Pre-dating Soylent by over 20 years: The Ultimate Meal | Hacker News Reader

Pre-dating Soylent by over 20 years: The Ultimate Meal

theultimatelife.net

32 pointsColinWright13 comments

Thanks for posting this Colin.

Once the subject of Soylent came up, I've been thinking of contributing this myself but I don't think I have enough karma to make a difference.

Too expensive for me to use as a meal so I would use it as a supplement. I've been formulating my own mixtures for years and this is one of the helpful ingredients. I test every supplement under extreme conditions, and this is a proven performance enhancer to me.

Currently at formulation #22 according to the label, the website still shows #21 in their JPG of complete ingredients. Take a look at the components to see if you are already getting these in your diet. If not, maybe that's what supplements are for.

Thanks to HN I looked at Soylent, too bad it is not free of artificial ingredients.

Add some of this to Soylent and it sure would make it green though. Now I'm no youngster and I do remember when the original movie of Soylent Green came out. It was in response to the 1970's meat crisis, which was along the lines of the Arab oil embargo. Heck, I even remember when the NFL was still drinking Kool-Aid and only the Gators had Gatorade. By the time I got there they had an extreme system which made it difficult to rise to the top unless you were likely to be able to invent something as popular. Regardless, I've not been interested in popularity but I do formulate my own sports drink too, which has none of the artificial components of Gatorade, and excels in performance trials.

Comparison to Soylent [1], looks very imbalanced. 2.5 times the cost per kcal. Half of the micronutrients are met with only 7% kcal target, some not even there.

[1] http://diy.soylent.me/recipes/ultimate-meal-powder-test-1?nu...

Also, pre-dating civil rights by over 20 years.

"THE ULTIMATE MEAL® and MEALBAR® are totally free of yeast-based vitamins and minerals, soy, ... or anything from China."

I can see how local is better than sourcing internationally. There is no need to support anti-Chinese sentiments though, especially considering that the copyright on the sourced website is 2003.

There have been several cases of adulterants in both food and medicine from China for the purposes of increasing profit margins -- and two cases that come readily to mind were in 2008.

It's not much of a meal -- one serving contains only 170 calories [1], or 350 if you add an apple and a banana, as directed.

[1] http://www.theultimatelife.net/images/tumeal-eco21.jpg

Ultimate Meal suggests, and almost requires to be edible, a Banana and Apple blended in. On its own it tastes like grass clippings. Not quite as user friendly or accessible as Soylent which differentiates the two.

I would hope that some progress might have been made in the intervening years ...

I don't mind having a banana or an apple with meals. As a matter of fact, I bet many people will prefer that to give taste to soylent.

On its own it tastes like grass clippings. Not quite as user friendly or accessible as Soylent which differentiates the two.

Arguably, Soylent sounds like it doesn't taste much better than grass clippings, so I don't think they're that different.

Is this just an advertisement? How does it differ from the many other pre-Soylent meal replacements such as Garden of Life? The appeal of Soylent isn't just that it's a meal replacement shake.

What, other than being a meal replacement shake, is the appeal of Soylent?

Other products exist which can replace all food. Naso-gastric tube feeding isn't new and people spend long times on that. These products exist in a variety of sweet or savoury flavours (or even "unflavoured"); they exist as shakes, soups, or "juices"; you can get them in little bottles or big tubs of powder; they cover a range of different needs (weight loss; weight gain; different compositions for people unable to cope with certain nutrients etc).

It's nothing to do with developing world. WFP already have a bunch of product which is cheaper, already being produced in bulk in the local regions, and doesn't need as much clean water.

To me the interesting part of Soylent is the development and the engagement with the community. Having a blog talking about how it was made and the struggles they had as well as having a place for DIY solutions on the same website as the product they're selling, that's interesting. Food replacement comes second.

The website and product packaging is definitely more recent. They have reference to GMO and stevia.

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