Soylent (meal replacement)

This article is about an artificial total diet substitute. For other uses, see Soylent (disambiguation).

A homemade batch of Soylent, immediately after preparation

Soylent is an open sourced food substitute intended to supply all of a human body's daily nutritional needs, made from maltodextrin, rice protein, oat flour, canola oil, fish oil, and raw chemical powders.

Soylent was created by software engineer Rob Rhinehart; it is intended to supply all the nutrients needed by the human body without the time, money, and effort that usually goes into preparing food. After researching nutritional requirement, Rhinehart developed the formula by self-experimentation based on his own research online and through textbooks, and scientific journals. Rhinehart named it after a fictional food from the 1966 novel Make Room! Make Room!, further popularized in the 1973 film Soylent Green.

A commercial version of Soylent has been created through a crowdfunding campaign and venture capital that raised over US$3,500,000. The funding paid for additional research and modification of the formula. The first shipments of U.S. orders began in the first week of May 2014.

Development process and health concerns

As of May 2013, Soylent had been tested by Rhinehart himself and by a handful of volunteers as well as individuals recreating the substance independently at home. Modifications to the ingredient list have occurred in response to results incurred in testing, for example: the first version of the formula omitted iron, which Rhineheart reported caused his heart to race. In other early experiments, intentionally induced overdoses of potassium and magnesium gave Rhinehart cardiac arrhythmia and burning sensations. After the early recipe had stabilized, Rhinehart found himself suffering from joint pain due to a sulfur deficiency. Methylsulfonylmethane was added to address this problem.

The fundamental basis of the assumptions made by Soylent are disputed; with focus on the fact that, because digestion is a complex phenomenon and there is not a simple linear relationship between nutrient ingestion and nutrient absorption, many factors contribute to nutrient absorption in the human body.

With respect to the suitability of the product for general consumption, homemade Soylent is made without the kinds of regulatory safeguards and fine-tunings followed when making artificial diets such as medical food.

However, Soylent manufactured by the Soylent company as a commercial product utilizes ingredients GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) by the United States FDA, and is regulated as a food product, not as a nutritional supplement as evidenced by its legally required nutrition label.

Cost

In September 2013, Rhinehart said he would like to get Soylent down to a cost of US$5 per day. As of April 2013, Rhinehart stated he was spending US$154.62 per month on Soylent, yielding a diet of 11,000 kilojoules (2,600 kcal) per day while a medical food such as Jevity would cost US$456 per month to get 8,400 kilojoules (2,000 kcal). For comparison, a family of four in the United States can purchase food for approximately US$584 per month (avoiding eating out) which is slightly less than multiplying Rhinehart's base Soylent cost by four.

Upon the shipping of Soylent 1.0 in May 2014, Soylent has differing pricing options for 1, 2 or 4 weeks of Soylent delivered either monthly or just one-time.

Ingredients

Below are the ingredients used initially in the manufacture of Soylent after 30 days of experimentation. Many are not readily available and must be ordered from laboratory supply stores.

• Carbohydrates (400 g), in the form of oligosaccharides such as maltodextrin
• Protein (50 g), in a powdered form such as rice protein
• Fat (65 g), in the form of olive oil
• Sodium (2.4 g), from table salt
• Potassium (3.5 g), in the form of potassium gluconate
• Chloride (3.4 g), also from table salt
• Fiber (5 g)
• Calcium (1 g), in the form of calcium carbonate
• Iron (18 mg), from an iron chelate
• Phosphorus (1 g), from monosodium phosphate
• Iodine (150 μg)
• Magnesium (400 mg)
• Zinc (15 mg)
• Selenium (70 μg)
• Copper (2 mg)
• Manganese (2 mg)
• Chromium (120 μg)
• Molybdenum (75 μg)
• Vitamin A (5000 IU)
• Vitamin B6 (6 μg)
• Vitamin C (60 mg)
• Vitamin D (400 IU)
• Vitamin E (30 IU)
• Vitamin K (80 μg)
• Thiamin (1.5 mg)
• Riboflavin (1.7 mg)
• Niacin (20 mg)
• Folate (400 μg)
• Biotin (300 μg)
• Pantothenic acid (10 mg)

Non-essential ingredients

• Lycopene (500 μg)
• Omega-3 fatty acids (750 mg)
• Ginseng (50 μg)
• Ginkgo biloba (100 μg)
• Lutein (500 μg)
• alpha-Carotene (140 μg)
• Vanadium (100 μg)

Nutrition

The following summarizes the nutrition facts and ingredients for Soylent 1.0. The nutrition facts are based on one serving of 148 grams (5.2 oz). Each Soylent pouch contains 3 servings.

Nutrition Facts

Serving size (148 g)
Servings per container 3
Amount per Serving		Soylent Powder	with Oil Packet
Calories		510	670
Calories from Fat		45	210
		% Daily Value
Total Fat	5 g	8%	37%
Saturated Fat	1 g	5%	15%
Trans Fat	0 g
Cholesterol	0 mg	0%	0%
Sodium	350 mg	15%	15%
Potassium	1155 mg	33%	33%
Total Carbohydrate	84 g	28%	28%
Dietary Fiber	8 g	32%	32%
Sugars	2g
Protein	38 g

Nutrition Facts (continued)

	% Daily Value
Vitamin A	33%	33%
Vitamin C	33%	33%
Calcium	40%	40%
Iron	40%	40%
Vitamin D	33%	33%
Vitamin E	33%	47%
Vitamin K	37%	52%
Thiamin	33%	33%
Riboflavin	33%	33%
Niacin	33%	33%
Vitamin B6	33%	33%
Folate	33%	33%
Vitamin B12	33%	33%
Biotin	33%	33%
Pantothenic Acid	33%	33%
Iodine	57%	57%
Magnesium	33%	33%
Zinc	33%	33%
Selenium	33%	33%
Copper	37%	37%
Manganese	33%	33%
Chromium	33%	33%
Molybdenum	33%	33%

See also

• Liquid diet
• Nutraloaf
• Plumpy'nut
• Ambronite
• Protein shake
• Therapeutic food

External links

• Official website
• Rob Rhinehart's blog
• Rosa Labs official web site
• List of Soylent recipes
• "How I Ate No Food for 30 Days", Vice Motherboard, November 12, 2013
• Soylent, Neoliberalism and the Politics of Life Hacking (2014-05-19), Jeff Sparrow, CounterPunch