
Pre-dating Soylent by over 20 years: The Ultimate Meal - ColinWright
http://theultimatelife.net/CatalogMeal.htm
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danelectro
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.

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munro
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...](http://diy.soylent.me/recipes/ultimate-meal-powder-
test-1?nutrientProfile=520cd8c4ffac6c0200000065)

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hatty
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.

~~~
Wingman4l7
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.

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zck
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](http://www.theultimatelife.net/images/tumeal-eco21.jpg)

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Vekz
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.

~~~
ColinWright
I would hope that _some_ progress might have been made in the intervening
years ...

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freehunter
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.

~~~
DanBC
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.

~~~
freehunter
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.

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

