I'm not going to run-on and on here, but I'm on 1.4 right now (first time Soylent user) and I'm pleasantly surprised.
I was very skeptical about it at first and got it just to convince myself I didn't need it. Immediately I felt pretty good and didn't crave the burrito I wanted for lunch.
I'm also very excited that it's vegan because that's been my diet for over 8 years.
How comfortable do you feel giving up raw fruits/vegetables in favor of Soylent? I feel like that is my main question about the product, and I would be curious to hear from a vegan what the experience is like.
One thing that's surprisingly not mentioned at all in their FAQ is the actual process of preparing the stuff. Do you have to use a blender or can you get away with just stirring it up with a spoon?
I'm almost finished with my first shipment (formula 1.3) and my results have been positive. I use it to replace some, but not all, meals in my diet. I think it especially excels in situations where I am in a hurry or too lazy to cook, because it's far more nutritious and cost-effective than the meals I would eat/skip otherwise.
I currently have my subscription set up so that I receive 2 weeks work of Soylent every month.
Breakdown:
500 calories per meal
~$2.33 per meal
How I use it:
Complete meal/snack replacement for breakfast and lunch most days. Rarely have it for dinner.
What I've learned so far:
Don't drink it right after you mix it unless you shake it really really well, otherwise you'll encounter clumps. Given at least an hour to soak in water, it reaches a clumpless consistency.
The taste is fairly neutral with a slight hint of malty sweetness. Some people rave about using it as a coffee creamer, but I myself have not tried that.
The texture is grainy in comparison to a smoothie, but this is to be expected with a powder-based meal.
It's filling, very easy to drink when chilled, and the bowel movements are regular in frequency (and consistency!) with no notable increase in gas.
So far I'm pretty happy with it. It strikes me as a good deal healthier and ridiculously more convenient than anything else I'd make for myself, meal-wise, if you can tolerate sacrificing flavor and texture.
I'm almost done with my 1.3 and looking forward to 1.4. The big thing for me is the lack of the oil bottle and the sodium (I wasn't getting enough before and would get headaches).
At this point, my body has fully adjusted and I crave Soylent at some times. I use it for ~1/2 my meals and could easily see it taking 2/3. I do enjoy regular food a _lot_ so I doubt I'll ever go full time, but it definitely has helped to balance out my nutrition fully.
I continue to feel that Soylent is the first company that will likely feed the world - literally. Without the oil bottle and the ability to scale manufacturing, it is only a matter of time before we see Soylent as part of humanitarian convoys and/or used in medical settings. The possibilities are quite frankly amazing...
There are already better products for humanitarian use and for medical use. The medical products come in a wide variety of styles to suit different medical needs. The humanitarian products are much cheaper than soylent and don't require so much water - which is in short supply in the target regions; and they have a more suitable nutrient profile.
It's baffling when people claim soylent could be used for medical or humanitarian purposes, especially when those uses have been debunked on HN everytime they're mentioned.
That matter of time may be a very long time. There are already foods which handle this application well enough. See Citadel spread, Plumpynut, K-Mix-2. The difference is that these provide more calories per weight than soylent and don't require added water (except the K-Mix-2). If they can come up with a high calorie Soylent and eliminate the need to add water (perhaps serve it as a paste) then it would be used in humanitarian convoys. As it is now, that's not likely to happen.
Perhaps its where i live (UK) or maybe its because i purposely buy food that tends to be expensive but $12 (£8) for a day of meals is crazy cheap. Thats around what i spend on lunch every day.
If you're making your own meals ($3/meal), yes, it is expensive. If you eat out then it is much more reasonable. A single eat-out costs ballpark around $6/meal, so assuming you did that twice it would break even.
I agree re. sample size. $85 in one go is hard to justify to the +1 when all you're really buying is food. $6 here or there is easy to ignore, but $85 is a weekly grocery shop in everyone's mind.
I wonder if price will come down as they expand? It might be wishful thinking to be honest, but I do suspect there are a fair few people who would happily try it if it was closer to $4/meal rather than $6/meal per now (i.e. $8/day from $12/day).
PS - I have to admit my three reasons for not trying it is: price, manufacturing problems/delays, and also I remain unconvinced that we know enough about nutrition to create this product that won't caused health defects in the medium to long term.
There are people on /r/Soylent who will offer to ship you a sample for free or cost of shipping only. I felt the same lingering doubt about shelling out $85 for something I might not like, but after reading about all of the different recipes to add/alter flavor, I felt confident I could at least get it to a drinkable state and not throw the money away, and that turned out to be true. It's actually not bad at all plain, and there are numerous additions that make it quite tasty.
The biggest savings for me has been time. No need to drive out weekly for groceries, and fewer cravings to eat out during the week. It takes roughly 15 minutes each night to clean bottles and prep shakes for my wife and I, which will be used the next day.
Glad to see they've integrated the separate oil bottle -- that will make it way more portable.
On another note, I hope that the increase in manufacturing capacity will eventually allow Soylet to be purchased through traditional retail channels -- it'd be nice to just buy it by the package instead of bulk-orders online.
I like the idea of Soylent, but everything I have read lately on nutrition seems to suggest that gettings vitamins and minerals from real food should be a priority and is against multivitamins. I wonder what is people's view on Soylent as a replacement for fruits/vegetables? Is the nutritional makeup somehow different from a multi-vitamin? If it isn't, then it just seems like an overpriced protein powder alternative. I can't seem to find any info on their site.
Look at something like cholesterol. We used to think high blood cholesterol was caused by a diet high in saturated fat, and that this was a causal risk factor for hear attack.
If we got that wrong how well are going to do with all the micronutrients and other stuff that is in real food?
Soylent had a terrible, unethical, marketing campaing during its kickstarter. (Probably illegal in the US - it made medical claims) but they seem to be a lot more careful about that kind of stuff now.
If you're going to use any of the meal replacement products (there are loads on the market) you don't have to give up real food. You can still eat fruit and veg alongside your nutrient-gloop.
Has anyone lost weight on this? I'd also be curious if it lowered your blood pressure [1] if it was high, and if it helped with any other health issues.
[1] I'm thinking the high potassium, and low sodium could lower high blood pressure?
I've lost ~20lbs since I first started drinking Soylent. My longest stretch of a 100% Soylent diet was for 2 weeks when I first got it last August. I lost ~8lbs during that time. I was mixing one pouch with enough water to make 4 pints. I would have 1 pint for breakfast, lunch and dinner. So I was getting ~1500 calories a day. From Thanksgiving into the New Year, I hardly drank any Soylent. And the scale was certainly ready to remind of that. I managed to undo much of my weight loss as a result. At the beginning of this year I added exercise to my routine. Since that first 2 week stretch last year, I've gone as much as a week at a time. But typically, I will do 2-3 days of 100% Soylent, then have a solid dinner one night. Some times stuff gets in the way and I'll not have Soylent for a day or two. It varies week to week. I'm a bit of an emotional eater so when things get hectic or stressful, I crave crappy food. So there are days when I've just said "F it... I'm getting pizza." So Soylent is not going to be some magic diet drink that will give you willpower you didn't already have. :)
Speaking only to weight, my wife and I did lose a planned number of pounds. Soylent was a means of controlling caloric intake, while providing complete nutrition while exercising.
Official blog entry reports: "These reductions come from the removal of gum acacia and the decreased quantity of oat flour. There is still ample fiber in Soylent 1.4, and we are happy to have found a balance between essential fiber content and digestibility." http://blog.soylent.me/
You'll get more detailed user opinions on the soylent forum.
I go through 3 bags a week. I'm on my second of 1.4:
The sugar crashes I would get in previous versions are significantly reduced in 1.4.
The artificial vanilla flavor made 1.3 tastier; 1.4 is easier to prep but its blend of oils and lack of grittiness makes it smoother and slimier.
Unmodified 1.4 digests slightly better than 1.3 for me.
1.3 digested best for me when I added psyllium husk.
I'll be adding that again next batch to test.
From what i've read, you mix it the night before, put it in the fridge overnight to get smooth and then consume it throughout the day. So presumably you'd just take a small bottle of it into work for your lunch.
You can powderise oils using maltodextrin, it's a trick that a lot of gastro-chefs have been using for years. Turns back into oil in the presence of any liquid.
Agreed that plants are great (I've been vegan for 12 years), but Soylent provides a dependable solution for those who need a quick, nutritious meal (such as breakfast) and has opened up interesting possibilities such as sipping down lunch while taking a walk in a park.
Plus, you can use Soylent as an excellent base for making smoothies that include other fruits, veggies, etc.
I'm unambiguously, loudly, incredibly dubious about Soylent, and personally think it's ridiculous, but even I don't think it's "obviously horrible for your health".
[+] [-] vhost-|11 years ago|reply
I was very skeptical about it at first and got it just to convince myself I didn't need it. Immediately I felt pretty good and didn't crave the burrito I wanted for lunch.
I'm also very excited that it's vegan because that's been my diet for over 8 years.
[+] [-] JTon|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] stevebot|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] hamburglar|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] kileywm|11 years ago|reply
I currently have my subscription set up so that I receive 2 weeks work of Soylent every month.
Breakdown: 500 calories per meal ~$2.33 per meal
How I use it:
Complete meal/snack replacement for breakfast and lunch most days. Rarely have it for dinner.
What I've learned so far:
Don't drink it right after you mix it unless you shake it really really well, otherwise you'll encounter clumps. Given at least an hour to soak in water, it reaches a clumpless consistency.
The taste is fairly neutral with a slight hint of malty sweetness. Some people rave about using it as a coffee creamer, but I myself have not tried that.
The texture is grainy in comparison to a smoothie, but this is to be expected with a powder-based meal.
It's filling, very easy to drink when chilled, and the bowel movements are regular in frequency (and consistency!) with no notable increase in gas.
So far I'm pretty happy with it. It strikes me as a good deal healthier and ridiculously more convenient than anything else I'd make for myself, meal-wise, if you can tolerate sacrificing flavor and texture.
[+] [-] kposehn|11 years ago|reply
At this point, my body has fully adjusted and I crave Soylent at some times. I use it for ~1/2 my meals and could easily see it taking 2/3. I do enjoy regular food a _lot_ so I doubt I'll ever go full time, but it definitely has helped to balance out my nutrition fully.
I continue to feel that Soylent is the first company that will likely feed the world - literally. Without the oil bottle and the ability to scale manufacturing, it is only a matter of time before we see Soylent as part of humanitarian convoys and/or used in medical settings. The possibilities are quite frankly amazing...
[+] [-] DanBC|11 years ago|reply
It's baffling when people claim soylent could be used for medical or humanitarian purposes, especially when those uses have been debunked on HN everytime they're mentioned.
[+] [-] quotedmycode|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] aroch|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dragonwriter|11 years ago|reply
I've never seen any coherent reason to believe this, or even anything individual piece relevant to this that Soylent has innovated on.
[+] [-] mrfusion|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] TamDenholm|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Someone1234|11 years ago|reply
If you're making your own meals ($3/meal), yes, it is expensive. If you eat out then it is much more reasonable. A single eat-out costs ballpark around $6/meal, so assuming you did that twice it would break even.
I agree re. sample size. $85 in one go is hard to justify to the +1 when all you're really buying is food. $6 here or there is easy to ignore, but $85 is a weekly grocery shop in everyone's mind.
I wonder if price will come down as they expand? It might be wishful thinking to be honest, but I do suspect there are a fair few people who would happily try it if it was closer to $4/meal rather than $6/meal per now (i.e. $8/day from $12/day).
PS - I have to admit my three reasons for not trying it is: price, manufacturing problems/delays, and also I remain unconvinced that we know enough about nutrition to create this product that won't caused health defects in the medium to long term.
[+] [-] taylorwc|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] baddox|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] XBigTK13X|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Igglyboo|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] FreakyT|11 years ago|reply
On another note, I hope that the increase in manufacturing capacity will eventually allow Soylet to be purchased through traditional retail channels -- it'd be nice to just buy it by the package instead of bulk-orders online.
[+] [-] stevebot|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] DanBC|11 years ago|reply
Now we've modifed that a bit and some doctors think that saturated fat isn't as terrible as it was and that sugar is the actual problem: http://www.nhs.uk/news/2013/10October/Pages/Saturated-fat-li...
If we got that wrong how well are going to do with all the micronutrients and other stuff that is in real food?
Soylent had a terrible, unethical, marketing campaing during its kickstarter. (Probably illegal in the US - it made medical claims) but they seem to be a lot more careful about that kind of stuff now.
If you're going to use any of the meal replacement products (there are loads on the market) you don't have to give up real food. You can still eat fruit and veg alongside your nutrient-gloop.
[+] [-] mrfusion|11 years ago|reply
[1] I'm thinking the high potassium, and low sodium could lower high blood pressure?
[+] [-] jack-r-abbit|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] XBigTK13X|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mrfusion|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Harelin|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] orik|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|11 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] DustyDiscovery|11 years ago|reply
I go through 3 bags a week. I'm on my second of 1.4:
The sugar crashes I would get in previous versions are significantly reduced in 1.4. The artificial vanilla flavor made 1.3 tastier; 1.4 is easier to prep but its blend of oils and lack of grittiness makes it smoother and slimier.
Unmodified 1.4 digests slightly better than 1.3 for me. 1.3 digested best for me when I added psyllium husk. I'll be adding that again next batch to test.
[+] [-] mrfusion|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mrfusion|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] TamDenholm|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|11 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] rckrd|11 years ago|reply
I wonder if they are now claiming an artificial shortage to try and continue to sustain the illusion.
[+] [-] weego|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rjurney|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] brathouz|11 years ago|reply
Plus, you can use Soylent as an excellent base for making smoothies that include other fruits, veggies, etc.
[+] [-] rosser|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] WizzleKake|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|11 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] unknown|11 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] mrcwinn|11 years ago|reply
I would like to apologize to the entire HN community.
[+] [-] mizzao|11 years ago|reply