"...here's what makes this campaign great in my estimation - each sample of Coffiest contains three milligrams of a simple alkaloid. Nothing harmful. But definitely habit-forming. After ten weeks the customer is hooked for life. It would cost him at least five thousand dollars for a cure, so it's simpler for him to go right on drinking Coffiest - three cups with every meal and a pot beside his bed at night, just as it says on the jar."<p>- Fred Pohl and C.M.Kornbluth, "The Space Merchants", 1952.<p>I am glad to see that Soylent is continuing to name their products after Sci-Fi Future Foodstuffs Of Dubious Safety.
One problem with products like Soylent is that the nutrition label is used for marketing, and as a result they consciously engineer the product to optimize for that.<p>Nutrition facts labels and recommended daily intakes vary by country, and they're backed up by a lot of bad science and guessing games.<p>Consider that the USDA recently lifted their recommended maximum intake of cholesterol from 300mg/day (1.5 eggs/day) to no upper limit at all (after 50 years), or that study after study has failed to find any significant benefit from taking daily multivitamins (and to the contrary has found that taking too many, or the wrong kind, can cause liver damage), or that every sugary breakfast cereal and energy drink would seem quite healthy if all you looked at was the nutrition facts label.<p>I don't think nutrition facts labels are particularly meaningful, so a product sold almost entirely on the basis of how strictly it conforms to those government recommendations isn't of much interest to me.<p>If you're Soylent, you also have to lean heavily on government recommendations as a form of insurance against lawsuits. There's a lot of risk in encouraging people to eat only your food for every meal of the day, and being able to tell a judge that your product closely adhered to government recommendations is undoubtedly helpful in various litigation scenarios, but I don't think that necessarily forms a good foundation for what people should be eating.
I'm glad to hear Soylent has broadened their product category with this addition. It seems (to me at least) to be a perfect solution for a morning routine; when we usually have a cup of coffee with breakfast, why not just roll that into Soylent and "save some time" (negligible imo but still a consideration) not to mention it will hopefully improve the taste tenfold.<p>Ever since I've heard about Soylent I've wanted the company to do well -- I love cooking but oftentimes when I'm hungry I hate having to do prep work and cleanup because it feels like I'm procrastinating the work I actually have to do (and I can't skip eating because being hungry while working just gives sub par performance).<p>I can't afford Soylent consistently as a student and so have used soy milk and other [gross] concoctions in the past; but, I might have to use this news as inspiration (also taking note from u/sxates to stop by Trader Joes and give their concentrate a shot).
Wow. That name is literally from Frederik Pohl's 'The Space Merchants'. Now that's cojones (Pohl died in 2013). I see I'm not the first to notice this, but it's worth noticing.<p>I'd try the stuff, if they didn't put 1,6-Dichloro-1,6-dideoxy-β-D-fructofuranosyl-4-chloro-4-deoxy-α-D-galactopyranoside in it. (the brand name is 'sucralose'). That stuff gets everywhere, but I have a nasty reaction to it and really don't appreciate the company lobbying to have it treated like some kind of safe 'sucra' or 'ose'.
People take sides on Soylent but I'm so glad a company like this exists to just attack the notion of what a meal is. It has such an impact on so many parts of our society including many of the glaring issues like poverty and nutrition.<p>Personally (and I've tried it) I didn't like their initial strategy of being a 100% meal replacement and feel strongly like it makes a great supplement. I think their new products are more aligned with this and will likely renew my subscription today.
referring to caffeine as a nootropic seems to be broadening the term 'nootropic' quite a lot. am i misunderstanding what a nootropic is?<p>edit: i'm referring to the quote saying "So we have two mild nootropics" which i read as counting caffeine as one of them
Sausages are a ground mix of meats.<p>Is there an equivalent for a mix of vegetables, fruits, grains, meat, etc? It would make more sense as a complete cheap meal than a powder, except for being perishable.<p>It brings to mind the 'diet problem' <a href="http://www.neos-guide.org/content/diet-problem" rel="nofollow">http://www.neos-guide.org/content/diet-problem</a> for which, if optimizing for price only, often suggests that you eat mainly potatoes.
In Europe, you can try :
<a href="https://www.joylent.eu/" rel="nofollow">https://www.joylent.eu/</a>
<a href="https://www.joylent.eu/products/wake-up-joylent" rel="nofollow">https://www.joylent.eu/products/wake-up-joylent</a>
And they also sale bars now!<p>There are other competitor like Queal or Huel
I guess it's good that they're branching out beyond their initial Soylent brand and trying to get more consumers, especially breakfast users who are used to coffee, but I still don't appreciate the notion that this is somehow better or more efficient than making a meal for yourself, when it's not been proven that it's any better (and may be worse, it's hard to know because it's so new). To me the Soylent brand just seems like a startup version of the supplement shakes that I saw my mom drink when I was a kid, and marketed to a different demographic.
Once again, Soylent's team is relatively behind the curve in terms of supplementation, quality, and "dietary trends" (some of us just call them <i>fads</i>).<p>But one thing they sure get right is how to market to a niche: all you guys and readers of tech news sites.<p>It'll be successful, but let's not make it out to be something pioneering, because it's most definitely not.<p>Anyone who's doing full-Soylent really needs to read this massive meta-analysis:<p><a href="http://www.bmj.com/content/349/bmj.g4490" rel="nofollow">http://www.bmj.com/content/349/bmj.g4490</a>
I saw the photo of two guys standing in the lab. Somehow I thought it is from Breaking Bad or some other show (I'm not watching it so wasn't sure...). Then I read the description:<p>> Soylent scientists at work in the food labs refining Coffiest's flavor.<p>Well, not even close.
They had to use a scene from "Breaking Bad" as a joke because they probably have no scientist, laboratories, or equipment. That's no joke.