When money is tight and the stomach rumbles, most people turn to Ramen. But one man has decided to overthrow the tyranny of the tummy and just quit food.
Imagine it: No dishes, groceries, lunches to pack, meals to cook. You could install a curio cabinet where your dishwasher used to be. A discotec in your kitchen. The possibilities are endless.
The Side Effects
Okay, so maybe Rob hasn’t entirely quit solid calories. After his initial 30 day trial (during which he only consumed his new concoction, you know – for science) Rob has gone back to eating a couple times a week. But he reports side effects like:
- Saving money
- Losing weight
- Clearer skin
- More spare time
- No pooping (seriously)
All thanks to a mixture he’s nicknamed Soylent.
Cheap & Tasty?
Rob reports that subsisting on Soylent costs him $154 per month, an average of just about $5 per day.
He also says that it’s delicious. No… Really.
“At the time I didn’t know if it was going to kill me or give me superpowers. I held my nose and tepidly lifted it to my mouth, expecting an awful taste. It was delicious! I felt like I’d just had the best breakfast of my life. It tasted like a sweet, succulent, hearty meal in a glass, which is what it is, I suppose.“
And Free?
Soylent isn’t (of course) free – what with being made of ingredients, and ingredients costing money and all that.
But Rob wants to let other people try Soylent now that he’s tested it, and if you are willing to undergo some tests as part of the study, he’s offering free beige drink of curious makeup for a few lucky folks. Interested? Check out his blog for details.
Soylent, now 100% People Free
“I decided to ditch nutrition and focus on biology.”
Rob set out to create a substance that included all the necessary ingredients to fuel the human body. So far, the list looks like this:
- Carbohydrates
- Protein
- Fat
- Cholesterol
- Sodium
- Potassium
- Chloride
- Fiber
- Calcium
- Iron
- Phosphorous
- Iodine
- Magnesium
- Zinc
- Selenium
- Copper
- Manganese
- Chromium
- Molybdenum
- Vitamin A
- Vitamin B6
- Vitamin B12
- Vitamin C
- Vitamin D
- Vitamin E
- Vitamin K
- Thiamin
- Riboflavin
- Niacin
- Folate
- Biotin
- Panthothenic Acid
- Optional: Lycopene, Omega-3 Fatty Acids, Ginseng, Gingko Biloba, Lutein, Alpha Carotene, Vanadium
Want to know more? Rob outlines each ingredient and what it’s for on his site. Check it out, he makes some pretty interesting observations about food in general, culture and chemistry.
What do you think of all this?
Is Soylent the solution to world hunger? The solution to pausing gameplay to throw a pizza in the oven? Or just an exceptionally well-researched and ill-advised foray into liquid diets?
More importantly… Would you ever try it?
Images via Vice.com and Mostly Harmless
