MFP's thoughts on Soylent

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IWantToFloat
IWantToFloat Posts: 31 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I'm struggling to meet my nutritional requirements and with the rising cost of food, soylent is way cheaper to eat per day than cooking. Plus I'd be saving time. I'm mostly interested in the powder to save even more money.

Has anyone here had experience using soylent 24/7 and for weight loss?

Here's some nutritional information on soylent.

Nutrition Facts Serving Size 84.8g
Calories 400

Amount per Serving
Total Fat 20g
Saturated Fat 2g
Trans Fat 0g
Cholesterol 0 mg
Sodium 320 mg
Total Carbohydrate 37g
Dietary Fiber 5g
Sugars 15g
Protein 20g

% Daily Value of Vitamin's and Mineral's
Vitamin A 20%
Vitamin C 20%
Calcium 20%
Iron 20%
Potassium 20%
Vitamin D 20%
Vitamin E 20%
Vitamin K 20%
Thiamin 20%
Riboflavin 20%
Niacin(B3) 20%
Vitamin B6 20%
Folate 20%
Choline 20%
Vitamin B12 20%
Biotin 20%
Pantothenic Acid 20%
Iodine 20%
Magnesium 20%
Zinc 20%
Selenium 20%
Copper 20%
Manganese 20%
Chromium 20%
Molybdenum 20%

It sounds too good to be true but my doctor is behind it.
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Replies

  • EricaCraigie
    EricaCraigie Posts: 1,396 Member
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    I don't know anything about it..
    I'm assuming it's soy? I'm against soy.
    But those numbers are impressive.. nice that it has decent potassium
  • IWantToFloat
    IWantToFloat Posts: 31 Member
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    EricaCraigie wrote: »
    I don't know anything about it..
    I'm assuming it's soy? I'm against soy.
    But those numbers are impressive.. nice that it has decent potassium

    I'm not a huge fan of soy either but I'm willing to give this a go.
    The potassium is insane!
  • IWantToFloat
    IWantToFloat Posts: 31 Member
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    Alatariel75 wrote: »
    I figure it's what the whole world will be living on in about 30 years...

    Absolutely, may as well try jumping on board and getting use to it before that happens. ;P
  • IWantToFloat
    IWantToFloat Posts: 31 Member
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    CafeRacer808 wrote: »
    As long as it's not people, you should be fine...

    Unfortunately, people are not FDA approved. ;P
  • CafeRacer808
    CafeRacer808 Posts: 2,396 Member
    edited January 2017
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    IWantToFloat wrote: »
    CafeRacer808 wrote: »
    As long as it's not people, you should be fine...

    Unfortunately, people are not FDA approved. ;P

    Unfortunately, or fortunately? :D

    So, 100% of your caloric intake is going to come from Soylent? Or do you plan to have some solid foods here and there?
  • IWantToFloat
    IWantToFloat Posts: 31 Member
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    CafeRacer808 wrote: »
    IWantToFloat wrote: »
    CafeRacer808 wrote: »
    As long as it's not people, you should be fine...

    Unfortunately, people are not FDA approved. ;P

    Unfortunately, or fortunately? :D

    So, 100% of your caloric intake is going to come from Soylent? Or do you plan to have some solid foods here and there?

    I'd like to make it as close to 100% as possible. I will probably drink soylent on days I work and on days off add things like fruit or veggies, or going out to eat once in a while. I may supplement with a vitamin as well if I'm not drinking the recommended 2000 cals a day as I am trying to lose weight.
  • CafeRacer808
    CafeRacer808 Posts: 2,396 Member
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    That seems like a good idea. Adding fruit and veg brings extra nutrients to the party and will keep you from getting bored, I would think. One thing's for certain - it'll be very easy for you to figure out how many calories you're consuming in a day! I'm actually really fascinated by this. Have you considered blogging about your experience?
  • LazyNightOwl
    LazyNightOwl Posts: 166 Member
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    I'd probably be too bored of as close to 100% as possible. I had strep last July and on the days I was able to force food in my mouth it was yogurts, soups, very liquid-y oatmeal and after a week I just could not take one more gram of it and I wanted something with crunch & a nice hunk of steak & a good crusty piece of bread to sop up the juices...and I got it too. Throat was still a little raw but I still remember the satisfaction. So I could never, ever forego real food in favor of meal replacement powder on a full time basis...plus the name has bad association. I mean c'mon...surely they knew people would look at the name (combined with the basic label) and not wonder
  • IWantToFloat
    IWantToFloat Posts: 31 Member
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    CafeRacer808 wrote: »
    That seems like a good idea. Adding fruit and veg brings extra nutrients to the party and will keep you from getting bored, I would think. One thing's for certain - it'll be very easy for you to figure out how many calories you're consuming in a day! I'm actually really fascinated by this. Have you considered blogging about your experience?

    I'm thinking about it actually. I need to save up the money to place an order as I was sick and missed some work but I'm thinking of starting sometime in April. I would like to have blood work done before starting the diet and blood work done a month in as well.
  • IWantToFloat
    IWantToFloat Posts: 31 Member
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    LazyNightOwl wrote: »
    I'd probably be too bored of as close to 100% as possible. I had strep last July and on the days I was able to force food in my mouth it was yogurts, soups, very liquid-y oatmeal and after a week I just could not take one more gram of it and I wanted something with crunch & a nice hunk of steak & a good crusty piece of bread to sop up the juices...and I got it too. Throat was still a little raw but I still remember the satisfaction. So I could never, ever forego real food in favor of meal replacement powder on a full time basis...plus the name has bad association. I mean c'mon...surely they knew people would look at the name (combined with the basic label) and not wonder

    I can see how this sort of thing would not work for everyone and have read reviews complaining of the same thing. The stuff would work in a pinch though if you didn't like eating breakfast or don't have time during lunch. There is a whole DIY community that tries to spice the drink up.
    I can eat the same thing day in, day out and can eat pretty much anything regardless of flavor so it works very well for me just as is.
    I thought of the same thing when I first heard the name. The creator of soylent was thinking of the book that movie was based on, the book was called Make Room! Make Room!and in the book there was soylent green but there wasn't any cannibalism.
  • comptonelizabeth
    comptonelizabeth Posts: 1,701 Member
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    Does anyone else remember the film "Soylent Green"?
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
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    My opinion: Nasty - even if it isn't people. Boring - even if it should happen to not be nasty. But I love food and like to cook.

    More objectively: "Boring" is subjective. It can be fun to do something crazy/different for a while. If you are comfortable drinking this and don't miss solid food, it'll work for you. You'll still be paying for the powder (and additional fruit and vegs) though. Losing weight means eating less, and eating less means buying less food. Consider if your standards for "food" and "cooking" are unrealistic. Are you buying all organic, prepackaged, name brand, ultra high protein, low fat, gluten free, low carb, enriched etc? Are you preparing gourmet meals every night?
  • canadjineh
    canadjineh Posts: 5,396 Member
    edited January 2017
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    comptonelizabeth wrote: »
    Does anyone else remember the film "Soylent Green"?

    Yep.... I hope that's NOT what is being discussed here (?!) Actually the book was better. (see IWantToFloat's comment)
  • kristikitter
    kristikitter Posts: 602 Member
    edited January 2017
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    I always think these soylent threads are a joke (you know, "soylent is people") but it's a real thing? Gross. Sorry, unhelpful comment :P
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    I keep some at work because skipping meals due to weird schedule stuff has been a basis for me to end up eating off plan at times or getting too hungry and then not wanting to workout or some such. Easier just to be able to grab one at 8 if I'm going to be stuck at work for a while and not buy something dumber on the way home or to be able to have a late lunch while on a conference call with no fuss. Doesn't happen a lot, but it's a nice convenience.

    I have a weird liking (as an occasional thing, could never replace food for me) for that kind of basically bland taste, though. And I'm not anti soy.

    On the few times I've grabbed it as a running out the door breakfast, it's NOT been as filling for me as a normal breakfast (when super busy that doesn't matter), even though it's higher cal than what I normally have for breakfast (only by a little), so I don't know how it would work for regular part of a meal plan. I don't think I could sustain it even if I wanted to, since I love and would miss food.

    It's weird because normally I'm all into the local as possible, cook from scratch, blah, blah, but I was curious about it too and now find it kind of fun as an occasional thing.
  • ahamm002
    ahamm002 Posts: 1,690 Member
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    It wouldn't be a terrible idea to use Soylent once in awhile as a meal replacement shake. But using it all the time is a very temporary fix. Most people would get bored with it pretty fast. It's more important to find a way to make a regular diet work. Think about what you can stick with long term.
  • Tacklewasher
    Tacklewasher Posts: 7,122 Member
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    I still can't believe someone came out with a product called Soylent. The movie was dull enough, but to sell it just boggles the mind. Having said that, I've never looked into what it is. Can't get past the name.

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