5 ms·

They've also done a REALLY good job of addressing peoples' critiques. For instance: manufacturing. They've contracted with an experienced, FDA-certified manuf

by blhack 13y ago

They've also done a REALLY good job of addressing peoples' critiques. For instance: manufacturing. They've contracted with an experienced, FDA-certified manufacturing facility that Does This Sort of Things. Can't wait to get my soylent! (My girlfriend has been trying to create DIY soylent, so I'm really curious how hers will taste different than the "real" thing. The experiment from last night: soylent flatbread!)

hcarvalhoalves 13y ago
The hype around Soylent is unbelievable. You realize you don't need to wait for it if you want, you can just go out and buy Ensure and similars?
- Shamanmuni 13y ago
  I'm no expert, but as I understand Ensure is a supplement for your meals, Soylent is a replacement for them. You shouldn't consume only Ensure, but you could do it with Soylent. They are completely different products.
  - ceejayoz 13y ago
    > You shouldn't consume only Ensure, but you could do it with Soylent. [citation needed] Malnutrition can have effects years down the line. A bunch of early-adopters with confirmation bias trying it for a couple months proves little about its long-term safety.
    - Shamanmuni 13y ago
      Sure, but if your regular meals are pizza, hamburguers, instant noodles, junk food and the like then you are on your way to malnutrition already. Soylent could be a very positive change for those people. It's not like meals are an arcane science working some unknown magic on your body, it's about biological needs and chemistry. And it's not like there are chefs cooking healthy food in every home. I don't claim anything about Soylent, I have never consumed it, but it sounds like a possible solution to a big problem. Time will tell.
      - tptacek 13y ago
        If you subsist on fast food, you're obviously on your way to health problems, but those problems might not include malnutrition because even fast food inputs are complex compared to something engineered from the most primitive possible inputs to specific macronutrient ratios.
      - ceejayoz 13y ago
        > Soylent could be a very positive change for those people. It could also be worse. Without long-term, scientifically valid studies, no one knows for sure. > It's not like meals are an arcane science working some unknown magic on your body, it's about biological needs and chemistry. The workings of the body are not fully known, even today. There are many unknowns in nutrition, which is precisely why none of the pharmaceutical companies have a "replace all meals!" product.
        Shamanmuni 13y ago
        Again, I'm not disagreeing (at least completely) with you. Research is necessary. I would like to try this for those times when I'm short of time to cook and resort to ordering a pizza for example, not as a complete replacement. And I think it would be advisable for the people interested to do that as long as there's not serious research. However, currently there are serious studies about the bad effects of fast food on your health, it's not an unknown. The way I see it, you are more worried about something that could be bad than about something we know is bad. It doesn't add up to me. Sounds like neophobia. And I'm sorry in advance if I seem rude.
        ceejayoz 13y ago
        The risks of fast food are a known quantity, and folks eating it as a large component of their diet tend to be folks doing so for financial reasons. Soylent is comparatively expensive.
      - geoka9 13y ago
        > And it's not like there are chefs cooking healthy food in every home. You don't need a chef to quickly cook healthy food at home. In fact, most chefs tend to overcomplicate food by aiming for taste instead of healthiness. Throw some vegetables in the steamer, add some tofu and in five minutes you got yourself a healthy lunch. This is just one example.
  - Mindless2112 13y ago
    You probably shouldn't consume only Soylent either, unless you're prepared for a transitional period [1] if you ever need to eat solid foods again. [1] http://discourse.soylent.me/t/effects-of-re-introducing-solid-foods-after-soylent-only-period/3031 http://discourse.soylent.me/t/effects-of-re-introducing-soli...
  - hcarvalhoalves 13y ago
    I'm talking about supplements and products for enteral diet. They are used on people with malnutrition, eating disabilities or digestion disorders, effectively replacing meals, but never marketed as such for the general population by Abbott and co. because 1) they know about nutrition, 2) know it's shortcomings and 3) know it's bad idea.
  - Avshalom 13y ago
    Ensure has been used as a complete replacement for decades. It advertises as a supplement because nutrition is not a one size fits all* kind of thing and being too aggressive about positioning it as a long term food substitute would end in lawsuits. *Seriously, not one size fits all. Changing elevation will cause you to need more/less potassium for instance.
    - asdasf 13y ago
      >Ensure has been used as a complete replacement for decades No, it has not. An ensure contains a mere 11% of your daily potassium for example. Has anyone ever actually recommended that someone drink 9 ensures a day?
      - dragonwriter 13y ago
        > An ensure contains a mere 11% of your daily potassium for example. If you are referring to Ensure Complete, (rather than regular Ensure, which is not intended as a complete replacement), it may be low in potassium because complete replacements may be used by people with various medical conditions for which reduced potassium intake, below the usual-stated Adequate Intake, is recommended [1] (its possible for other users to supplement potassium, so that design choice would make it more broadly usable.) Nutrition is more than one-size-fits-all values. [1] See, e.g., the special considerations that apply to Potassium here: http://www.iom.edu/Global/News%20Announcements/~/media/442A08B899F44DF9AAD083D86164C75B.ashx http://www.iom.edu/Global/News%20Announcements/~/media/442A0...
  - lnanek2 13y ago
    They are the same product. People live for many months on Ensure when their jaws are wired shut and for other health issues. Ensure is just smart enough to properly label and market their product without opening themselves up to damaging claims. Soylent is still in the phase where 23andme was where they put whatever they want on their web site and haven't been smacked down by regulatory agencies yet.

by blhack 13y ago

hcarvalhoalves 13y ago

The hype around Soylent is unbelievable. You realize you don't need to wait for it if you want, you can just go out and buy Ensure and similars?

Shamanmuni 13y ago
I'm no expert, but as I understand Ensure is a supplement for your meals, Soylent is a replacement for them. You shouldn't consume only Ensure, but you could do it with Soylent. They are completely different products.
- ceejayoz 13y ago
  > You shouldn't consume only Ensure, but you could do it with Soylent. [citation needed] Malnutrition can have effects years down the line. A bunch of early-adopters with confirmation bias trying it for a couple months proves little about its long-term safety.
  - Shamanmuni 13y ago
    Sure, but if your regular meals are pizza, hamburguers, instant noodles, junk food and the like then you are on your way to malnutrition already. Soylent could be a very positive change for those people. It's not like meals are an arcane science working some unknown magic on your body, it's about biological needs and chemistry. And it's not like there are chefs cooking healthy food in every home. I don't claim anything about Soylent, I have never consumed it, but it sounds like a possible solution to a big problem. Time will tell.
    - tptacek 13y ago
      If you subsist on fast food, you're obviously on your way to health problems, but those problems might not include malnutrition because even fast food inputs are complex compared to something engineered from the most primitive possible inputs to specific macronutrient ratios.
    - ceejayoz 13y ago
      > Soylent could be a very positive change for those people. It could also be worse. Without long-term, scientifically valid studies, no one knows for sure. > It's not like meals are an arcane science working some unknown magic on your body, it's about biological needs and chemistry. The workings of the body are not fully known, even today. There are many unknowns in nutrition, which is precisely why none of the pharmaceutical companies have a "replace all meals!" product.
      - Shamanmuni 13y ago
        Again, I'm not disagreeing (at least completely) with you. Research is necessary. I would like to try this for those times when I'm short of time to cook and resort to ordering a pizza for example, not as a complete replacement. And I think it would be advisable for the people interested to do that as long as there's not serious research. However, currently there are serious studies about the bad effects of fast food on your health, it's not an unknown. The way I see it, you are more worried about something that could be bad than about something we know is bad. It doesn't add up to me. Sounds like neophobia. And I'm sorry in advance if I seem rude.
        ceejayoz 13y ago
        The risks of fast food are a known quantity, and folks eating it as a large component of their diet tend to be folks doing so for financial reasons. Soylent is comparatively expensive.
    - geoka9 13y ago
      > And it's not like there are chefs cooking healthy food in every home. You don't need a chef to quickly cook healthy food at home. In fact, most chefs tend to overcomplicate food by aiming for taste instead of healthiness. Throw some vegetables in the steamer, add some tofu and in five minutes you got yourself a healthy lunch. This is just one example.
- Mindless2112 13y ago
  You probably shouldn't consume only Soylent either, unless you're prepared for a transitional period [1] if you ever need to eat solid foods again. [1] http://discourse.soylent.me/t/effects-of-re-introducing-solid-foods-after-soylent-only-period/3031 http://discourse.soylent.me/t/effects-of-re-introducing-soli...
- hcarvalhoalves 13y ago
  I'm talking about supplements and products for enteral diet. They are used on people with malnutrition, eating disabilities or digestion disorders, effectively replacing meals, but never marketed as such for the general population by Abbott and co. because 1) they know about nutrition, 2) know it's shortcomings and 3) know it's bad idea.
- Avshalom 13y ago
  Ensure has been used as a complete replacement for decades. It advertises as a supplement because nutrition is not a one size fits all* kind of thing and being too aggressive about positioning it as a long term food substitute would end in lawsuits. *Seriously, not one size fits all. Changing elevation will cause you to need more/less potassium for instance.
  - asdasf 13y ago
    >Ensure has been used as a complete replacement for decades No, it has not. An ensure contains a mere 11% of your daily potassium for example. Has anyone ever actually recommended that someone drink 9 ensures a day?
    - dragonwriter 13y ago
      > An ensure contains a mere 11% of your daily potassium for example. If you are referring to Ensure Complete, (rather than regular Ensure, which is not intended as a complete replacement), it may be low in potassium because complete replacements may be used by people with various medical conditions for which reduced potassium intake, below the usual-stated Adequate Intake, is recommended [1] (its possible for other users to supplement potassium, so that design choice would make it more broadly usable.) Nutrition is more than one-size-fits-all values. [1] See, e.g., the special considerations that apply to Potassium here: http://www.iom.edu/Global/News%20Announcements/~/media/442A08B899F44DF9AAD083D86164C75B.ashx http://www.iom.edu/Global/News%20Announcements/~/media/442A0...
- lnanek2 13y ago
  They are the same product. People live for many months on Ensure when their jaws are wired shut and for other health issues. Ensure is just smart enough to properly label and market their product without opening themselves up to damaging claims. Soylent is still in the phase where 23andme was where they put whatever they want on their web site and haven't been smacked down by regulatory agencies yet.