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[Max White]

Think about it this way: If it works, you're shaving 60 dollars off every month.

If it doesn't, you're up a hundred dollars for only one month.

And the only way to find out is to try it.

Although there is always that bit where you are eating sludge...
I'm currently spending about $40 to $60 a month on food, so $100 is a waste of cash either way.

[Jimmy]

I found the article a bit odd in that it presented it as a new idea when there have been meal replacement drinks like boost on the market for years. Though it would be pretty interesting if it became something that you could easily do yourself in your own home.

This sort of thing is pretty common for medical reasons too. I was very ill when I was a teenager and didn't eat food for two years. Instead I had formula pumped into my stomach through a tube in my nose. In more extreme cases I've known people who have had what is called "total parenteral nutrition" - where nutrients are delivered directly into the bloodstream (bypassing digestion altogether).

*facepalm*

I don't know what products might be available in other countries, but in Australia these powdered meal replacement products have been on the market as weight loss supplements for years.

OptiFast

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Manufactured by Nestlé Nutrition, OptiFast has been a low calorie diet program available through pharmacies for decades.

Ingredients

It's mostly milk protein with added vitamins, minerals and fats; basically the same thing as this guy is making, just pre-packaged into individual servings and available in a variety of flavors.

Cost: $50.00 for 21 servings - Source

The taste? I've tried them. Mostly a fake sweet flavor from the maltodextrin, with some saltiness from the amino acids and minerals. Not exactly a gourmet delight. Pro tip: if you're gonna try the bars, the chocolate is horrible. Cappuccino on the other hand is awesome. The effect from drinking one of the shakes is that you don't feel hungry for a few hours. Not full like you'd had a meal, just not hungry. Very unsatisfying if you enjoy your food.

So once Nestlé brought their product out, pretty much all the major players in the milk powder industries copied the idea and made their own products available with the same formulation.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

OptiSlim: $55.00 for 42 servings - Source

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Tony Ferguson: $3.29 per serving - Source

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Xantrax: $21.99 for 14 servings - Source

This is old news folks. The only difference with this guy's Soylent is that it's manufactured in his kitchen instead of a food processing plant. If you wanna try what it's like, go to your local pharmacy, look for a meal replacement shake in their weight loss section and buy it. I guarantee you'll probably go off them in a few days. It's rare for anyone to tolerate nothing but a liquid diet for any extended length of time; eating real food is simply enjoyable in a way powdered meal replacements can't match.

[Skyrunner]

Problem: those are apparently all diet shakes from their name. Optislim, eh? Low calories. Also, there's probably added junk to make it keep, and to mix the fats with the rest of the materials.

Also, apparently [Soylent] tastes better. O_o Not that we have much proof to go by. It definitely doesn't taste like the chalky flavor of the medical product that's used in Australia, the one mentioned in the Reddit threa about this.

[Jimmy]

Yes, they're branded as diet shakes because that's where they'll get most sales. Not a huge market for powdered meal replacements among the ordinary population oddly enough. Not trying to lose weight? A lot of athletes have been using these as supplements to their diet, drinking one or two between regular meals to increase their calorie intake without the time needed to make a meal. They're the same thing as what this guy is making in his kitchen, just conveniently packaged and branded as a meal replacement for weight loss.

As for added junk, ever opened a tin of baby formula? It's the same basic source for these shakes - milk powder, and they get made by the same companies in the same factories. You don't need a heap of artificial preservatives in it because it's a sealed sachet of powder. If anything, you could probably dump them all in a tin like formula and scoop it out into a cup to get the same effect. However for some reason adults tend to find the idea of adult tins of formula a little hard to swallow.

Edit: Interestingly the original article notes that he's consuming a third of the calories contained in a normal diet. Sound familiar?

[Max White]

So how many servings is suggested per day?
If you needed thee servings of Optifast, that means $50 is lasting you a week. Current estimated price of Soylent is half that.

While this product might already exist in a marketed form, that doesn't mean a home brew isn't interesting...

[Jimmy]

See the OptiSlim one right below? $55 for 42 servings, or $1.31 per serve. Assuming you consume 3-5 serves per day, that's $3.93 to $6.55 per day. All with the convenience of no effort required to prepare yourself and the portability of individual servings.

[Skyrunner]

If you read his second blog post, he says he gave up the low-calories due to it having little effect, or maybe even adverse effects.

[Jimmy]

Did that, he reported consuming 2629 kcal/day. If we use the OptiSlim as a baseline product at 220kcal/serve, that's just under 12 sachets per day to equal his consumption. So total cost to equal his soylent using a ready-made off the shelf product is $15.72 per day, or between $450 to $500 a month. His figures indicate the cost of manufacturing it yourself are around $150 a month. So it's somewhere in excess of $300 a month for the convenience of buying it from the pharmacy instead of making it at home, with the option of a wider variety of flavors to choose from.

Edit: Just a thought, if you were looking for a good in-between area to save money, take three sachets of the OptiSlim and mix it with 2000kcal of maltodextrin. Presto, it's what he's taking without the bother of measuring out amino acids, protein or minerals.

[Max White]

Although doing some reading, these diet drinks are designed that you also have at least one high fiber meal a day. You can't live off them.
The idea of Soylent is that you can live off it. I'm not sure if it has enough fiber, but assuming it does then that is a significant difference.

Because $300 a month isn't significant enough...

[Jimmy]

Found your extra calories.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Maltodextrin: $24 for 5kg (2000 kcal = 125g, 5kg = 40 doses) - Source

Fiber is easy.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Benefiber: $17.69 for 100 servings (1 serving = 3g fiber, 6g fiber = 1 dose) - Source

Ever tried it? Doesn't have any taste or texture. Way better than other ones I've tried. Dissolves into water too. His soylent formula uses 5g fiber, so this one is 2 doses per 6g.

So what we have for a quick, dirty home-made version is:
OptiSlim: $3.93 per day (3 sachets)
Maltodextrin: $0.60 per day (125g)
Fiber: $0.35 per day (6g)

Total: $4.88 per day, $146.40 per month.

[SalmonGod]

Looking through the Soylent Discourse site for any discussion on this topic.  Here's one:  How is Soylent Different from a Meal Supplement?

[GlyphGryph]

Thanks for doing it out, Jimmy. I might actually just try that. I wonder if it still tastes terrible after you mix back in the calories and fiber.

Edit: Hmm... maybe not. The ingredients you gave there is a bit lacking in several nutrients. The soups they also sell (apparently) definitely seem a bit better than the shakes on that front, but it's a bit concerning.

Hah, most interesting warning on those forums:
"Do not swallow gum while using soylent."

[SalmonGod]

My general impression is that the whole Soylent thing is aiming to be more complete and customizable than any of these other things we're talking about.

[Jimmy]

Does eating 3 serves of OptiSlim contain the same nutrients as soylent? Nope. What it does contain are nutrients that are clinically proven to contain everything the body needs to survive, plus a lower amount of carbohydrates to reduce weight. My formula mixes in the carbohydrates again and adds fiber to maintain bowel function. It might not be as exact or precise as soylent, but it doesn't need to be. Anything you don't need is eliminated through the urine or synthesized by the body. If you're really paranoid, add a multivitamin to be safe.

What I'm basically pointing out is that this is just one guy reinventing the wheel. It might be a slightly better wheel, but for the time and effort you put into it, why not just go buy one somebody else already made? It'll still do the job you want it to do. Personally I think this guy just enjoys playing chemist in his kitchen.

[Sheb]

Well, he plans to take production up a few step, so you will be able to buy your better wheel directly from him.