Could humans create food pellets containing all needed nutrition similar to what we feed pets?
In: 166
Here’s a lateral answer: not really.
Producing pellets like this will be crammed full of all the nutrients we can think of: vitamins, fats, sugars, proteins, minerals and the calories that come with.
However, it’ll fail at the “needed nutrition” part. The human body has developed an incredibly robust, versatile and flexible system of consumption that we’re rediscovering truly how fascinating it is in the last decade – for example, the influence of the microbes in your gut!
Your daily intake of nutrients change, every day, every hour. Changes in your routine, in your habitat, which season it is, and what you eat, changes what you need to eat!
People do use supplements, for say vitamin or mineral shortages. But creating the “ultimate food pellet” with the perfect 100% nutritional value ultimately serves no one, because no one uses (only) 100% of those nutrients.
Here’s a lateral answer: not really.
Producing pellets like this will be crammed full of all the nutrients we can think of: vitamins, fats, sugars, proteins, minerals and the calories that come with.
However, it’ll fail at the “needed nutrition” part. The human body has developed an incredibly robust, versatile and flexible system of consumption that we’re rediscovering truly how fascinating it is in the last decade – for example, the influence of the microbes in your gut!
Your daily intake of nutrients change, every day, every hour. Changes in your routine, in your habitat, which season it is, and what you eat, changes what you need to eat!
People do use supplements, for say vitamin or mineral shortages. But creating the “ultimate food pellet” with the perfect 100% nutritional value ultimately serves no one, because no one uses (only) 100% of those nutrients.
Here’s a lateral answer: not really.
Producing pellets like this will be crammed full of all the nutrients we can think of: vitamins, fats, sugars, proteins, minerals and the calories that come with.
However, it’ll fail at the “needed nutrition” part. The human body has developed an incredibly robust, versatile and flexible system of consumption that we’re rediscovering truly how fascinating it is in the last decade – for example, the influence of the microbes in your gut!
Your daily intake of nutrients change, every day, every hour. Changes in your routine, in your habitat, which season it is, and what you eat, changes what you need to eat!
People do use supplements, for say vitamin or mineral shortages. But creating the “ultimate food pellet” with the perfect 100% nutritional value ultimately serves no one, because no one uses (only) 100% of those nutrients.
You can live off stuff like Soylent but apparently the hardest part about switching to meal replacement is the lack of chewing. I recently saw a guy on Instagram claiming he he lives off of 100 capsules of a “perfectly balanced vegan diet” but he also didn’t look healthy.
Another downside is humans have developed signals that you are eating and chewing swallowing and taste are important parts of that.
You can live off stuff like Soylent but apparently the hardest part about switching to meal replacement is the lack of chewing. I recently saw a guy on Instagram claiming he he lives off of 100 capsules of a “perfectly balanced vegan diet” but he also didn’t look healthy.
Another downside is humans have developed signals that you are eating and chewing swallowing and taste are important parts of that.
Not pellets, but there are several companies that sell complete nutrition shakes, either ready to drink or in powder form. Most people who use them also eat other food, because humans like variety, and because our actual nutritional needs aren’t exactly the same.
I’ve been using one such product for most of my food during the week for over three years now, adding some daily snacks, and eating regular food on weekends.
Not pellets, but there are several companies that sell complete nutrition shakes, either ready to drink or in powder form. Most people who use them also eat other food, because humans like variety, and because our actual nutritional needs aren’t exactly the same.
I’ve been using one such product for most of my food during the week for over three years now, adding some daily snacks, and eating regular food on weekends.
Yes, if starting from scratch it would be fairly complicated and take some time to perfect, but it is entirely possible and has arguably been essentially done with the various meal replacement shakes and other products on the market.
Ran a bit of personal experiment a few years ago while dieting and only ate/drank meal replacement shakes, coffee in the morning, and water/gatorade post workout for about two months before I got bored. I was in the military at the time, and working out atleast 10 hours a week and I didn’t notice any health issues during that time possibly slight improvement but I’d attribute . Biggest downside was honestly the social impact as I wasn’t going out to eat/drink and just hang out during that time. Didn’t realize how many of my regular social engagements are centered around food/drink until a couple weeks in.
You can live off stuff like Soylent but apparently the hardest part about switching to meal replacement is the lack of chewing. I recently saw a guy on Instagram claiming he he lives off of 100 capsules of a “perfectly balanced vegan diet” but he also didn’t look healthy.
Another downside is humans have developed signals that you are eating and chewing swallowing and taste are important parts of that.
Yes, if starting from scratch it would be fairly complicated and take some time to perfect, but it is entirely possible and has arguably been essentially done with the various meal replacement shakes and other products on the market.
Ran a bit of personal experiment a few years ago while dieting and only ate/drank meal replacement shakes, coffee in the morning, and water/gatorade post workout for about two months before I got bored. I was in the military at the time, and working out atleast 10 hours a week and I didn’t notice any health issues during that time possibly slight improvement but I’d attribute . Biggest downside was honestly the social impact as I wasn’t going out to eat/drink and just hang out during that time. Didn’t realize how many of my regular social engagements are centered around food/drink until a couple weeks in.
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