Soylent Alternative

History

Soylent

In January of 2013 a software engineer, Rob Rhinehart purchased 35 chemical ingredients to make a meal replacement shake (1). Through clever marketing where Rob documented not eating any food for a month and only drinking the shakes he made, that experiment became the massive company Soylent. Soon after many Soylent alternatives were created. The company has had many iterations of its products but the process of mixing large batches of bulk purchased chemical ingredients remains the same.

Naked Nutrition

In July of 2014 Naked Nutrition was founded by former two-time All-American cross-country runner Steve Zieminski. The brand mission was to help people control what went into their body when using supplements by sourcing premium ingredients from small U.S. farms and using no additives. The first products sold to consumers were different types of protein powders containing only 1 ingredient each.

Brand Name

Soylent

From the novel “Make Room! Make Room!” the Soylent Corporation is an evil food processing corporation (2). The novel explores the impact of overpopulation in a world with dwindling resources, so a new food is created that is called Soylent, which is made of soy and lentils.

Naked Nutrition

From the nutritional concept that when a supplement is naked it’s free from additives and is the supplement in its purest form. No artificial sweeteners, colors, flavors or mixing agents are added.

Company Tagline

Soylent: Use Less

Naked Nutrition: Nutrition With Nothing To Hide®

Soylent Alternative for Meal Replacement Shakes

An informed customer is our best customer. Below is a comparison of both shakes in the powder and ready-to-drink forms.

Naked Meal vs Soylent - Powder

Additional Considerations: Choosing a Soylent Alternative

Vitamins & Minerals

Naked Meal gets its extensive micronutrient profile from (mostly organic) fruits, herbs, and extracts – such as mango, guava extract, and mustard seed. In contrast, Soylent touts a vitamin and mineral “premix” that sounds a bit like a chemistry textbook, from alpha-tocopherol to zinc sulfate. Either way, you’ll get the vitamins and minerals your body needs, but fruits, herbs, and extracts provide countless other beneficial nutrients that you won’t find in a premixed assortment. For example, mango is chock-full of antioxidants such as quercetin and gallic acid (6).

Probiotics

These are live microorganisms added to or naturally occurring in foods. However, unlike the bacteria that can cause illness, probiotics serve the purpose of cultivating the normal microflora (beneficial bacteria) in the digestive system (7). Most health benefits associated with probiotics are related to digestion (especially in people with disorders such as IBS, IBD, and others). Naked Meal contains a blend of four powerful probiotics - Lactobacillus Rhamnosus, Lactobacillus Acidophilus, Bifidobacterium Breve, and Bifidobacterium Animalis Subsp. Lactis.

Prebiotics

Typically high in fiber, these foods “feed” the beneficial bacteria in the digestive system in order to better balance their levels (7). This can be particularly useful after an illness. Naked Meal contains inulin, a prebiotic that has been studied extensively for its role as an adjunct treatment for ulcerative colitis (8). Even if you don’t suffer from any digestive issues, prebiotics can help keep your digestive system in top condition.

Protein

A meal replacement shake with a clean source of protein is a win given its importance in our diet. Soylent has that covered with their soy protein isolate. But, many people will not want their main protein source to be soy. Further, anyone with a soy allergy or intolerance would want to steer clear of it. As an alternative, Naked Meal uses grass-fed whey from small dairy farms in California. This means vegans or those with milk allergies will want to opt for another meal replacement or one of the brands vegan protein powders. But, regarding meal replacements, whey protein tends to be better tolerated by most people, and studies have also concluded that whey protein is associated with improved weight loss and reduced appetite compared to soy protein (9).

Naked Meal vs Soylent – Single Serve/Ready To Drink

References

1 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soylent_(meal_replacement)

2 - https://villains.fandom.com/wiki/Soylent_Corporation

4 - https://soylent.com/products/powder-original

5 - https://soylent.com/products/drink-original

6 - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5855736/

7 - https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/consumer-health/expert-answers/probiotics/faq-20058065

8 - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4155344/

9 - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3145217/