BUTCHER'S BISTRO: Soylent 1.5

For about 4 months now, my diet has consisted of 90% Soylent. (2-4 non-soylent meals per week)

What is Soylent?

Think Soylent Green sans people, Lil Lisa's Slurry, Matrix food (actually, outside-the-matrix food). Kind of like a meal replacement but it's nutritionally balanced enough that you could eat it exclusively. It's vegan and made from brown rice, oats, sunflower oil and fortified with all your daily required minerals + vitamins. I'm talking about the powder, not the drink version. I haven't tried that yet. More info here

Immediate Physical Effects

Most of us have zero portion control and usually over-eat at most meals. My meals shrank to 115g of Soylent powder mixed in 700mL of water. In the first 3 days I felt peckish between meals while my stomach shrank. By the 4th day, snacking and other food cravings completely dissipated. After just a day or 2, I immediately felt a surge of energy throughout my day. My coffee consumption was cut in half. I felt less tired in the mornings and no longer experienced sluggishness after my meals. The great fibre content of Soylent keeps my stool smaller than my old ones, softer and very regular with zero bloating. My urine is almost always clear, just a slight yellow tint. I have almost no sugar cravings and junk food is very unappealing. After 3 months, I've noticed less belly fat, healthier and clearer skin and a boost in overall health.

Your Mind on Soylent

By far the most unexpected and most impactful result of a Soylent diet was a significantly improved state of mind. Within the first 2-3 days I got a huge spike in motivation. The pride of taking on this drastic new eating lifestyle pumped me up everyday. Excitement and mental alertness spiked and hasn't really crashed. Peace-of-mind also surged as I no longer worried about sourcing, preparing, or storing food while knowing I was ingesting properly portioned meals with everything my body needed.

Time is Money

It works out to about $2/meal and you can have a meal prepared and consumed within 5min. You just need to mix it with water. Compare that math to your regular chewing meals.

Soylent Gear

Your first-time order gets you a free meal scoop and a large mixing pitcher. Don't bother with the pitcher. It's hard to drink out of and it's designed to mix an entire day's worth of Soylent...definitely not convenient to travel with. I recommend those 1L gym mix bottles for protein powder with ridged balls inside to aid in mixing. The metal scoop however, is great for portioning out your meals. Remember: 1.5 scoop is a regular meal, 1 scoop is a snack, 2 full scoops is a heavy meal. Each bag of Soylent (460g) has an entire day's worth food.

Is Soylent Right For You?

Some people absolutely love to taste food, they love to cook and chew and feel all the flavours explode over their tastebuds. Soylent is described as "pleasantly neutral"...not unlike watery oatmeal or pancake mix. So if you need to sit down and savour every bite of every meal, then Soylent is probably not for you. For me, food is a chore. A waste of time and energy and if I could just eat a pill every day and get everything I need, I'd be happy. Soylent is quick and easy and arguably healthy. Those are the extremes. For most, Soylent may be a convenient option for just breakfast and lunch or a travel snack. Sometimes as a treat, mixing in some raw cinnamon or pumpkin spice or even nutmeg gives it a delightful pie or eggnog taste.

Know Thyself

Whether you join the Soylent cult or not, it's still a good idea to know what your dietary needs are. You could be gluttonous or nutrient deficient. Many health problems can be fixed with just a proper diet. I found these calorie and protein calculators very helpful.