Rob Rhinehart mixes Soylent from raw vitamins and minerals, plus a lot of carbohydrates and some protein. Photo from Monica Heisey’s article on Vice.
Rob Rhinehart has his nutrition down to a science — literally. He measures complex carbohydrates, amino acids, potassium, calcium, and trace elements and vitamins, then mixes them with olive oil and water. He calls the mixture Soylent, and he drinks it three times a day.
He drinks it three times a day, every day, instead of eating.
The way Rhinehart sees it, cooking is a hobby and eating is a luxury. Not everyone has the money to afford healthy food and even fewer people have the time to spend hours cooking an elaborate meal. Now that he’s completed a one month trial, he’s considering the implications. He reports on Vice and on his blog that he can run longer, that his skin is healthier, that he has more energy than ever before. He’s now on month two of Soylent, and although he has begun incorporating solid food once more, he claims his diet is 92% Soylent. He’s thinking of starting a Kickstarter campaign to expand the scale of his product, since he has experiences such great success.
He even goes so far as to suggest that this could be an answer to global hunger.
Rhinehart is the latest episode of the ongoing Quantified Self movement. Individuals perform experiments on themselves — they add a tablespoon of butter to their daily diet, they change their sleep habits, they drink the contents of a multivitamin supplement and call it a meal. Then they record all sorts of data, from standardized measurement like weight and heart rate to more qualified statistics: how rested they feel, how far they can run, their mental sharpness and cognition, their energy levels…
The problem with studies like these isn’t just that they’re small scale (but just so I’ve said it, no self-respecting scientist has a sample size of one). No one can measure some of the supposed benefits because they’re too fuzzy. More energy? Less dandruff? I’d be just as well off trying to measure my own happiness.
And Rhinehart isn’t even a very clean comparison. Before Soylent, he says his daily meals included “eggs for breakfast, eat out for lunch, and cook a quesadilla, pasta, or a burger for dinner.” No wonder he feels so much better now! He’s actually getting the vitamins and minerals he needs! Rhinehart’s experiment would be more interesting if he compared Soylent with a nutrient-complete, food-based diet.
To his credit, Rhinehart acknowledges that the small sample size is a shortcoming. While he wants to research Soylent’s potential as a hunger treatment, he’s working first on expanding the scope of his research by recruiting eager disciples. He’s asking that they all have a blood test after one month of consuming just Soylent and nothing else, so there’s one more quantifiable piece of data.
Rhinehart also mentions that Soylent is catered to his needs. He’s toyed with the recipe so that it suits him. Other people may gain weight or lose weight from his formula. They may need more of certain nutrients. And it’s unclear how Rhinehart is offering consultation and participant-specific Soylent.
Meanwhile, there are a few obstacles between Soylent and ending world hunger. All clinical trials aside, Soylent must be mixed with clean water. Once mixed, it only lasts one day, and it must be refrigerated. This is the current problem with doling out nutritional supplements as part of foreign aid. How many Africans have a refrigerator? Better question, how many starving Africans have access to a refrigerator? Prior to the 21st century, refrigerator technology in developing countries involved two nested pots with some sand between them and a daily influx of cold water to take advantage of evaporation’s cooling properties.
I’m all for Rhinehart experimenting with his own health. But if he wants to solve world hunger, he’d be better off investigating temperature resistant proteins or a solar powered fridge.
PS. I personally could never handle Soylent. I like to cook. It’s a stress reliever and I need the time to process and break. Plus, I think this quote from Rhinehart sums up the social drawbacks of Soylent:
“Right now I only eat one or two conventional meals a week, but if I had any money or a girlfriend, I would probably eat out more often. I’m quite happy with my bachelor chow. I don’t miss the rotary telephone, and I don’t miss food.”
Eat your heart out nutritionists. My mental health requires break time, chewing, and social interaction.
4/7/13: NPR’s blog The Salt picks up Rhinehart’s story, but didn’t look hard enough for the ingredient list.
