesday May 27 2015, @01:36PM
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 27 2015, @06:50PM
JeanCroix.... JC.... we are on you Mr. Denton!
(Score: 1) by rondon on Wednesday May 27 2015, @02:01PM
Real question - is this performance art or shilling? Or something else entirely?
(Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday May 27 2015, @02:08PM
It's performance shilling you can believe in.
I'm sympathetic to the Soylent cause, but I don't practice it. I just think "why would you want to give up food" is a stale, tasteless response.
Now replacing livestock with lab-grown meat, there's a worthy cause.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 27 2015, @04:05PM
"It's performance shilling you can believe in."
Golden. You, sir, win the internets for today,
(Score: 1) by acp_sn on Wednesday May 27 2015, @02:11PM
Enjoying sensual pleasures in moderation isn't detrimental to "transcending human limits".
Suffering isn't caused by physical discomfort, it is caused by lack of individual sovereignty.
If another person makes you to eat food you don't like by threat or force then the bad taste is suffering.
The choice between eating immediately available food that you like slightly less or waiting and being slightly hungry for a short time until more palatable food is available is the very definition of a trivial problem. If your goal is to transcend human limits then wasting energy worrying about other people's food isn't advancing that agenda.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 27 2015, @02:28PM
> Suffering isn't caused by physical discomfort, it is caused by lack of individual sovereignty.
Spoken by someone who has never experienced significant physical discomfort.
(Score: 2) by urza9814 on Wednesday May 27 2015, @03:32PM
Well...you can't just wait out the threat of malnutrition... ;)
(Score: 2) by dyingtolive on Thursday May 28 2015, @06:17AM
We should also remove free will. It leads to capriciousness suffering, the indulgence of vices, and would be quite optimal. Arguably, it would pave the way for enlightenment too. Why not?
Don't blame me, I voted for moose wang!
(Score: 2) by dyingtolive on Thursday May 28 2015, @06:20AM
Err, capriciousness COMMA suffering. See? If I lacked free will, i could have been implemented with a routine that forced me to click preview first!
Don't blame me, I voted for moose wang!
(Score: 3, Insightful) by The Archon V2.0 on Wednesday May 27 2015, @02:21PM
> Liquid meals are for people without teeth and/or taste buds.
Or maybe they have too many taste buds. Maybe they have, say, two or three foods they genuinely enjoy eating but realize that just eating those few things is unhealthy. They've tried other foods and have rarely found things they like because everything, despite everyone else's insistence, is too bitter or too salty. And rather than waste an hour of their life cooking food that they merely tolerate, they'd rather spend a few minutes pouring something they can tolerate and drinking that.
(Score: 2) by romlok on Wednesday May 27 2015, @02:36PM
If cooking and eating is the most interesting, exciting thing you could do in that hour, then good for you. However, some of us would occasionally like to be able to just stop being hungry and carry on with whatever we were doing.
(Score: 2) by looorg on Wednesday May 27 2015, @02:56PM
If cooking and eating is the most interesting, exciting thing you could do in that hour, then good for you. However, some of us would occasionally like to be able to just stop being hungry and carry on with whatever we were doing.
It's not the most interesting thing I could do with my time. But I still consider it time well spent. It gives me a break from what I was doing and it helps me to be productive for the rest of my waking hours.
(Score: 2) by Immerman on Wednesday May 27 2015, @05:08PM
I don't know... a few quick shakes and an extra 45 minutes of sex sounds like a pretty appealing alternative...
In all seriousness though: I enjoy cooking, especially with a partner, but find myself often eating a less-than-ideal diet out of convenience, distraction, etc. If they could develop a soylent that could be substituted for real food on a as-wanted basis, rather than requiring weeks of intestinal adaptation to avoid flatulence, I would likely keep a stockpile. I suspect I'd even increase the number of good meals I cooked if I didn't have the negative association of "just get some fuel in the tank as quickly as possible" cooking clouding the issue. Real food when I'm interested in food, soylent when my body just needs fuel.
Plus, with soylent trying to be a scientifically optimal food source, it's probably far more nutritionally complete than anything I cook for myself. After all, there's a world of difference between the adequate nutrition that keeps my body from degenerating, and a truly optimal solution. After all our bodies evolved to eat wild plants and game, not the flavorless meat-pudding and spongy franken-vegetables we've bred in the last few thousand years in the name of ever-increasing yields.
(Score: 2) by Tramii on Wednesday May 27 2015, @07:49PM
I don't know... a few quick shakes and an extra 45 minutes of sex sounds like a pretty appealing alternative...
So, we are supposed to believe there is someone out who has to choose between eating meals and sex? Like they have enough time for one but not the other? Like they totally could have sex, but they just don't have the time and if only they could free up some time they would totally have loads of sex.
Right. Sure. Uh huh.
(Score: 1) by KGIII on Wednesday May 27 2015, @11:03PM
I dunno? Maybe that dude that was over 1000 pounds? The scary thing is he has a wife and she was the one who kept feeding him. Aside: He has since had a stomach bypass and lost half his bodyweight.
"So long and thanks for all the fish."
(Score: 4, Interesting) by urza9814 on Wednesday May 27 2015, @03:05PM
I used Soylent for a while. Stopped solely because I couldn't get any without paying twice the price due to supply shortages (tried several of the DIY ones; they didn't work out.) Although I think it's back in stock now so I'm probably ordering more soon. I loved the stuff. Had nothing to do with time; I just *HATE* food. It's stressful, it's difficult, it's time-consuming, and the result brings me very little, and only very brief, pleasure.
If I do want to eat for the taste, I'll chop and fry some potatoes. That's about the only food I consider worth the effort, and it's not exactly nutritious. If I just need to eat for the calories and nutrients, Soylent seems a far better option. Although ideally I'd really prefer my food in pill form ;)
(Score: 2) by kaszz on Wednesday May 27 2015, @02:47PM
So people will choose a synthetic sludge with who knows what stuff and artificial taste over real food that is prepared without killing the vitamins? vitamins that work in the long run and thus is really compatible with the body chemistry.
And when spamvertizing is removed and general false food choices of shit vs crap.. And when you have depleted substances that wreck the craving system (like artificial taste and sugar). Cravings are a good thing. They will tell you what your body needs but if it's already premixed. This adjustment mechanism will be impaired. Control system feedback short circuit.
Meaning of life is to be feed nutrient sludge for code output such that the shareholders may profit from your corpse? ;-)
(Score: 3, Informative) by takyon on Wednesday May 27 2015, @03:20PM
On the contrary, the recipe for Soylent is open and remixing [soylent.me] is encouraged on the website.
What's "synthetic sludge" and how is it bad? All food is made of chemicals. There's the argument that certain processed foods can be unhealthy, such as high-fructose corn syrup and table sugar being too easy for your body to digest, but what applies to Soylent? Does your red line line exclude bread and oatmeal (and other foods that appeared after humans shifted from hunting to an unnatural agricultural diet)?
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by kaszz on Wednesday May 27 2015, @10:15PM
A lot of pre-prepared food is made of processed and thus chemically altered food and pure synthetic additives in addition. Often a conservation method is used which further deteriorate the food. Some of the contents may be GMO.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday May 27 2015, @10:56PM
1. processed and thus chemically altered food
Can the "chemical alteration" turn out to be a good thing?
2. pure synthetic additives
"Pure" as in unadulterated and good?
3. a conservation method is used which further deteriorate the food
Isn't deterioration the opposite of conservation?
4. Some of the contents may be GMO
GMO is the least dangerous thing in your list.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 28 2015, @12:27AM
> GMO is the least dangerous thing in your list.
That's kind of like saying "its natural so it is good" even though all kinds of toxic substances occur naturally. Every GMO is different. Just because some GMOs have been in use for a decade or two without any obvious harmful effects doesn't mean that every GMO will too.
(Score: 1) by mmarujo on Thursday May 28 2015, @12:06PM
Well, for the most part, I only eat chemically altered food (read cooked) :)
(Score: 2) by kaszz on Thursday May 28 2015, @12:29PM
So you destroy many vitamins. But of course it tastes good ;)
The issue is rather industrial processes that hasn't been around long enough for evolution to accomodate them.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 27 2015, @03:46PM
Cravings are a good thing.
That is not really true. Cravings are part habit too. For example right now I crave eating a bag of oreos and wash it down with a 32oz cola. It is very easy to misunderstand cravings, habit, and need.
Instead I am drinking my water as I am trying to lower my sugar intake to reduce my weight (15 so far this year). What you eat is also habit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFzDaBzBlL0 [youtube.com]
This puts it in an interesting way. Think of all the habits you have learned in your life. You have habits you do not even THINK about. Eating is one of them. To actually change your diet takes months of unconditioning and actually understanding why you eat. But do not mistake a new habit for good or bad. It may not be so. For example I could take up the habit of smoking. One that is arguably bad for me. But it would not take long to learn the habit of it. As the chemical brew that is a cigarette is designed to be habit forming.
This sludge does not sound like a good habit. It sounds like the sort of thing you use when you are trying to minimize carry weight. To ignore taste and texture is to ignore being human. But you also need to realize the big food conglomerates have thru evolution of their products had 50+ years to hone their craft of selling you processed foods. They do it with advertising (repetition), taste (tweaking salty/bitter/sweet mix), texture (how smooth or rough the package/food is), smell, sound (the way a can clicks and pops), and brand.
My point? Cravings can be easily manipulated to be turned into habits. Do not mistake them for 'what your body needs'.
(Score: 2) by infodragon on Wednesday May 27 2015, @02:58PM
I had to radically change my diet due to drawing the short straw from the genetic pool resulting in extremely high triglycerides even after a 24 hour fast. One of my staples now is a Greek yogurt, protein powder and preserves mixture for breakfast. I snack until lunch (1lb salad with chick breast) on healthy items, no simple carbs, and have a mostly normal dinner.
The point is I use the powder to increase the protein content of the yogurt. I mix it up with different preserves and the resulting protein/fat/carb combo holds my appetite in check and gives me enough carbs for a good start to a day of software development. I hate drinking the mixture, but the yogurt combo is quite tasty!
Before anybody suggests I was overweight or eating unhealthy my GI was quite shocked at the fact I was a healthy weight and ate healthy. I now have to be a heath Nazi in regards to what I eat or I start to cook my pancreas.
Don't settle for shampoo, demand real poo!
(Score: 2) by Techwolf on Wednesday May 27 2015, @05:14PM
What is recomended for a truck driver?
I would love to find one of these "shakes" for normal people, not steroid pumped up gym jocks.
Just about anything is better then truck stop food. I'me looking for a better alternitive them eating out at greasy places all the time. While I don't eat there all the time due to some pre-made food I keep in the truck. I like to find something better and is not overprice "nutriction" junk for those on a diet.
Any and all advice would be appreasatived.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 27 2015, @05:26PM
> I would love to find one of these "shakes" for normal people, not steroid pumped up gym jocks.
Soylent is for normal people. The intention is to be nutritionally complete without anything in excess nor any calorie restrictions. I expect that being a truck driver makes you even more sedentary than an office geek, so the balance of nutrients probably isn't optimal for your daily routine. But I expect it is still tons better than truck-stop food.
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Wednesday May 27 2015, @11:06PM
I drink Vega One shakes (lots of greens, vits, probiotics, etc). If i want to lose a bit of weight, i just water it down more than usual.
http://myvega.com/ [myvega.com]
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 1) by efudddd on Thursday May 28 2015, @01:37AM
This may be a tangential answer but since you ask, you may find Joe Cross's "Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead" interesting. This DVD is specifically about juicing and less about general diet, but a large chunk of the movie is devoted to the nutritional journey of a trucker whose sickness is linked to his on-road diet.
(Score: 1) by nitehawk214 on Wednesday May 27 2015, @05:25PM
Ok, I would expect everyone to know that Soylent Green is people, and this is part of the pun I suppose; but "People Chow", seriously? Maybe it is supposed to sound like "puppy chow" or "baby food", which (as far as I am aware) are not made from puppies or babies.
I will have to quote George Carlin here: "EAT ME!"
"Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 27 2015, @07:01PM
Some languages the phrase "search eat" (direct translation ) is used to mean "searching for work/jobs/livelihood".
What's the point of "search eat" if you don't really eat, but just drink down some shake... Eating good food is one of the great pleasures in life.
So you better be giving up your life for something really important, perhaps a honorable and laudable mission (cure for malaria/cancer, space stations for space colonies, saving people's lives, cold fusion) and not building some silly website/app that hardly anyone else will remember or care about 10 years later.
See also: http://bemorewithless.com/the-story-of-the-mexican-fisherman/ [bemorewithless.com]
Not saying we should aim for subsistence living or close to it. Having some reserves is good, so if "small stuff" happens you don't have to leech of your friends - I'm sure your real friends won't mind so much if "big stuff" happens and you need their help for a while.
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 27 2015, @08:30PM
I would be all over this if I had any kind of VC money to throw around, just as long as I bow out in a couple of years. You know P.T. Barnum would be all over this. This is the latest and greatest fad foods apparently. Overpriced and, as I'm sure we'll find out in a couple of years, over-hyped and oversold. "It contains the optimal levels of nutrients", which we'll find out is all different down the line.
When the hype wears off, here are some suggestions to try to keep the wave going:
"Now packed with OAT BRAN!"
"New acai blueberry and pomegranate colors!"
"Now with extra KALE!"
"Now GLUTEN FREE!"
"Now with EXTRA GLUTEN!!"
"Packed with Breadfruit and Moringa!"
"More than twice the goji berries and three times the teff as that other stuff!"
"Now in quinoa flavor!"
(Score: 1) by KGIII on Wednesday May 27 2015, @11:16PM
How the hell do you know what goji berries are? I had to Google that to see if they were real.
"So long and thanks for all the fish."
(Score: 1) by blackhawk on Friday May 29 2015, @08:52AM
Putting aside the health risks involved in having a diet of pure sludge, and the fact that any time you saved is just going to make the company you work for richer, not you (unless you own the company or have stocks), there's a few other important things you're losing by slurping this stuff.
1) Social aspect - eating lunch with your workmates. Sharing a joke together and having a walk to wherever you're eating that day.
2) Getting outside for a while and getting some small amount of natural unforced exercise.
3) Having a decent mental break from your work problems, given you renewed energy and focus for the rest of the day.
4) Flavour / texture - that's still a thing, right?
5) Chewing - so your jaw muscles don't look atrophied from never speaking or having to chew anything.
6) Developing life skills by preparing your own meals - this might be useful should you have children and want to be able to offer them food that isn't from a faceless corporation.
I can see the argument for saving time, but honestly, look at what you give up and the in return you gain almost nothing, or are even worse off for it.
Anyway, I'm off to enjoy my dinner which is oven roasted duck breast, steamed rice, and a Thai green curry coconut sauce - all prepared by hand. Dinner will take me about 14 minutes to prepare (cooking time) since I already made the curry paste earlier today from fresh ingredients and I cooked enough rice for three meals.