6 ms·

This will be garbage food, it's arrogant to believe you can add "some of this and some of that" and that it will be a good food source for humans. If you just

This will be garbage food, it's arrogant to believe you can add "some of this and some of that" and that it will be a good food source for humans. If you just a bit of too much or too little of something you will create a nutritionally deficient human. All of these "artifical foods" are garbage, these "scientists" don't understand that real food is such a complicated blend of so many different things that you cannot just recreate it from some base building blocks like proteins, vitamins etc..

sacred_numbers 6y ago
This is not artificial food any more than bread or cheese are artificial. Also, the scientists developing this technology are not advocating that people only eat Solein; in fact it seems like they're marketing it more as an extra ingredient that can be added to other foods that will increase the protein levels. It also seems like you're confusing this company with companies like Soylent that are trying to create a nutritionally complete smoothie. You're correct that we probably don't understand nutrition well enough yet to make a single food that would lead to optimum nutrient levels, but in my opinion it doesn't really matter. Almost all humans are somewhat nutritionally deficient; eating a food designed to have optimum nutrient levels will probably make you less deficient than average and you can always supplement a Soylent diet with other foods.
- OneGuy123 6y ago
  Bread and cheese are natural creations from grains & bacteria and not a cherry-picked nutritional list of stuff.
  - rsynnott 6y ago
    And they are very much not nutritionally complete. Try living on bread and cheese for a few months and see what exciting deficiency diseases you develop!
  - ac29 6y ago
    The Solar Foods product is also a natural creation from bacterial fermentation.
profofofo 6y ago
Yeah, it’s bemusing to see people calling a single protein “food” instead of the glorified protein supplement it is. At best, it would become an alternative to existing protein powders made from milk or plant crops, assuming the amino acid profile is good and it doesn’t cause allergies/reactions in some people.
- imtringued 6y ago
  I agree. This is just an alternative to isolating proteins. Maybe its better. Maybe its worse. For me it doesnt matter because eating two small rolls of Harzer Käse already gives me 30g of proteins. No need to supplement anything if you eat the right food.
- eloff 6y ago
  Yeah food is a stretch. But it's the beginning of something potentially revolutionary.
NortySpock 6y ago
It's a little arrogant to think we can't determine what is needed to create a nutritionally balanced human. Hence why we can estimate Daily Recommended Intake; for example this nutritional profile https://www.completefoods.co/diy/nutrient-profiles/51e4e6ca7789bc0200000007 https://www.completefoods.co/diy/nutrient-profiles/51e4e6ca7... which would give you the mix of vitamins and minerals and carbs and fats you need. From there, you can mix up your ingredients sourced from https://www.completefoods.co/diy/ingredients https://www.completefoods.co/diy/ingredients or buy it from a company https://soylent.com/products/powder-original https://soylent.com/products/powder-original (not affiliated but I have bought some at one point.) Now, you can tell me it's "not real food". It's a No True Scotsman fallacy, but if anything, sure. I agree. It's not a burger. But it is edible and it will sustain you for possibly weeks to months. A few people on the internet said they've done it. I've eaten Soylent. It's ok. Can't say I'd want to eat it every day of my life but I have had moments where I was busy or not interested in cooking -- and then, for those cases, I imagine a carefully engineered Soylent will give you a more balanced diet than the Taco Bell I got in a hurry because I was hungry and didn't have time / want to cook. Now if you think scientists who spent a decade or more of their life studying nutrition either for a civilian or military purpose are morons, then fine, have that opinion. But I think processed food is a nicer option to have than no food, if I needed to feed my family and had very little money. Soylent clocks in at $1.82/meal. Now I won't deny you might be able to make beans and rice for cheaper than that, but Soylent looks like a nice, balanced, cost-effective option compared to spending $20 at a restaurant.
- OneGuy123 6y ago
  The fact that you belive you can "sum up the ingredients to make a well rounded meal from a bunch of separte foods" shows that you don't get it: You cannot do that because you incorrectly think that there is all there is to food: there are many things that we eat all the time which we are not aware of that end up being important to our diet. It's arrogant to think you can "sum" ingredients and actually get all the nutrients that you need.
  - eloff 6y ago
    Any diet can be described as just "summing" ingredients. There's no magic here that could in theory prevent replacing part or all of a diet with differently derived foods. This protein by itself would potentially just be a small part of a healthy diet, but it's the start of something bigger.

sacred_numbers 6y ago

This is not artificial food any more than bread or cheese are artificial. Also, the scientists developing this technology are not advocating that people only eat Solein; in fact it seems like they're marketing it more as an extra ingredient that can be added to other foods that will increase the protein levels. It also seems like you're confusing this company with companies like Soylent that are trying to create a nutritionally complete smoothie. You're correct that we probably don't understand nutrition well enough yet to make a single food that would lead to optimum nutrient levels, but in my opinion it doesn't really matter. Almost all humans are somewhat nutritionally deficient; eating a food designed to have optimum nutrient levels will probably make you less deficient than average and you can always supplement a Soylent diet with other foods.

OneGuy123 6y ago
Bread and cheese are natural creations from grains & bacteria and not a cherry-picked nutritional list of stuff.
- rsynnott 6y ago
  And they are very much not nutritionally complete. Try living on bread and cheese for a few months and see what exciting deficiency diseases you develop!
- ac29 6y ago
  The Solar Foods product is also a natural creation from bacterial fermentation.

profofofo 6y ago

Yeah, it’s bemusing to see people calling a single protein “food” instead of the glorified protein supplement it is. At best, it would become an alternative to existing protein powders made from milk or plant crops, assuming the amino acid profile is good and it doesn’t cause allergies/reactions in some people.

imtringued 6y ago
I agree. This is just an alternative to isolating proteins. Maybe its better. Maybe its worse. For me it doesnt matter because eating two small rolls of Harzer Käse already gives me 30g of proteins. No need to supplement anything if you eat the right food.
eloff 6y ago
Yeah food is a stretch. But it's the beginning of something potentially revolutionary.

NortySpock 6y ago

It's a little arrogant to think we can't determine what is needed to create a nutritionally balanced human. Hence why we can estimate Daily Recommended Intake; for example this nutritional profile https://www.completefoods.co/diy/nutrient-profiles/51e4e6ca7789bc0200000007 https://www.completefoods.co/diy/nutrient-profiles/51e4e6ca7... which would give you the mix of vitamins and minerals and carbs and fats you need. From there, you can mix up your ingredients sourced from https://www.completefoods.co/diy/ingredients https://www.completefoods.co/diy/ingredients or buy it from a company https://soylent.com/products/powder-original https://soylent.com/products/powder-original (not affiliated but I have bought some at one point.) Now, you can tell me it's "not real food". It's a No True Scotsman fallacy, but if anything, sure. I agree. It's not a burger. But it is edible and it will sustain you for possibly weeks to months. A few people on the internet said they've done it. I've eaten Soylent. It's ok. Can't say I'd want to eat it every day of my life but I have had moments where I was busy or not interested in cooking -- and then, for those cases, I imagine a carefully engineered Soylent will give you a more balanced diet than the Taco Bell I got in a hurry because I was hungry and didn't have time / want to cook. Now if you think scientists who spent a decade or more of their life studying nutrition either for a civilian or military purpose are morons, then fine, have that opinion. But I think processed food is a nicer option to have than no food, if I needed to feed my family and had very little money. Soylent clocks in at $1.82/meal. Now I won't deny you might be able to make beans and rice for cheaper than that, but Soylent looks like a nice, balanced, cost-effective option compared to spending $20 at a restaurant.

OneGuy123 6y ago
The fact that you belive you can "sum up the ingredients to make a well rounded meal from a bunch of separte foods" shows that you don't get it: You cannot do that because you incorrectly think that there is all there is to food: there are many things that we eat all the time which we are not aware of that end up being important to our diet. It's arrogant to think you can "sum" ingredients and actually get all the nutrients that you need.
- eloff 6y ago
  Any diet can be described as just "summing" ingredients. There's no magic here that could in theory prevent replacing part or all of a diet with differently derived foods. This protein by itself would potentially just be a small part of a healthy diet, but it's the start of something bigger.