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Comment by ag56 | Hacker News Reader

> Soylent said there shouldn’t be any issues with its premade drinks, which cost slightly more than just the powder.

Interesting. I tried the premade drinks (Soylent 2.0) a couple of months ago and within an hour had stomach cramps and was forced to retreat to the bathroom.

Unlike a software bug it's mentally very hard to forgive -- I love the idea of Soylent but doubt I will ever try it again, in any form.

Serious question: why is it so hard for them to find the root cause of these issues? There are a limited number of ingredients, all of which are surely well documented and tested.

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> Serious question: why is it so hard for them to find the root cause of these issues?

Biology is hard. Humans are really, really variable. Look through the comments on this page - you'll find people who couldn't keep down one bottle, or who love the bottles but can't stand the powder, or who have had zero issues, or who find the entire idea disgusting.

And these reactions may also change over time. Medical science can only really draw firm results from large-scale tests involving highly-controlled groups - and even if Soylent were able to run those kinds of tests and optimized for the most universal solution, the end result would probably still disagree with someone.

> Biology is hard. Humans are really, really variable.

Plus Soylent has been presented as a replacement for all other food, and some people use it as such. I would think that would make it more likely that their users would experience problems, since it would mean greater and constant exposure to ingredients that might not cause issues if consumed less frequently.

also might be an issue of endurance, sometimes the body needs to adjust to things and that could take a week - most of these complaints are 'x happened to me the first time'

I've gone through a few cases of the premade drinks. My first bottle or two did the same to me but never since. Pretty sure it was the high amount of fat (~50% of calories) coupled with an empty stomach. I keep them at my desk and in my car for occasional usage.

> There are a limited number of ingredients, all of which are surely well documented and tested.

There isn't really any bright line between edible and poisonous. E.g. if you buy a bunch of field guides, the exact same plants and mushrooms will be listed as edible in some books and poisonous in others. There are lots of species that are widely considered poisonous, but many people eat them anyway without any ill effects. And others that are widely considered edible that people get very sick from eating.

Some of the best advice I got from a well-known mycologist is when in doubt about whether something is edible, set up a TV in the bathroom first.

> the exact same plants and mushrooms will be listed as edible in some books and poisonous in others

"Every mushroom is edible, but some only once." -- Czech proverb (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mushroom_hunting#Safety_issues)

> the exact same plants and mushrooms will be listed as edible in some books and poisonous in others.

Are you serious? Any mycologist or survivalist worth their salt will tell you to avoid any mushrooms you could not identify with 100% certainty because there is no regret if you had them. Some manuals may advocate (in very desperate situations) eating a small piece of an unknown species to see if you have a reaction before consuming more, but that is still pretty dodgy since not all toxins have a short incubation period.

Let's take something else: vodka. Poisonous or edible? Clearly poisonous: if you drink a litre, you may feel nauseous, lose your balance, slur your words, throw up...

On the other hand, generally recognized as edible: many people consume it regularly, most doctors wouldn't tell you to never consume it, recipe books include recipes using it, etc.

Many (identified!) mushrooms are on a similar level of toxicity: one is fine, a kilo will make you nauseous, twenty kilos can kill you. Whether this is toxic or edible is to some extent a cultural construct. The dose makes the poison.

Whether something is safe to eat has nothing to do with identification. If you don't know what something is then obviously you shouldn't be eating it.

I didn't have any of that issue with the one case I purchased to try a few months ago. Rather, it was just so weird tasting I had to mix the last 6 with chocolate milk to be able to choke them down. They just don't taste good, and I didn't feel full after drinking them. There's something mental about eating food for me where part of getting to feeling full is the effort it takes (manipulating with utensils, chewing) to consume it.

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