>Soylent is doing nothing more than accommodating to the needs of humanoids who continue the endless pursuit of some vague promise of capitalist fulfillment
Or, I'm just really lazy and would prefer something remotely healthy and cheap compared to, say, ordering a pizza.
It isn't meant to replace all your food intake, but, it seems like a good thing for when-you-just-don't-feel-like-cooking or don't have time because you have other things you'd rather do, then spend time cooking and eating (don't get me wrong though, I very much enjoy eating)..
As a student, this seems like a super product for someone like me...
> Surely not every meal you eat is such a delight. An awful lot of food is just calorie stuffing to maintain energy.
It is? Not really for me and people I know. You can still make calorie stuffing enjoyable. Even if I'm alone I can whip up a 10 minute meal that tastes damn nice compared to what Soylent is supposed to taste like. E.g. heat a wok with a bit of oil, dump in a package of pre sliced wok vegetables and a handful of cashew nuts. While that is going soak some noodles. After a couple of minutes add soy sauce, rice vinegar, ginger syrup and the noodles, and you are done. With some practice you can make this in 5 minutes. I don't understand why somebody would rather save 3 minutes (roughly 1/500 of a day) and drink Soylent. Can't you sleep 3 minutes less instead?
I've always thought of food like sex. It keeps you healthy, but that's not why we do it. Optimizing food (or sex) to minimize the time spent while ignoring the enjoyment completely misses the point for me, so that's why I find it interesting and incomprehensible that Soylent is so successful.
>>If you were never hungry, would you eat for enjoyment?
Eating tasty, whole some food is one of the biggest joys of life.
>>Soylent's premise is that you have time to do other fun or profitable things instead of making time for a meal.
Your productivity problems will come due many other factors than breaking for a meal. If anything breaking for a meal will ensure you will come back and work with a lot more focus.
> Isn't this product supposed to be the end-all and be-all of meal replacements?
I don't know why so many people think this is the case and then hate on the product.
Taking too much of any one thing is bad for you. People were doing only-soylent as an experiment. But for the most part 90% of the time I've read people only using it for a single meal each day, or on days they dont have time to cook, and eating regular food otherwise. Which sounds entirely reasonable to me, especially given how often people substituted those moments with junk food.
> You can't live off those products alone, you would miss out on important nutrients.
As you would with Soylent, as others have pointed out in detailed analysis of how it provides, in many nutrient categories, only a single (and often the least useful) one of a broad group of related nutrients.
> AFAIK Soylent is a food replacement.
Well, its marketed that way. That doesn't mean its actually good for that.
> ...people seeing eating as a nuisance that should be optimized away versus something that should be savoured and enjoyed.
> In one world, Soylent could eventually dominate, in the other, it will remain a niche product because eating and food is too important too most, also culturally speaking.
This is a false dichotomy. I savor and enjoy food, but not all the food I eat. If every frozen burrito was replaced with Soylent, Soylent would be far more than a niche product, yet society would not have lost it's appreciation for the cultural, social, and culinary aspects of food.
>Take your time to cook, chew your food and talk with your fellow human beings. Share your meals, every day.
Some people live alone, just don't eat with other people or do things while they eat which prevents socializing.
And, you could still socialize while you (or your friends included) eat Soylent. You don't have to have food in front of you to sit at a dinner table.
>Sure, preparing and cooking food takes time. But you know, that's actually a good thing
Not for me. Sure, cooking can be fun enough, but I share my kitchen with 12 other people (live in a dorm), and the kitchen is what would be in a normal household. You now have to plan when to cook since the utilities can easily get taken.
Also, my time can be spent on other things, like relaxing instead of reading etc etc.
>Variation is good, social interaction is good, I can't see the point in soylent, not to mention the interesting question of what will happen long term healthwise if you switch to a mono-cultural product like this for any significant fraction of your diet.
Sure, social interaction is good. You don't have to replace every meal with Soylent, but the meals that are a hassle and you eat alone anyways can now be replaced by something that's probably healthier than a frozen pizza or a microwave dish.
I, for one, wouldn't mind replacing some of my meals with Soylent, since it will give me more flexibility than buying salad and having to eat home the next couple of days or else the salad will spoil (and similar circumstances).
In short Soylent gives:
* Flexibility
* More time
* More than likely a healthier alternative to fast food
That said, it isn't for everyone. If you have time and enjoy cooking, then do so. You can also just supplement with Soylent, og supplement with cooking once in a while. Or lastly go full Soylent (which I probably wouldn't). But everyone doesn't fit into one box.
>2) But it's marketed as complete food replacement, not as a simple nutritional supplement. Though I don't fancy the supplement industry either.
I'm not sure where you got this idea, the Soylent guide they send you when you get your first shipment even tells you that it's not necessary to go 100% Soylent. And, as far as I can tell, the website never says that you should eat only Soylent.
>3) I think it's stupid to consider this time as waste instead of time well spent.
Is the 10 minutes of making breakfast sausages really time well spent every day? That 10 minutes where I'm still somewhat sleepy, somewhat groggy, and pretty grumpy? I'd much rather have a serving of Soylent for breakfast, takes me 30 seconds to pour out a cup and spend an extra 10 minutes running in the morning, reading a newspaper, etc.
>4) Standards for food production are higher, I can touch it, I can see it, I can ask where it's from. Not sure where you have been buying your food. A banana I eat is not the product of a badly regulated industry, where hobbyists create mixtures of their liking.
As for the health of Soylent, you can find every ingredient and amount [1] for every iteration of it. While there's definitely less regulation in this industry, Soylent themselves have done a decent job of publishing the nutrition facts [2] and ingredients, is this that far removed from another traditional food? Can you really verify what pesticides were used in the production of that banana that you're eating?
> Soylent is for meals you don't care about but need
This is the problem. That concept is completely foreign to a lot of people (me included). The combination of my body's needs and the way I was raised lead me to view each meal as an opportunity to be enjoyed, never a chore.
Something I observed in the weightlifting community: there are people who need to worry about dieting (cutting) and people who worry about eating enough (bulking). Serious weightlifters go through cycles of both but most people struggle more with one side or another.
Bulking isn't a struggle for me -- I can clear 5,000 kcal/day without a sweat. I've trained myself to eat pretty healthy but I'd always prefer steak and eggs for breakfast. On the other hand, a friend of mine complains about all the pizza he has to eat to meet his targets. Soylent makes a lot of sense for him (quick calories) but I'll never understand that feeling of "ugh, I need to eat, guess I'll have a Soylent".
> First - the author lives almost entirely on Soylent for the past year and half.
In other words, a sample size of one.
I haven't an opinion on the safety of the product, but a sample size of one only proves it's not an outright poison. It's likely not actively harmful, but still, nutrition is a complicated thing.
I just think the whole idea of it couldn't be more depressing. People who don't get enjoyment out of food freak me out a bit. There are few things I enjoy more than cooking and eating well prepared food.
> Doing so does require cooking and a bit of planning. ... So, what is the niche for Soylent?
Bam, there's the niche right there! At least for me, laziness is the reason. I want to eat decently, but sometimes I don't want to stop working, I usually don't want to cook, and I don't always want to go out and grab fast food or have something delivered. So if I can mix a decent-tasting, filling shake quickly, that's a great thing. Bonus points since that shake will probably be better for me than some frozen dinner or fatty sandwich from a drive-thru.
> I guess if you're a meta-human weirdo who claims to have no inherent desire to consume tasty food and just wants to "get it out of the way", Soylent is for you. I don't believe you actually exist, though.
Here I am, right here! 28-year-old woman, just to give some demographic information. I don't like cooking, I don't want to deal with produce that goes bad before I get around to preparing it. Soylent is a lovely time-saver for me.
What is with the vehement anti-Soylent crowd who just can't believe some of us have more enjoyable ways to spend our time than cooking, planning meals, preparing ingredients, and grocery shopping?
If this is how you view eating then Soylent is probably the best thing since sliced bread in your mind. For the rest of us... not so much.
reply