When you are in a difficult situation to eat a meal or don’t have time, you may have thought at least once, ‘Is there a shake that contains all the nutrients I need for one meal?’.
Soylent is a product that will make your thoughts a reality.
It’s a product that I’ve used well when preparing for exams or working shifts, and I’m still using it well.
What is Soylent?
Rob Rhinehart, who worked in Silicon Valley, was an engineer who often ate frozen food and fast food as a meal.
He felt tired of this kind of diet and thought, ‘Let’s put all the nutrients we need in one meal into a shake and drink it.’ and immediately put it into practice.
For a month, he only drank shakes made by mixing all the ingredients in his proportions, and he posted on his blog that his skin had been clean, his hair had become thicker, and his dandruff had disappeared.
Rob Reinhart released the material and ratio on the Internet and the reaction of those who saw it was enthusiastic.
In 2014, he founded a company called Soylent with his friends to commercialize it.
Soylent is a powdered meal.
It is called a meal replacement because it is a product that contains all kinds of vitamins and minerals, such as protein, fat, carbohydrates, and sodium.
Since Rob Rhinehart, founder, and developer, aimed to live without any health problems by eating only this, it contains not only sugar, sodium, and fat, but also zinc, iodine, selenium, omega, etc.
Differences from other powdered foods
It may look similar to grain powder, protein powder, or a diet shake that is already on the market.
But Soylent is completely different from them.
First, it’s not delicious.
That doesn’t mean it’s tasteless.
This is because it is not made for taste.
Rob Rhinehart, the developer, made all the nutrients to eat, not to eat them deliciously.
That’s why there is a lot of difference in likes and dislikes about the flavor.
Perhaps conscious of this, Soylent also launched a cacao flavor (chocolate flavor), and people responded that it was finally edible.
Most people rate both flavors as ‘tastes that won’t get tired of‘.
So, there are latecomers to meal replacements that are made more delicious, such as Labnosh, Meals, and Huel.
But the reason why I chose Soylent is that as it is an original brand, many reviews said that there were no health problems after eating ‘only Soylent’ for several years.
Other brands were not considered because there were few or no reviews for such long-term use due to their low number of users or short history.
Huel is a latecomer to Soylent, and there was a review that the powder doesn’t mix well, so I didn’t buy it.
In the case of Labnosh, it seemed fine when replacing meals lightly or on a diet due to low calories and low fat, but it seemed difficult to completely replace meals because of that.
I didn’t purchase Meals because it contains nearly twice the recommended daily amount of protein (excess protein intake is bad for the liver) and contains fewer kinds of minerals and vitamins than Soylent.
Second, grain powder or protein is not a nutritionally balanced food.
Soylent is designed to prevent imbalance or deficiency in certain nutrients, even if consumed for a long time.
Therefore, minerals and vitamins that are not found in other foods are calculated and included according to the recommended daily amount.
Protein powder contains a lot of protein, so excessive intake of it can strain the liver.
In addition, some diet shakes often contain little or no fat, sodium, or sugar, but since these are all essential nutrients for physical activity, Soylent is also unique in that it contains them in appropriate amounts.
Price
In the U.S., it can be purchased through the Soylent official website or Amazon.
If you are trying this for the first time, I recommend the 2.3 lbs capacity.
It’s about 12 meals, not too much, and it also includes a ‘Soylent scoop’.
I usually buy 7 packs of 15.8 oz, for 35 meals.
On the Soylent website, 35 meals are $67, and 12 meals are $35.50.
Unboxing
The soylent comes with a cushioning material.
I ordered this several times, but it has never leaked.
Since the soylent is sealed while the zipper is open, be careful not to spill the contents when opening it at first.
The expiration date is about half a year.
How to Make
First of all, the recommended amount is to eat 400 kcal per meal, 5 times a day.
To consume 400kcal, put 80g of Soylent in a tumbler.
If you have a ‘Soylent scoop’, just add two scoops.
The packaging says to put 2/3 cup, but one scoop is 1/3 cup, so don’t be deceived.
Add water up to about 460ml of the tumbler and shake well to make about 350ml of the soylent drink.
I recommend a tumbler with a shaker or blender function.
You can drink it right away, but the manufacturer and I recommend leaving it in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes and then enjoying it cold.
I tried it right away, but it felt like the powder wasn’t completely dissolved in the water.
Review
First of all, I’ve not eaten only soylent for a year, but I used it for one or sometimes two meals a day.
So I don’t know how this would affect my body nutritionally.
However, I ate one or two soylent a day for about a month, and there was no significant change in weight or health problems.
Even if I drank it on an empty stomach in the morning, I felt comfortable.
I have a sensitive intestine, so if I drink coffee on an empty stomach in the morning, I get diarrhea all day, but there is no problem with Soylent.
The feeling of fullness seems to last at least 3 hours, and if I eat when I’m not hungry, it seems to last up to 4 hours.
Since this product was made under the assumption that drink it 5 times a day, the satiety duration is unclear to use one soylent as a lunch replacement.
Considering that the duration is about 3 hours, one soylent of 400 kcal is enough to replace breakfast, but it seems that need to drink it twice to replace lunch.
Diabetic patients need to be careful.
It contains maltodextrin, which is not good for diabetics.
But the manufacturer says ‘The glycemic index of its product is 18, which is low, so it can be a convenient meal option for diabetic patients as it consists of only 1g of sugar and carbohydrates with a low glycemic index.’, so it is recommended to consult a doctor before purchasing.
Although there are quite a few positive reviews from diabetic patients, there is no guarantee that it will be good for all diabetic patients.
Don’t think this is tasty.
But it doesn’t mean it’s not tasty.
I don’t know about the original because I’ve never tried it, but I think the cacao (chocolate) flavor is delicious.
The notion of ‘tasty’ in this context refers to not getting tired of it when drinking daily and not feeling any aversion from a nutritional perspective.
It’s not something I would seek out to eat just for the sake of taste alone.
Shaking is also pretty good.
I use a shaker to shake it and drink it.
Even if I shake it a few times, it mixes well without any lumps.
Replacing all meals every day with Soylent may require some caution, such as looking up other people’s previous reviews, but it seems to be good for simply replacing one or two meals.
Because it’s something to drink, it leaves less residue in the mouth, keeps you full longer than other options, is easy to make, and is nutritionally balanced.
I highly recommend it for test takers or busy office workers.