Soylent

[Optimal_Solution]

David at Raptitude has posted rather extensive observations after 30 days of eating (mostly?) soylent.
http://www.raptitude.com/2014/08/what-h ... superfood/

Key points:

• He still eats one solid meal per day
• DIY recipe cost about $4 (Canadian) per 2000 calories
• Improved energy and well-being
• More time (less sleep and less food prep)
• Occasional 20-minute “crash” after consuming the soylent

I'm intrigued by the reported increase in health, well-being, and available time. The cost is less than my daily food average ($4.50 / day / adult, although this includes our occasional eating out).

[5to9]

Over a year after backing it (nearly forgot about it), two boxes of Soylent showed up at my office today. I don't plan to do anything drastic with it, but will definitely report on my experiences. I believe my original rationale was that it was a faster, healthier, and cheaper alternative to fast food. And as much as I am improving at bringing lunches and eating healthy, there are still times when my planning lapses and I end up grabbing some crappy lunch near the office. Hopefully this will help as a backstop to prevent that happening.

I don't see family dinners ever being replaced, and it seems a bit expensive for breakfast, but now that I already have it, seems worth experimenting to see where it fits.

[jennypenny]

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/24/sunda ... pe=article

Instead of centrifuging out plant proteins, “Why not just eat the vegetables?” asked Marion Nestle, author of “Food Politics” and professor of nutrition, food studies and public health at New York University.

High-tech food entrepreneurs, mostly white, well-educated young men who have spent much of their lives fueling up on fast food, say they want to provide more convenience and better taste.

“Being forced to take time from my day and having my train of thought interrupted by hunger was really bothersome to me,” said Rob Rhinehart of San Francisco, the inventor of Soylent, a liquid meal replacement now being delivered to some 60,000 customers who preordered it during a yearlong crowdfunding campaign that ended in May and raised $3 million. “Trying to eat a balanced diet looked like I was leaping into a sea of complexity, of biochemistry and cooking, sourcing and cleaning.”

To which Dr. Nestle said, “Sex is messy and a lot of trouble, too.”


All of the recent press about sex robots makes me think that guys like Rhinehart have similar views about sex, and not the view Nestle is assuming.

-------------

TED talks on Food Printing ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iwD1P_7vxo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xclQY9A0M8

[Ego]

All of the recent press about sex robots makes me think that guys like Rhinehart have similar views about sex, and not the view Nestle is assuming.

OTOH, look at the people who equate a good meal with sex. Compare them to the Chinese or Indians who shovel their food in so fast it is difficult to distinguish eating from other bodily functions. IMO, the more we fetishize the function of eating the more we become Mr Creosote.

[George the original one]

IMO, the more we fetishize the function of eating the more we become Mr Creosote.

Oh, dear! That was NOT an image I wished to revisit!

[Dragline]

It's a wahfer thin . . .

[jennypenny]

All of the recent press about sex robots makes me think that guys like Rhinehart have similar views about sex, and not the view Nestle is assuming.

OTOH, look at the people who equate a good meal with sex. Compare them to the Chinese or Indians who shovel their food in so fast it is difficult to distinguish eating from other bodily functions. IMO, the more we fetishize the function of eating the more we become Mr Creosote.

Why is it bad if you enjoy food as much as good sex? I love food. I sound like Nigella when I eat a good meal. Most of my meals are utilitarian, but I try to have at least one great one every week. I don't see the harm in enjoying physical experiences that way. Some exercise sessions are a good as sex, too.

I guess I'm thinking that the more experiences I can elevate to the level of good sex, the better.

[jennypenny]

@Ego--Think about exercise instead of food. Suppose there was an exercise box we could go into for 20 minutes a day and that alone would keep us fit. I would probably use it to maintain a baseline of fitness, but I would also exercise the traditional way because certain activities bring me pleasure. I use food the same way. I consume green berry protein shakes and fish oil pills, but I also cook a few great meals during the week. The blueberries in my shake are healthy. The blueberries I pick and eat in my backyard while they're still warm from the sun are healthy and a pleasure to eat.

Maybe it's just me. My hypothalamus is definitely driving the bus most of the time.

[Ego]

A few things.

1) Self-control. Need I point out to you that you are not average? You have a level of self-control unimaginable to the average Creosote. They see self-control as self-denial, as in the illness of self-denial. How many have replaced sexual-pleasure entirely with food-pleasure?

2) Bacon. It is the ultimate fetish food. Actually it has been marketed to become the ultimate fetish food. People have been manipulated into believing that they deserve bacon, not once in a while but every single day. A luxury becomes a necessity. How many other bacons do we have? How many produce a near sexual satisfaction simply because we've been told they do so? Think about the television commercials showing a beautiful woman experiencing near orgasmic pleasure while consuming something. This is a learned behavior. We have been manipulated into equating the two.

3) Gatherings. Feasts were once communal gatherings that happened several times a year. It was about family, friends, community..... Food was central but it was the togetherness that was the point. Today Creosotes sitting alone getting his sexual pleasure from his comfort foods is the norm.

4) Chocolate. Apparently Nigella has a cabinet full of it in her kitchen. Today we have a whole movement toward "primal". Here are a few guys who live much closer to the way our primal ancestors lived, and they happen to grow the cocoa beans. Interesting reactions. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEN4hcZutO0


TL:dr I think it is great to get together with family and have a nice meal. I just think that equating the food part of the gathering with sexual pleasure is not only physically and psychologically unhealthy, it open us up to incredible levels of manipulation.

I guess I'm thinking that the more experiences I can elevate to the level of good sex, the better.

Practice makes perfect. Rungasms aside, deriving sexual-level pleasure from non-sexual experiences makes us better at transferring it further. Sexual pleasure from driving a sports car. Sexual pleasure from shopping at Nordstrom's. Sexual pleasure from watching my favorite television program. From eating chocolate. You have a self-control that Nigellas and the Creasotes do not have.

[Dragline]

"Bacon on the beach!" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoYjjgWTth4

[Ego]

I guffawed a mouthful of tea all over the computer.

[7Wannabe5]

Ego said: Think about the television commercials showing a beautiful woman experiencing near orgasmic pleasure while consuming something. This is a learned behavior. We have been manipulated into equating the two.

"When I hear his steps outside my door I lie down on my bed, open my legs and think of England."

1912 journal of Lady Hillingdon

[5to9]

Tried my first Soylent meal today. I mixed up a half batch (1 liter / 1000 cal) in a nalgene at work. I drank 3/4 of it at 12:30 in place of lunch. It is definitely a utilitarian meal. I wouldn't say it tastes good, but it's really not bad either. Certainly not to be confused with good sex, but the meals I eat at my desk rarely are It was more filling than I expected.

I felt pretty good for the afternoon, in fact for the first half hour or so I felt like I had a bit of a rush, maybe too much in one sitting? I drank the last 1/4 of the batch around 3:45, but I am not sure if I was really hungry or not. I had a pretty healthy appetite at dinner, but that is not too uncommon, I usually eat pretty big meals.

Overall, I think it is an interesting product. It certainly shows potential to fill the convenience food role for me. You could argue that I shouldn't need something to fill that role, but I am not to that level yet.

[Ovid]

I recently started using a DIY soylent mixture which I found at https://diy.soylent.me/recipes/people-c ... perfection

This thread may have started me off in that direction, so I wanted to stop in and share some thoughts on it.

For me at least, sometimes food is just food. I don't gain much pleasure from eating an english muffin or eating some toast for breakfast. If I can eat something cheap and somewhat more complete nutritionally instead of eating something I was not going to enjoy that much in the first place I feel I come out ahead.

I don't generally do it for all meals, but breakfast and lunch during the work week has been my routine thus far. The recipe above is not particularly wonderful tasting but it is not bad and pretty drinkable. I find it very filling.

I am not sure I will do it forever, but it is something I enjoyed trying.

[MrRich]

My son was asking me today why dogs have dog food and cats have cat food, yet stores sell thousands of itmes classified as people food I told him, "variety is the spice of life"

[tylerrr]

hey everyone,

I'm reviving this thread. Does anyone drink the Soylent 2.0? how do you like it?

[The Old Man]

I’ve been reviewing Soylent 2.0. It looks very useful. A review of the ingredients reveals the following: (1) soy protein, (2) algal oil, (3) isomaltulose, and (4) vitamins & minerals.

Wikipedia has this to say about soy protein https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soy_protein: “Soy is also rich in estrogenic compounds, such as genistein and daidzein; however, research is conflicting as to whether or not it can cause increases in estrogen in males.”

The underlying report https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15735098) stated, “In conclusion, soy protein, regardless of isoflavone content, decreased DHT and DHT/testosterone with minor effects on other hormones, providing evidence for some effects of soy protein on hormones.”

Bodybuilders generally use whey protein isolates and not soy protein isolates.

[BRUTE]

brute is intrigued about soylent, but also thinks its innovation is mostly in the narrative. essentially, soylent is protein powder + a multivitamin, isn't it? there's nothing more "nutritionally complete" to it than hitting the RDAs in the cheapest, blandest way possible.

[Kriegsspiel]

Also oat powder. And sunflower oil. It looks like he used whey protein in earlier versions, but now uses rice protein. The narrative for his target market must look better with "animal free" in it.

[Papers of Indenture]

I drink 2 to 3 of the Soylent 2.0 version per day and eat a home cooked dinner. I find it satiating and it doesn't negatively impact my digestion. Every once in a while i'll do nothing but Soylent for a day or two....and I always feel fantastic.

2.0 has Soy protein and Algal oil. No whey. I think 1.0 had whey.