4 ms·

> Even if I'm alone I can whip up a 10 minute meal that tastes damn nice compared to what Soylent is supposed to taste like. E.g. heat a wok with a bit of oil,

by nether 11y ago

> Even if I'm alone I can whip up a 10 minute meal that tastes damn nice compared to what Soylent is supposed to taste like. E.g. heat a wok with a bit of oil, dump in a package of pre sliced wok vegetables and a handful of cashew nuts. Your lack of empathy for others' lifestyles is outstanding. Not everyone has access to a kitchen at lunch, or wants to deal with the grocery buying and washing dishes that come with cooking from scratch (which you excluded from your time calculation). Soylent replaces shitty convenience eating like McDonalds, not home cooked meals. Your argument can (and should) be aimed more at fast food, which is both pricier and less healthy than Soylent.

jules 11y ago
My argument can't be aimed at fast food because most people find that it tastes nice. You could indeed make a different argument based on price and health against it. The point of my argument is that you don't need to choose between healthy and fast (Soylent), or tasty and fast (fast food), or healthy and tasty (elaborate home cooking). With just a little bit of know-how and practice you can have all three. I'm not talking about making this for lunch, but for dinner. Which lunch is available to you of course depends on where you work (though even in that case you can take something with you, like muesli+yogurt+fruit or a sandwich, but I can understand why some people might prefer Soylent in that case). Unless you eat 100% Soylent you are not going to save much time on grocery shopping because you have to go to the supermarket anyway, so you might as well take a few packages of vegetables with you. If I understand it correctly then Soylent requires washing a blender and a glass, not much different than washing a wok and a plate (and you don't even need the plate).
- douche 11y ago
  I make my soylent in the pitcher they sent me, so when it is empty I rinse it a couple times and make up the next batch. I guess you could use a blender, but it is unnecessary if you spend the 30 seconds they advise shaking it.
- bane 11y ago
  > Unless you eat 100% Soylent you are not going to save much time on grocery shopping because you have to go to the supermarket anyway That's not really true. We're finding that our grocery bills have been cut quite a bit and the amount of ingredients we keep around (especially quick to prepare stuff) has basically gone to zero. Prep-time is virtually zero and cleanup time is rinsing the container when it's empty -- thus our dishwashing has also dropped quite a bit. And we still eat great dinners prepared with fresh ingredients from our garden. And it's still healthier than even your quite good sounding 10 minute meal. As a fun challenge for yourself, see if you can assemble a 5 minute meal that's as nutritious and balanced as one serving of Soylent. And i don't mean guesswork, run the numbers, compare to FDA guidelines and see what you come up with. (then please share the recipe because I'd love to eat it!)
  - jules 11y ago
    You're right, I can't come up with a single meal that is as nutritious and balanced as one serving of Soylent. The thing is that unlike with Soylent you're not eating the exact same meal every time. If there's one thing we've learned the last couple of years it's that a lot of food science is bogus, and that we really don't know much about nutrition. The safe thing to do is to eat a large variety of foods. Is it safe to eat Soylent every day or almost every day? Maybe. Is it healthier than eating a different reasonably healthy meal every day? Unlikely. Consider the reports by people who have flatulence, food nightmares, extreme craving of certain foods. That last point is likely an indication that your body is missing something. Maybe not all humans work well on exactly the same diet, but it depends on their genetics and activities. Our body gives us feedback about what it needs needs by making us crave certain foods. Most people also start to crave variety after eating the same food for several days, even if they do like that food. I think there's a reason for that. So here's the value proposition that I see: 1. It's quite likely less healthy than eating a variety of foods. 2. It tastes bad. 3. It saves 10 minutes per day. How much time do you spend maintaining your garden?
    - bane 11y ago
      > Is it healthier than eating a different reasonably healthy meal every day? Unlikely. run the numbers! don't guess! I also agree that if you're going to eat food, eat a wide variety of stuffs. It's about the only way to accumulate the best possible nutrition, and it keeps it from getting boring. I personally prefer lots of variety in food, but I really want to spend the time to enjoy it when I sit down to eat it. > 3. It saves 10 minutes per day. No, it saves 10x3 + cleanup (let's say 10minutes per meal) or 1 hour per day if you eat it for every meal (I don't). Actually for my use-case it saves 0 minutes per day since I was just grabbing donuts at the coffee shop or breakfast bars or whatever on the way out the door in the morning. So in this case, it's not any less convenient, while it's far more nutritious. > 2. It tastes bad. It tastes "meh". But so do most things. One thing I've started to appreciate even more since getting Soylent is how "meh" most meals are, no matter where they're from or how they're made. I think sometimes we just have different kinds of meals just because it's "different" even if it's not better or even good. > How much time do you spend maintaining your garden? More than I'd like to, but not so much it's a huge burden. We grow long peppers, lettuce, perilla (just now starting to get good flavor), green onions. The lettuce and onions are from seed, the rest from sprouts. We're thinking of squash and cucumbers for next year. We've tried tomatoes but they're super fussy and you end up fighting with the stupid plant half the time. I'd like to get into garlic and potatoes.

by nether 11y ago

jules 11y ago

My argument can't be aimed at fast food because most people find that it tastes nice. You could indeed make a different argument based on price and health against it. The point of my argument is that you don't need to choose between healthy and fast (Soylent), or tasty and fast (fast food), or healthy and tasty (elaborate home cooking). With just a little bit of know-how and practice you can have all three. I'm not talking about making this for lunch, but for dinner. Which lunch is available to you of course depends on where you work (though even in that case you can take something with you, like muesli+yogurt+fruit or a sandwich, but I can understand why some people might prefer Soylent in that case). Unless you eat 100% Soylent you are not going to save much time on grocery shopping because you have to go to the supermarket anyway, so you might as well take a few packages of vegetables with you. If I understand it correctly then Soylent requires washing a blender and a glass, not much different than washing a wok and a plate (and you don't even need the plate).

douche 11y ago
I make my soylent in the pitcher they sent me, so when it is empty I rinse it a couple times and make up the next batch. I guess you could use a blender, but it is unnecessary if you spend the 30 seconds they advise shaking it.
bane 11y ago
> Unless you eat 100% Soylent you are not going to save much time on grocery shopping because you have to go to the supermarket anyway That's not really true. We're finding that our grocery bills have been cut quite a bit and the amount of ingredients we keep around (especially quick to prepare stuff) has basically gone to zero. Prep-time is virtually zero and cleanup time is rinsing the container when it's empty -- thus our dishwashing has also dropped quite a bit. And we still eat great dinners prepared with fresh ingredients from our garden. And it's still healthier than even your quite good sounding 10 minute meal. As a fun challenge for yourself, see if you can assemble a 5 minute meal that's as nutritious and balanced as one serving of Soylent. And i don't mean guesswork, run the numbers, compare to FDA guidelines and see what you come up with. (then please share the recipe because I'd love to eat it!)
- jules 11y ago
  You're right, I can't come up with a single meal that is as nutritious and balanced as one serving of Soylent. The thing is that unlike with Soylent you're not eating the exact same meal every time. If there's one thing we've learned the last couple of years it's that a lot of food science is bogus, and that we really don't know much about nutrition. The safe thing to do is to eat a large variety of foods. Is it safe to eat Soylent every day or almost every day? Maybe. Is it healthier than eating a different reasonably healthy meal every day? Unlikely. Consider the reports by people who have flatulence, food nightmares, extreme craving of certain foods. That last point is likely an indication that your body is missing something. Maybe not all humans work well on exactly the same diet, but it depends on their genetics and activities. Our body gives us feedback about what it needs needs by making us crave certain foods. Most people also start to crave variety after eating the same food for several days, even if they do like that food. I think there's a reason for that. So here's the value proposition that I see: 1. It's quite likely less healthy than eating a variety of foods. 2. It tastes bad. 3. It saves 10 minutes per day. How much time do you spend maintaining your garden?
  - bane 11y ago
    > Is it healthier than eating a different reasonably healthy meal every day? Unlikely. run the numbers! don't guess! I also agree that if you're going to eat food, eat a wide variety of stuffs. It's about the only way to accumulate the best possible nutrition, and it keeps it from getting boring. I personally prefer lots of variety in food, but I really want to spend the time to enjoy it when I sit down to eat it. > 3. It saves 10 minutes per day. No, it saves 10x3 + cleanup (let's say 10minutes per meal) or 1 hour per day if you eat it for every meal (I don't). Actually for my use-case it saves 0 minutes per day since I was just grabbing donuts at the coffee shop or breakfast bars or whatever on the way out the door in the morning. So in this case, it's not any less convenient, while it's far more nutritious. > 2. It tastes bad. It tastes "meh". But so do most things. One thing I've started to appreciate even more since getting Soylent is how "meh" most meals are, no matter where they're from or how they're made. I think sometimes we just have different kinds of meals just because it's "different" even if it's not better or even good. > How much time do you spend maintaining your garden? More than I'd like to, but not so much it's a huge burden. We grow long peppers, lettuce, perilla (just now starting to get good flavor), green onions. The lettuce and onions are from seed, the rest from sprouts. We're thinking of squash and cucumbers for next year. We've tried tomatoes but they're super fussy and you end up fighting with the stupid plant half the time. I'd like to get into garlic and potatoes.