I Lived on Soylent for a Day

At the Indy Hall Fourth of July barbecue I heard about a drink called Soylent, an open source meal replacement. It takes its name from the movie Soylent Green, but unlike the movie this just has the raw ingredients a human needs to live. I have always wanted something like this so ordered some immediately. It finally arrived five and a half months later, so I decided to try living on it for a day. I felt amazing!

The summer seems so far away now. In the warm and wonderful sun the members of Indy hall and their friends and families gathered at Liberty Lands Park to celebrate the co-working space and the community around it. At some point I got into conversation with a guy named Keith. He told me of a drink invented by a Silicon Valey startup founder because he wanted to spend less time preparing and eating food. I’ve always fantasized about such a thing so became instantly interested. I also appreciated the irony of finding out about it at a barbecue, which had excellent vegetarian food by the way.

I remembered the product name because of the movie so looked it up when I got home. It looked legitimate. It also appealed to my open source nature. Making the formula available to all makes it better for everyone. It means that more experts can evaluate it. The whole project has the feel of a software project, with version numbers and a change log.

I ordered a week’s supply, consisting of seven bags of powder, seven bottles of oil, and a starter kit. The starter kit consists of a pitcher and a metal scoop. The web site gave me fair notice that it would take a long time to arrive, 4-6 months. I didn’t mind since I viewed it as an experiment. It arrived five and a half months later, but re-orders will come within 1-2 weeks.

I woke up with a headache. I felt nasty and had to host an accessibility party later that night. I just wanted to eat something bland that would get me feeling better. I received a notification that my package of Soylent had arrived, and sure enough I found it after all this time, and on the perfect day. It really doesn’t get any simpler to make. They provide a digital version of the booklet which they send, a plus for accessibility. The time had come.

To make soylent, just pour a bag of powder in the pitcher, fill mostly full with water, shake for thirty seconds, add the oil and top off with water, and shake for thirty more seconds. Done. You can also use the custom cup for a single serving. Just combine a cup of powder with a teaspoon and a half of oil and two cups of water. It all seemed too easy.

I decided to start with a single serving. I put a cup of Soylent V1.3 into a glass, added water and stirred, then used a measuring spoon to measure the oil and stirred it in. I let it chill in the fridge since it tastes better when cold. An hour later I tried it. It smelled and tasted like tapioca pudding. It had a slightly milky consistency because of the oil. It tasted neutral but good. I didn’t mind it at all.

I finished the glass and before I knew it I felt full. It didn’t feel fake, I felt really full. An hour later I had a little swig for the road. It hit my stomach and my body knew it had enough. I still felt a little weird, since I hadn’t eatn a hot meal. I hoped it would still effect me like one. At least my headache had mostly disappeared. I felt impressed enough to make the rest of the pitcher so I’d have it when I got home.

At the party I started greeting people and felt fine. I didn’t feel hungry or like I had missed a meal at all. In fact, I felt like I had eaten a rather large one. Several people brought food, but I didn’t feel like anything. I asked for a few desserts and snacks to nibble on. I started eating a cookie then realized that it felt painful. I had failed to take into account that Soylent would also take away my desire for dessert! I ate a chocolate candy and thought of that classic scene from Monty Python’s the Meaning of Life, where a fat guy orders and eats everything on a restaurant’s menu, then eats an after dinner mint and explodes. “It’s wafer thin!”

I came home a few hours later. The feeling of fullness had started wearing off, so I had half a glass, a snack’s worth. It hit me and again I felt really full. I didn’t need anything else the rest of the night. I went to bed feeling content. My stomach felt full and I had eaten nothing. How strange and wonderful.

The next day I woke up and still felt fine. I didn’t feel overly hungry or like I had done anything wrong. In fact I felt really good. I decided to carry on the experiment for a full day. I had a glass for my breakfast and another half a glass later in the afternoon. I didn’t feel hungry at all. I did feel a little bloated, but they warned this would happen at first due to getting a proper amount of fiber, something most of us eat too little of. Other then that i have no complaints. I do feel concerned that it contains GMOs, but hopefully they will address that.

I decided to end the experiment after a day. For dinner I had tempura tacos. I felt unusually sensitive to the fried food, though enjoyed it. It felt good to taste flavors again. Eating solid food felt like returning home from an alien world.

I love cooking and would never want to give that up. Food connects us to the Earth and to our humanity. Blue Apron has provided me with exotic dinners, and I’ve always enjoyed good breakfasts. Still, when I can’t prepare a quick healthy meal I will use this. Soylent doesn’t need to replace food, but it can provide a replacement when necessary. It tastes and feels man made, but it may save humanity. You can find more info at http://soylent.me.