Thanks for the answer (and to everyone else that replied) - it's always good to hear the other side of the debate.
I could never imagine myself in a situation where I'd consider it so important to be constantly busy that I wouldn't be able to find the time to throw a few vegetables in a pan - but I understand different people have different priorities (and demanding jobs).
It just seems to me like this is an odd way to solve the problem, maybe because I'm extrapolating a bit and seeing it as trying to replace one of the things that makes us human; the ability to prepare and cook food.
I'd be interested to see if any research comes up as to the long term psychological effects of this sort of product. Do people who replace the varied textures and tastes of different foods (if only partially) with a liquid supplement notice any adverse effects or cravings?
Out of interest, is Soylent more interesting than offerings from companies like Graze/Naturebox?
> Out of interest, is Soylent more interesting than offerings from companies like Graze/Naturebox?
I don't have an answer for that exactly - but other healthy meal replacement products on the market that i've seen tend to be too expensive. To me, even Soylent is a bit expensive.
Because of the price, i have mostly just stuck to my own DIY Soylent. It's vastly less convenient, but in an hours worth of work, i can make a weeks worth of food - so still very convenient. Far far cheaper too (under a third the price).
I also don't feel comfortable with Soylents use of maltodextrin. This isn't an educated opinion, i just don't know enough about it - and worry about the glycemic index, since i have problems with blood sugar levels. My DIY version uses 2/3 Oats an 1/3 Masa, and i've always heard amazing things about Oats, so it makes me (emotionally) feel really good - vs concerned about Soylent. Plus, the Oats make me feel very very stable, blood sugar wise.. but who knows with placebos, i've never measured any of it.
Plus, my DIY smells like "food" to me, where as Soylent smells very foreign. I still love Soylent for road trips though - it's amazing road food.
> I'd be interested to see if any research comes up as to the long term psychological effects of this sort of product. Do people who replace the varied textures and tastes of different foods (if only partially) with a liquid supplement notice any adverse effects or cravings?
For what it's worth, on heavy (2-3 meals/day of my DIY Soylent) for a time span ranging of about 6 months (my consumption has been down recently, GF has been cooking a lot heh), my experience is:
1. A massive boost in stable thinking/reasoning. I can't recall feeling mid-day dead zones, which i often fall into without my DIY. This is partially due to Coffee consumption levels i'm sure, but DIY seemingly helped to make my mind (and body) more consistent.
2. Boredom. Without food breaks, i felt a lot of listlessness throughout the day. I felt i should be snacking, or doing something other than working - but i had no hunger to guide a snacking expedition. While i was still very productive, far more than usual, i would often stop typing for moments and go "Man.. i just feel like i should be doing something".
I imagine it had to do with missing a ritual (meal times) in my life. This was by far the weirdest thing to get used to for me.
3. I would eventually crave flavor, often salt. I'm blaming this on a lack of proper balance in my DIY mix - but i didn't adjust my mix at all. The cravings were mild, and only over a longer period of time, so by the time they hit i was usually having a normal dinner meal regardless.
4. I would often get an odd sense of needing to chew. This could have been a craving, i don't know - but my jaw/mouth would get very... unused feeling. I could potentially spend 8 hours working without really chewing once. I tried gum sometimes, but it didn't really seem to help. Hard to say what this one was about, but i put it on it's own bullet-number because it was quite regular.. although not bad enough to stop, by any means.
Overall it was very positive experience. The hardest part, by a large margin, was spending an hour a week creating the DIY powder, and then another ~15m every day preparing the next days liquid meals from the powder. Purely laziness of course - but clearly if i'm doing this, i dislike meal/food preparation ;)
I could never imagine myself in a situation where I'd consider it so important to be constantly busy that I wouldn't be able to find the time to throw a few vegetables in a pan - but I understand different people have different priorities (and demanding jobs).
It just seems to me like this is an odd way to solve the problem, maybe because I'm extrapolating a bit and seeing it as trying to replace one of the things that makes us human; the ability to prepare and cook food.
I'd be interested to see if any research comes up as to the long term psychological effects of this sort of product. Do people who replace the varied textures and tastes of different foods (if only partially) with a liquid supplement notice any adverse effects or cravings?
Out of interest, is Soylent more interesting than offerings from companies like Graze/Naturebox?