Hacker News Reader

Comment by arkitaip | Hacker News Reader

I wouldn't consider the 30 day test to be remotely significant. Maybe when we're talking about years Soylent can be considered safe...

View on HN

What about all of the foods in the grocery store than can kill you over years if eaten as a primary source of a diet? Are those considered "safe"?

* Not trying to advocate Soylent. Just trying to point out that there are a lot of foods in the grocery store that can kill over time (and many are marketed as full meals intended to be eaten regularly).

That seems like a pretty circular argument. Do you mean the ones that aren't supposed to be eaten as a primary source of a diet? Or do you mean the ones that are, indeed, harmful if they make up too much of your diet?

Either way, I'm not sure how that argument is supposed to build confidence in Soylent.

Eaten that way? Obviously no, they are not safe. That is why you should never suggest that they are eaten that way.... Don't eat only pears; It would be a stupid and dangerous thing to do.

You know why Soylent is receiving more criticism than pears? Because unlike pear vendors, they are suggesting that you eat their product that way.

There is an entire category of foods meant to be eaten as 'meal replacements', sold in grocery stores etc. Google it. Soylent is perhaps the best of the lot; its tailorable to your activity level etc. And yes you can eat Soylent for an extended time and feel better than if you ate McD's all the time, which millions of people do and yes, they live to tell about it.

The criticism is overheated and silly. Eat what you like, everybody else does. Lets cut out the unsolicited advice and scare tactics, it sounds silly and timid.

> What about all of the foods in the grocery store than can kill you over years if eaten as a primary source of a diet? Are those considered "safe"

This is very disengenous. The makers of Soylent have come out and said Soylent is the only thing you need to eat to have a full and balanced diet.

I can't think of a single other food at a grocery store that has made a similar promise as I dont' believe any food can do this.

You must be the dude still holding out on cell phones because of the microwaves?

Considering the earliest signs of scurvy start at the one month mark, I don't consider suspicion of a 30 day trial to be overly cautious.

What are the early signs of scurvy? I didn't see mention of that in the Vice article.

A feeling of general crumminess, tired all the time. Then comes the breathing problems and bone aches.

Per usual, there's a very informative wiki link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scurvy#Symptoms

Reply on news.ycombinator.com