Soylent Green is Pancakes!

Soylent Green is Pancakes!

Recently I was given some Soylent to try out. Soylent is a powder that that contains all of the nutrients required to sustain life. You mix it with water and drink it. In principle at least, you could live off the stuff indefinitely. And, yes, the name is an ironic reference to the fictional Soylent Green.

At first sight, it might seem to be a solution looking for a problem. Why would you want to eliminate the pleasure of eating food from your life? Isn't that like using artificial insemination so that you don't have to have sex?

It seems to be advertised on the basis that it's quick and easy to prepare, yet cheaper and healthier than takeaway. The idea is presumably that the archetypal computer geek, assailed with hunger but unwilling to relinquish the joy of debugging the latest Linux kernel to prepare dinner, slugs down a glass of Soylent, rather than ordering in a pizza and coke.

But it has more potential than just a convenience food for the time-poor.

Given that it's light in weight, will keep a long time without refrigeration and can be prepared without any special equipment, it might be useful on expeditions or in remote communities with limited access to fresh food. It would be a good thing to pack away as an emergency ration. It would surely have a place in disaster relief. Also, it might be helpful for those with eating disorders where "normal" food would trigger binging.

It's not going to find a place on everyone's table, but it's potentially a useful product.

An Aussie version of Solylent

The product I tried was not the original American formula, but an Australian version.   The Australian version comes in two varieties; "Chocolate" and "Premium". These differ from each other (and both differ from the American version) in contents and nutritional breakdown. All are formulated for a 2,000 calorie daily diet (obviously you can vary this by eating proportionally more or less). Puzzlingly, the American version has a significant excess proportion of fat and a deficit of fibre. The Aussie versions come much closer to the recommended proportions.

Here is the comparison (the quantities are for a day's worth of servings):

	US Version		AU Version (Chocolate)		AU Version (Premium)
Fat	96 g	43%	52 g	23%	67 g	31%
Protein	84 g	17%	121 g	24%	101 g	21%
Carbohydrate	204 g	40%	261 g	53%	235 g	48%
Fibre	16 g		30 g		48 g

[% refers percentage contribution to total calories]

Mmmm, Soylent!

Here's what the stuff looks like in person. This is the chocolate flavoured version. The colour isn't totally accurate - it's a fraction more brown than shown - but it's much closer than the example on the aussielent web site, which looks like a photo of pure cocoa powder.

I made half of it up as per directions.

Soylent; like a chocolate milkshake, only crunchy floury

The flavour was neutral and not unpleasant. After drinking, I felt full; as if I'd had a normal meal. I had thought that it might make me feel starved afterwards, but it seems my body registered the calories and responded appropriately.

The only problem - and this is a significant problem which will need to be addressed if the stuff is going to achieve any sort of public acceptance - is the texture. It's horribly floury; to the extent that it's unpleasant to drink, despite the otherwise acceptable flavour.

It has been suggested that the texture can be improved by letting it stand for a while. Some say it's better at room temperature, and others prefer it chilled. I tried it after standing for a considerable period at room temperature and then in the fridge overnight. I also mixed it thoroughly in a blender. Nothing seemed to make any difference to the texture.

It tasted to me like diluted cake mix or pancake batter.

Pancake batter? Now that's an idea!

If life gives you pancake batter...

As an experiment, I mixed some of the remaining Soylent with water and made pancakes. Since I only used water, and not the usual eggs and milk, the Soylent pancakes would be nutritionally the same as the original Solyent - with the exception of a little extra fat from the butter used to grease the pan, and possibly minus a small amount of the vitamins due to the cooking process.

The darker colour of the batter meant that the lacy patterns from cooking weren't as noticeable, and also they were a little more brittle (presumably due to the lack of eggs) and had to be turned with care, but otherwise they came out the same as normal pancakes.

Eaten alone, without any toppings, Soylent pancakes are virtually the same as ordinary pancakes but somewhat more flavourful. That is to say, they taste really good. Unlike the original drink, they are something that can be consumed with pleasure.

Needless to say, the remainder of the Soylent was used for pancakes. The picture at the top of this entry is an example. Obviously this goes against the philosophy behind Soylent, but if you're of an experimental frame of mind, I'd recommend giving it a try. As currently formulated, this seems to be the best way to use the stuff.

And here's an idea for some entrepreneur; sell Soylent in the form of pancake-like wafers. You could call it Lembas (which has much more pleasant associations than the loathsome Soylent Green), and cash in on the popularity of the Lord of the Rings