Trying Soylent didn’t go well

Hmm, well, I think the problem is right there in the first part of the article. If you have a diet where you wake up and eat cookie dough and pie, you are most likely not making choices that put enough dietary fiber into your diet.<p>Those who don&#x27;t eat enough fiber, then suddenly start consuming a healthy amount usually experience the kind of gastrointestinal distress she experienced. That&#x27;s pretty much what fiber is SUPPOSED to do. The bacteria in your gut all of the sudden have a smorgasbord of stuff to break down and it releases a ton of gas as part of the process.<p>Not judging her, she can have all the cookie dough and pie she wants. But don&#x27;t blame the food you are eating when something with a little fiber blows up your digestive track.

We have a line of products here in Netherlands from a company now called JimmyJoy (formerly Joylent... and the name change was probably inevitable).<p>I&#x27;ve consumed dozens of their shakes, with banana being my favorite. 700kcal, 45g protein, and about 33% of the usual daily recommended vitamins and minerals. Oh, and vegan.<p>I can highly recommend them.

If you&#x27;re in Europe I suggest you try Joylent. Great many flavors, nice texture, and comparably cheap. I am not on it now but I used it to replace one meal per day for weeks at a time with no adverse effects.<p>But yeah, I&#x27;ve also heared many Soylent-Horror-Stories.

This post actually had me doubled over in laughter.

Ingredients are typically listed from highest percentage down.<p>I see: Filtered Water, Soy Protein Isolate, ...<p>Soy Protein<p>I can take a guess where the problem lies.<p>YMMV, but when I try something like this, I for one stick to Whey-based products. Soy doesn&#x27;t agree with everyone.

I had &#x2F; am having a different experience. I wish the author did a bit more research and had laid out some more facts; a guy in the comments says it pretty much perfectly:<p>&gt; Of all the articles that have talked about soylent, both positively and negatively, this is one of the least informative. Because, guess what? You didn&#x27;t actually give soylent a try. You just saw an opportunity to make fun of a product that you don&#x27;t agree with. Anyone who actually wants to learn something about soylent would gain nothing from reading this.<p>To share my experience: It&#x27;s been quite the opposite. She complains about the bowel movements, but honestly after I started drinking Soylent exclusively my bowel movements are more healthy and are at a more healthy pace.<p>I don&#x27;t think I&#x27;m too lazy to heat up a corn dog or some ramen noodles, but I do have issues eating healthy, and those quick meals don&#x27;t have a whole lot of nutritional value. Soylent solves this problem for me.

I have the same reaction to Soylent...minus the witty commentary. Just the suffering.

I have two thoughts about this submission. First, this is a funny and well written blog entry about someone trying Soylent. Second, Hacker News is not the right place for this.<p>This is humor and viewpoint. HN wants, or at least pretends to want, analysis and figures. Maybe if they stripped all the CSS from the site and made the blog look like it was made by a dysfunctional highschooler in the 90&#x27;s it would get a bit more respect.

&gt; The point is, I derive a lot of joy from food because I’m not a sociopath.<p>I don&#x27;t derive joy from food. Guess I must be a sociopath. Fuck you too.

To be fair, a negative experience probably leaves you writing a negative review, and it sounds like she had a pretty rubbish experience.<p>So, fair enough.<p>&gt; The point is, I derive a lot of joy from food because I’m not a sociopath.<p>etc.<p>Oh come. This is just trolling for page views. If you engage, you&#x27;re just feeding the troll. Don&#x27;t bother.

It is a mystery why people in tech thought that &quot;meal replacement liquid&quot; was a fundamentally new product. It&#x27;s not<p><a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.hollandandbarrett.com&#x2F;shop&#x2F;weight-management&#x2F;meal-replacements&#x2F;meal-replacement-shakes&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.hollandandbarrett.com&#x2F;shop&#x2F;weight-management&#x2F;meal...</a> <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.tesco.com&#x2F;groceries&#x2F;product&#x2F;browse&#x2F;default.aspx?N=4293437894&amp;Ne=4294793660" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.tesco.com&#x2F;groceries&#x2F;product&#x2F;browse&#x2F;default.aspx?...</a><p>Perhaps, a victory of marketing over experience and existing knowledge of nutrition?

My wife has some stomach issues that we think are related to allergies (to what? the elimination diet gave us some suspects, but no convictions). After reading this, I think I&#x27;m going to stop suggesting she try Soylent as an alternative option.

Replacing a normal diet with a soy based liquid diet isn&#x27;t going to go so well.<p>Soy mimics estrogen and long term overconsumption can contribute to endocrine issues that are hard to diagnose and poorly understood.

I think Soylent is stupid, but I stopped reading after I saw the article was front-loaded with a review of Soylent&#x27;s marketing image and some bland musing related to the way modern labeling is scary because of it&#x27;s inaccessibility.<p>I&#x27;m sure if I followed her as an author - rather than for the subject matter - I&#x27;d feel differently. But I didn&#x27;t go into this blog looking to read someone talk about whatever while being quirky and making it about themselves. So I just found her personality really grating.

<i>Soylent takes its name from a 1960s sci-fi thriller starring Charlton Heston (the website maintains they actually got the idea from the book on which the film is based. Sure, guys. Sure.) In the movie, there’s a massive food shortage, and Soylent is the food replacement that everyone eats</i><p>And the story behind Soylent™ is basically just s&#x2F;food shortage&#x2F;time shortage&#x2F;, no?<p>Or what else is the point?

The first time she consumed it, it was too much at once. The second time she took her time drinking the bottle.<p>Sometimes when you take in a load of nutrients, and you are not hungry to death or something, your stomach decides to reject the food because it is more than it can handle.<p>This also happens when you go through rapid temperature changes or when you lose your appetite.

I have been using Soylent for a month now and have no problem. Although I&#x27;m using the powder one you have to mix with water not the bottled one which contain caffeine and is made to replace your breakfast + coffee.<p>Anyway sorry you had such bad experience, living in then toilet is never great :&#x2F;

I guess you should not eat candy received from strangers and a one solution to all problems product from a salesman. Hope this stops people from destroying their bodies because of chronic diarrhoea.

Did anyone else notice that the ingredients in soylent are almost exactly the same as the ingredients in baby food, except without the dehydrated milk?

That was hilarious. I say while drinking my chocolate soylent.<p>I haven&#x27;t had any ill effects since v2.

radically changing your diet to a controversial product can lead to unfavourable consequences, who&#x27;d&#x27;ve thunk ?

Very funny and a great writing style.

We are trying to launch a similar product here in my country. The negative publicity that Soylent has generated for itself, hasn&#x27;t helped our nerves one bit as we come closer to the launch.<p>Unlike US, Bars and drinks are not in fashion here. We have decided to launch in form of Lollipops. Our team is having a hard time coming up with a motto, but we&#x27;ll get over it.<p>Any advice from the wise HN folks on how to handle the first batches of users ( we&#x27;ll be giving out the first few hundred lollipops for free on condition that users click a selfie with the lollipop every day and tag us on FB&#x2F;Twitter ), in case things go wrong!!