Soylent is (for) People!

POSTED BY: Kwicko
UPDATED: Thursday, December 11, 2025 04:05
VIEWED: 4570
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KWICKO

Thursday, March 14, 2013 1:18 PM

This Man Thinks He Never Has to Eat Again

Quote:
You know what's an irreversible waste of time, money and effort? Eating food you take pleasure in eating. I mean, wouldn't you rather just ingest a tasteless form of sustenance for the rest of your life and never have to go through that tedious rigmarole of opening and eating a pre-made sandwich or enjoying a huge hungover fry-up ever again? Rob Rhinehart – a 24-year-old software engineer from Atlanta and, presumably, an impossibly busy man – thinks so.

Rob found himself resenting the inordinate amount time it takes to fry an egg in the morning and decided something had to be done. Simplifying food as "nutrients required by the body to function" (which sounds totally bulimic, I know, but I promise it's not), Rob has come up with an odourless, beige cocktail that he calls Soylent.

I wasn't sure if he was trolling at first, because "soylent" is the name of a wafer made out of human flesh and fed to the overpopulated masses in the seminal 1973 sci-fi film Soylent Green, but then I read the extensive post on Rob's blog about how he came to make the stuff and started to believe him. Soylent contains all of the nutritive components of a balanced diet, but with just a third of the calories and none of the toxins or cancer-causing stuff you'd usually find waiting to kill you in your lunch. Despite the fact it looks a bit like vomit, Soylent supposedly has the potential to change the entire world's relationship with food, so I spoke to Rob to find out how.

http://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/rob-rhinehart-no-longer-requires-food

His blog describing the making of Soylent:

http://robrhinehart.com/

I enjoy cooking and eating, but sometimes I just want to get nutrients and get on with my day. This would be perfect for me probably three or four days a week. I would not cut out fresh fruits and vegetables in any circumstance, though, and I'd still like a bacon cheeseburger now and then.

But this could revolutionize food for the poor and the third world, although I worry that factories in the third world would start giving workers this chum just to keep them at their workstations longer...

"I supported Bush in 2000 and 2004 and intellegence [sic] had very little to do with that decision." - Hero

"I was wrong" - Hero, 2012

Mitt Romney, introducing his running mate: "Join me in welcoming the next President of the United States, Paul Ryan!"

Rappy's response? "You're lying, gullible ( believing in some BS you heard on msnbc ) or hard of hearing."

BYTEMITE

Thursday, March 14, 2013 1:40 PM

I eat too fast to taste anything anyway and all my senses are kind of deadened.

(Inevitable "tasteless" jokes)

So I usually just end up eat a serving of candy for each meal until I feel sick, then I eat a salad. Healthiest diet ever. At least I don't really really eat a whole lot.

MAL4PREZ

Thursday, March 14, 2013 4:25 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by BYTEMITE:
So I usually just end up eat a serving of candy for each meal until I feel sick, then I eat a salad. Healthiest diet ever. At least I don't really really eat a whole lot.

LOL! I totally know what you mean!

I totally get the soylent guy too. My main issue with what I eat at home is the hassle of food prep. Frying an egg - way too much work for too little nutrient! I would go for some paste on the run, then save up my cash for occasional taste-bud excitement - at a restaurant where someone else does the work.

SIGNYM

Thursday, March 14, 2013 5:04 PM

I tend to doubt those who say they've formulated a product which contains "all" of the nutrition that one needs. There are components in food we know nothing about that are benefical... It wasn't tunil ten years ago that people recognized the benefits of omega-3 oils. Just look at the number of compounds still being discovered every day.

And even when people "think" they got it right, they still make huge goofs... just look at the FDA's most recent version of nutrition advice

Looks great, right? Complete and well-balanced? Full of natural foods? Not prone to deficiencies? Until one nutritionist recently looked at it and asked

"Where's the choline?"

OOPS!!! It wouldn't be so bad, except choline is really necessary to make acetycholine, THE major neurotransmitter! Better add eggs and liver to that diet!

I could name about a dozen nutrients where "they" got it wrong. Add to the fact that everyone's nutrition requirements are a little different. Some ppl allergic to wheat; others need more iodine etc.

AND FINALLY.... eating the same thing every day will set you up for food allergies. You should make your day-to-day antigenically distinct, repeat foods every third day, at most.

So, not rushing out for soylent just yet.

BYTEMITE

Thursday, March 14, 2013 5:47 PM

I'm a neurotransmitter.

That sounded better in my head.

JONGSSTRAW

Thursday, March 14, 2013 6:06 PM

'Pop Tarts, Cheez Balls, and lots of french fries will keep a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.' Benjamin Franklim.

BYTEMITE

Thursday, March 14, 2013 6:44 PM

Fact: Benjamin Franklin invented the Theory of Butter Superiority - a 1770s diet plan that consisted of dunking everything in melted butter to overcome parasitic drain on nutrients from syphilis.

He was his own best costumer, and died of a combination of complications from a massive heart attack, gout, and obesity.

RIONAEIRE

Thursday, March 14, 2013 11:31 PM

I can see both sides of this coin. On one hand I LOVE eating!!!!! Its one of my favorite activities. So the idea of not eating is unappealing to me. But on the other hand, if I had to live alone this might actually be a good solution to my food dilemma which would crop up without cooks in the house. I could just eat these things and not worry about it. The food issue is one of the most potent reasons I hope never to have to live alone. Plus its lonely and there's no one to help you with things when you need it. Living alone just doesn't sound like my thing at all. The only upside is that I could decorate a larger space just how I liked it to be, but that's not as important as good food, companionship and feeling safe and knowing there's someone here if I need something.

My dad says he'd love this wafer idea though, he wishes he could just eat a little thing that would satisfy him like that, since he has a hard time being moderate about eating.

"A completely coherant River means writers don't deliver" KatTaya

FIVVER

Thursday, March 14, 2013 11:43 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by BYTEMITE:
Fact: Benjamin Franklin invented the Theory of Butter Superiority - a 1770s diet plan that consisted of dunking everything in melted butter to overcome parasitic drain on nutrients from syphilis.

He was his own best costumer, and died of a combination of complications from a massive heart attack, gout, and obesity.

At the age of 84.

RIONAEIRE

Friday, March 15, 2013 2:02 AM

84 ain't too shabby. Plus you know Ben loved the ladies, never lacked for girlfriends of various extractions, young, old, married, I guess he wasn't picky. :)

"A completely coherant River means writers don't deliver" KatTaya

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