4 ms·

My concern is that they are billing this as healthy with zero evidence that it actually is. The last few years of nutrition research has begun to show us that

My concern is that they are billing this as healthy with zero evidence that it actually is. The last few years of nutrition research has begun to show us that we know nothing about it. Pretending you can come up with an optimal solution when nobbody knows what healthy is, is just that, pretending. I fear for the people who see this as a great "life hack" who wind up doing long-lasting damage to themselves. There are cases of people having liver failure when they go on a long-term liquid diet. I have no idea if that applies, because we don't really know why that happens. I appreciate the hacker instinct, but, in this case, I fear it is a dangerous one.

intended 13y ago
In this case it is. None of them have a background in biology/nutrition/medicine/health from what I can see. Their product ha the story and format to appeals to the HN audience "hack food". They consider cooking a chore and a "waste of time", which means there are audience is VERY limited. The majority of people spend a large amount on variety and taste in food because they like it. So their target market is people who think like them. And finally - and most importantly - you cannot eat the same concentration and matrix of nutrients every day! On some days you will work harder, or work less, fall sick, want sugar, drink alcohol, be happy, have medicines - or experience any of a thousand different variable large and small which necessitate a change in diet.
nitrogen 13y ago
How can eating Soylent do more long-lasting damage to oneself than eating any other food?
- kamakazizuru 13y ago
  just off the top of my head - if the nutrient powders in there are contaminated (which isnt impossible - a lot of the things he has in there arent your typical over the counter Centrum - but rather rare metals / their compounds - manufactured in some factory somewhere)
  - papsosouid 13y ago
    He specifically said compared to eating any other food. Every food can be contaminated. In order to sell this, he has to meet the same requirements every other food producer does.
- SoftwareMaven 13y ago
  Missing nutrients is probably the most obvious, but bad combinations of nutrients having strange effects is certainly possible. A person's vitamin C needs are different if they are eating a diet that is predominately meat than if they are eating a lot of grains (the reason why Inuits didn't suffer from scurvy). Maybe there is a combination in Soylent that makes calcium very difficult to absorb or alters the body's ph so calcium has to be leached from the bones to proper ph. After 10 years, your bones become exceedingly brittle, and there isn't much you can do about it. I'm not saying this is less healthy than eating Ensure for every meal, but I would say the exact same thing about Ensure, and I trust a little more science has gone into it (maybe 10% valid nutrition and 90% "how do we get this to taste/sell better" food "science"). The worst part for me is that we have no idea. At best, we have a few anecdotes. But I feel this way about every "miracle food" that comes on the market.

intended 13y ago

In this case it is. None of them have a background in biology/nutrition/medicine/health from what I can see. Their product ha the story and format to appeals to the HN audience "hack food". They consider cooking a chore and a "waste of time", which means there are audience is VERY limited. The majority of people spend a large amount on variety and taste in food because they like it. So their target market is people who think like them. And finally - and most importantly - you cannot eat the same concentration and matrix of nutrients every day! On some days you will work harder, or work less, fall sick, want sugar, drink alcohol, be happy, have medicines - or experience any of a thousand different variable large and small which necessitate a change in diet.

nitrogen 13y ago

How can eating Soylent do more long-lasting damage to oneself than eating any other food?

kamakazizuru 13y ago
just off the top of my head - if the nutrient powders in there are contaminated (which isnt impossible - a lot of the things he has in there arent your typical over the counter Centrum - but rather rare metals / their compounds - manufactured in some factory somewhere)
- papsosouid 13y ago
  He specifically said compared to eating any other food. Every food can be contaminated. In order to sell this, he has to meet the same requirements every other food producer does.
SoftwareMaven 13y ago
Missing nutrients is probably the most obvious, but bad combinations of nutrients having strange effects is certainly possible. A person's vitamin C needs are different if they are eating a diet that is predominately meat than if they are eating a lot of grains (the reason why Inuits didn't suffer from scurvy). Maybe there is a combination in Soylent that makes calcium very difficult to absorb or alters the body's ph so calcium has to be leached from the bones to proper ph. After 10 years, your bones become exceedingly brittle, and there isn't much you can do about it. I'm not saying this is less healthy than eating Ensure for every meal, but I would say the exact same thing about Ensure, and I trust a little more science has gone into it (maybe 10% valid nutrition and 90% "how do we get this to taste/sell better" food "science"). The worst part for me is that we have no idea. At best, we have a few anecdotes. But I feel this way about every "miracle food" that comes on the market.