4 ms·

Why not find food that you (and your body) want to eat?

Klathmon 10y ago
Like Soylent? The problem is that many "healthy" things either cost time to prepare and make, or they cost money to buy. I don't want to spend either of those, and based on my past experience, I'll just end up not eating, or just drinking milk if the barrier is too high. I know it's not healthy, but its what ends up happening.
- eropple 10y ago
  You could also modify your behavior instead of attempting to build crutches for unhealthy behaviors. Food preparation can be a pleasant experience, curiosity-satisfying experience and need not take much time. I spend maybe two and a half hours across an entire week preparing healthy food--and it tastes a hell of a lot better, too. (I have tried Soylent, and I think it's foul and unsatisfying. Tech bros apparently can't make Ensure or Slim-Fast better than Ensure or Slim-Fast is. Which isn't very good.)
  - Klathmon 10y ago
    I've actually tried the soylent powder from a friend and found it was great. And while you can find food prep to be a satisfying experience, i can't. I've tried, many times, and it just feels like pulling teeth. From going to the market to buy ingredients, to planning out the meals and portions, to actually prepping and cooking the food. It's boring, tedious, and not something I enjoy at all. The "better taste" can actually be an issue as well, because I tend to need to force myself to eat even when I'm not hungry, and eating something that was prepared hours ago that doesn't sound that appealing any more while not really hungry isn't a pleasant experience. I'd rather have a shake, or eat a bar, and go on with my life.
- smallnamespace 10y ago
  I don't know what your living arrangements are, but I've found that if you're living with others, sharing food prep responsibilities can be efficient in both time and money. Obviously, that does require some time investment in learning to cook. I hope Soylent works out for you, I'm just really doubtful that it's a reliable long term solution. It's our hubris in thinking we understood nutrition that led to stuff like trans fats being added to everything. Hope this isn't just repeating the same mistake.
  - Klathmon 10y ago
    I personally think soylent is putting a lot more research into their shakes or bars in terms of nutrition than the yogurt company is for my wife's morning breakfast...
    - smallnamespace 10y ago
      If you mean reading existing published research, I think they probably are doing that. But they're certainly not funding a lab that is doing new nutritional science research, because that would cost tens of millions of dollars a year. I think the risk is that they'll be missing ingredients that are rather important to the human body that we don't know about yet. Even the idea a 'vitamin' didn't exist until about ~100 years ago.
      - Klathmon 10y ago
        But why do you worry about soylent not having everything you need to live, but not your morning cereal? Why does one meal made by a tech company need to have literally everything you need to live when the alternatives don't? I'm not saying soylent is all you need to live, and I'm pretty sure they aren't either, just that it's a healthy meal replacement.
        smallnamespace 10y ago
        > Why does one meal made by a tech company need to have literally everything you need to live when the alternatives don't? Mostly because of their marketing claims: 'We engineered Soylent to provide all the protein, carbohydrates, lipids, and micronutrients that a body needs to thrive.' Particularly the 'micronutrient' claim I think is totally unproven. Nobody seriously expects to survive and be healthy eating nothing but breakfast cereal (admittedly, a lot of cereal is crap), but that's Soylent's claim at face value. One thing that traditional foods have going for them is that there is a lot of empirical cultural experience with them. You know yogurt, or curry, or broccoli is probably ok to eat, because humans have eaten them for some thousands of years and tinkered with them nonstop during that time. The same can't be said for 'engineered' foods, whether Soylent or any other modern processed food.

Like Soylent? The problem is that many "healthy" things either cost time to prepare and make, or they cost money to buy. I don't want to spend either of those, and based on my past experience, I'll just end up not eating, or just drinking milk if the barrier is too high. I know it's not healthy, but its what ends up happening.

eropple 10y ago
You could also modify your behavior instead of attempting to build crutches for unhealthy behaviors. Food preparation can be a pleasant experience, curiosity-satisfying experience and need not take much time. I spend maybe two and a half hours across an entire week preparing healthy food--and it tastes a hell of a lot better, too. (I have tried Soylent, and I think it's foul and unsatisfying. Tech bros apparently can't make Ensure or Slim-Fast better than Ensure or Slim-Fast is. Which isn't very good.)
- Klathmon 10y ago
  I've actually tried the soylent powder from a friend and found it was great. And while you can find food prep to be a satisfying experience, i can't. I've tried, many times, and it just feels like pulling teeth. From going to the market to buy ingredients, to planning out the meals and portions, to actually prepping and cooking the food. It's boring, tedious, and not something I enjoy at all. The "better taste" can actually be an issue as well, because I tend to need to force myself to eat even when I'm not hungry, and eating something that was prepared hours ago that doesn't sound that appealing any more while not really hungry isn't a pleasant experience. I'd rather have a shake, or eat a bar, and go on with my life.
smallnamespace 10y ago
I don't know what your living arrangements are, but I've found that if you're living with others, sharing food prep responsibilities can be efficient in both time and money. Obviously, that does require some time investment in learning to cook. I hope Soylent works out for you, I'm just really doubtful that it's a reliable long term solution. It's our hubris in thinking we understood nutrition that led to stuff like trans fats being added to everything. Hope this isn't just repeating the same mistake.
- Klathmon 10y ago
  I personally think soylent is putting a lot more research into their shakes or bars in terms of nutrition than the yogurt company is for my wife's morning breakfast...
  - smallnamespace 10y ago
    If you mean reading existing published research, I think they probably are doing that. But they're certainly not funding a lab that is doing new nutritional science research, because that would cost tens of millions of dollars a year. I think the risk is that they'll be missing ingredients that are rather important to the human body that we don't know about yet. Even the idea a 'vitamin' didn't exist until about ~100 years ago.
    - Klathmon 10y ago
      But why do you worry about soylent not having everything you need to live, but not your morning cereal? Why does one meal made by a tech company need to have literally everything you need to live when the alternatives don't? I'm not saying soylent is all you need to live, and I'm pretty sure they aren't either, just that it's a healthy meal replacement.
      - smallnamespace 10y ago
        > Why does one meal made by a tech company need to have literally everything you need to live when the alternatives don't? Mostly because of their marketing claims: 'We engineered Soylent to provide all the protein, carbohydrates, lipids, and micronutrients that a body needs to thrive.' Particularly the 'micronutrient' claim I think is totally unproven. Nobody seriously expects to survive and be healthy eating nothing but breakfast cereal (admittedly, a lot of cereal is crap), but that's Soylent's claim at face value. One thing that traditional foods have going for them is that there is a lot of empirical cultural experience with them. You know yogurt, or curry, or broccoli is probably ok to eat, because humans have eaten them for some thousands of years and tinkered with them nonstop during that time. The same can't be said for 'engineered' foods, whether Soylent or any other modern processed food.