5 ms·

Considering how little we truly understand about nutrition, I would not willingly eat this stuff.

by nickbauman 12y ago

christiangenco 12y ago
Have you ever willingly drunk a protein shake?
- nickbauman 12y ago
  Only when there's no other choice.
baddox 12y ago
That doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Do you have some reason to suspect that the diet you're currently eating is based on a more correct understanding of nutrition than a diet that includes Soylent?
- nickbauman 12y ago
  Good question. I take a conservative view. I consider how our understanding of nutrition is limited, I look at the evolutionary morphology of our species and take a look at what we've adapted to eat for nearly a million years and favor that sort of food over something synthesized _this year._ I allow that Soylent may be better quality than this food. But the odds are it's not.
  - baddox 12y ago
    I don't mean to offend, but that sounds like irrational risk aversion, unless you have more information about nutrition and the development process of your usual diet vs. Soylent. My usual diet is fairly unorganized and not particularly well-researched (by me). I'm sure a huge amount of engineering and "artificial" processes have gone into most of it, just like with Soylent. I don't really see a dichotomy between a diet "naturally" formed by evolution over millions of years and a Soylent diet.
    - nickbauman 12y ago
      When you consider the iceman, a nearly 6,000 year old preserved corpse of a man pushing-50-years-old suffering from Lyme disease who was crossing the alps ON FOOT when he was murdered as irrationally healthy, I see your point.
  - zevyoura 12y ago
    Almost none of the foods we eat were common 200 years ago, let alone 1 million.
    - sytelus 12y ago
      Huh? You mean meats, vegetables, milk, grains didn't exist 200 years ago?
      - zevyoura 12y ago
        Sorry, what I posted was idiotic and said in haste. One million years is a couple orders of magnitude too long, but humans have of course had agriculture for 10k+ years. My point, though poorly phrased, was meant to be that modern crops are far different (largely more efficient) than the crops that were grown in distant human history. Also, corn, wheat, and rice dominate the worldwide diet in a way that wasn't always the case. Soylent is largely composed of these same crops anyways so the point I failed to make is silly on a couple levels.
natrius 12y ago
Lots of the world gets by mostly on rice. Soylent is oats, rice, starch, fiber and vitamins. It doesn't scare me, especially when supplemented with actual plants.
codezero 12y ago
I felt the same way, but after reading several of the "month long" articles about Soylent where they frequently visited a doctor go make sure everything was in order, I was convinced. Personally, I had a yearly check-up after a few weeks of Soylent and everything was fine, so I'm not too concerned. I'm definitely eating more appropriate portions and getting more diverse nutrients than I had been when stuffing my face naturally.
gtaylor 12y ago
I'm not sure it can be any worse than some of the other junk we tend to eat. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luther_Burger http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luther_Burger Unlike so many unhealthy "normal" foods, Soylent is at least trying to be healthy and nutritious. Worst case, it probably won't kill you any faster than a Doughnut Burger.
IanDrake 12y ago
My experience so far has been mostly positive. After being on Soylent 1.1 for about two weeks (for 70% of my meals) I no longer have a problem with my calves cramping while surfing in cold water. I've tried a bunch or recommendations in the past (magnesium pills, potassium pills, bananas, hydration, etc..) to fix this problem but nothing ever worked. After an hour my legs would always cramp and I'd have to end an otherwise good session. I've only been in the water three times since starting Soylent, but so far no cramps. It must be giving my body something it wasn't getting before and I had a pretty healthy diet.
- smrtinsert 12y ago
  Causation, fantastic.
psychometry 12y ago
Because you know the exact contents of the food you order at restaurants, other people's homes, etc.? I think not.

Considering how little we truly understand about nutrition, I would not willingly eat this stuff.

christiangenco 12y ago

Have you ever willingly drunk a protein shake?

nickbauman 12y ago
Only when there's no other choice.

baddox 12y ago

That doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Do you have some reason to suspect that the diet you're currently eating is based on a more correct understanding of nutrition than a diet that includes Soylent?

nickbauman 12y ago
Good question. I take a conservative view. I consider how our understanding of nutrition is limited, I look at the evolutionary morphology of our species and take a look at what we've adapted to eat for nearly a million years and favor that sort of food over something synthesized _this year._ I allow that Soylent may be better quality than this food. But the odds are it's not.
- baddox 12y ago
  I don't mean to offend, but that sounds like irrational risk aversion, unless you have more information about nutrition and the development process of your usual diet vs. Soylent. My usual diet is fairly unorganized and not particularly well-researched (by me). I'm sure a huge amount of engineering and "artificial" processes have gone into most of it, just like with Soylent. I don't really see a dichotomy between a diet "naturally" formed by evolution over millions of years and a Soylent diet.
  - nickbauman 12y ago
    When you consider the iceman, a nearly 6,000 year old preserved corpse of a man pushing-50-years-old suffering from Lyme disease who was crossing the alps ON FOOT when he was murdered as irrationally healthy, I see your point.
- zevyoura 12y ago
  Almost none of the foods we eat were common 200 years ago, let alone 1 million.
  - sytelus 12y ago
    Huh? You mean meats, vegetables, milk, grains didn't exist 200 years ago?
    - zevyoura 12y ago
      Sorry, what I posted was idiotic and said in haste. One million years is a couple orders of magnitude too long, but humans have of course had agriculture for 10k+ years. My point, though poorly phrased, was meant to be that modern crops are far different (largely more efficient) than the crops that were grown in distant human history. Also, corn, wheat, and rice dominate the worldwide diet in a way that wasn't always the case. Soylent is largely composed of these same crops anyways so the point I failed to make is silly on a couple levels.

natrius 12y ago

Lots of the world gets by mostly on rice. Soylent is oats, rice, starch, fiber and vitamins. It doesn't scare me, especially when supplemented with actual plants.

codezero 12y ago

I felt the same way, but after reading several of the "month long" articles about Soylent where they frequently visited a doctor go make sure everything was in order, I was convinced. Personally, I had a yearly check-up after a few weeks of Soylent and everything was fine, so I'm not too concerned. I'm definitely eating more appropriate portions and getting more diverse nutrients than I had been when stuffing my face naturally.

gtaylor 12y ago

I'm not sure it can be any worse than some of the other junk we tend to eat. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luther_Burger http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luther_Burger Unlike so many unhealthy "normal" foods, Soylent is at least trying to be healthy and nutritious. Worst case, it probably won't kill you any faster than a Doughnut Burger.

IanDrake 12y ago

My experience so far has been mostly positive. After being on Soylent 1.1 for about two weeks (for 70% of my meals) I no longer have a problem with my calves cramping while surfing in cold water. I've tried a bunch or recommendations in the past (magnesium pills, potassium pills, bananas, hydration, etc..) to fix this problem but nothing ever worked. After an hour my legs would always cramp and I'd have to end an otherwise good session. I've only been in the water three times since starting Soylent, but so far no cramps. It must be giving my body something it wasn't getting before and I had a pretty healthy diet.

smrtinsert 12y ago
Causation, fantastic.

psychometry 12y ago

Because you know the exact contents of the food you order at restaurants, other people's homes, etc.? I think not.