Soylent good meal replacement for autistics?

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I've been reading a lot about Soylent recently, and have been thinking how it might be useful for the autistic community. Here is an article on Soylent, and here is the actual website.

Basically, this techie guy was discouraged by low funds, limited time, and an inability to cook, and set out to create a low-cost, high-nutrition drink mix. Despite the name, there is very little soy (just soy lecithin), as the name was a reference to Soylent Green, and it meets FDA recommendations for protein, carbs, fat, vitamins, and minerals. The creator has been living on it almost exclusively for a while now, without any health problems. He sees it as a quick, easy, nutritious way to replace the hassle, cost, and time of food prep except for those occasions when you want to make it special (like a family meal).

There are a lot of criticisms of course, including the one that Soylent will suck the joy out of eating, but here is what I am thinking. For me, I have a lot of food sensitivities, including gluten intolerance. I also have medical conditions that mean I need to eat very low carb. So my food choices are limited, and because of poor executive functioning, finding nutritious food to eat that won't make me sick, and which I actually have the mental resources to buy and prepare, is a daily struggle. I have often wished I could just have a feeding tube to give me everything I need, so if something like Soylent can meet my nutritional needs, I am all for it. I know that poor executive functioning and food sensitivities are common with ASD, so I'm sure I'm not the only one. Sensory issues may also limit diet. Autistic kids in particular tend to have limited diets due to sensory issues, and are at risk of nutritional deficiencies. Drinking Soylent has been likened to drinking mildly sweet pancake batter. Bland, white, and texture-less - sounds good!

So what do you guys think? Low in cost, easy to mix, inoffensive to drink, and nutritionally sound based on current nutritional research (though opinions may vary regarding the validity of the FDA's views on nutrition). I am going to check it out, but I think I will try one of the DIY recipes (there is a site for that here), because I need lower carb, and also some of the ingredients are not really great for me based on my own particular digestive issues. I also might try to find some whole food sources of some of the vitamins, since one of the concerns about Soylent is that the effect of nutrients in isolation might be different from how they work in the whole food.

This product is obviously not for those who love to cook and eat, but for those of us for whom food has become a stressful hassle, it seems like it is at least worth a try. What do you guys think? Have any of you tried it?

Nah, I just hunt people down and eat them: it's cheaper, they taste better on the barbecue, and they're just as nutritious.

This could explain why autism speaks wants to rid the world of autism. We could be the new super predator.

Good luck to anyone who is serious about such "food." Four months ago, my brother (a Vietnam veteran) was accepted at our local VA Hospital to proceed with some spinal surgery. During recovery, he insisted on eating nothing but BOOST® Nutritional Drink as he had (somewhat successfully) in the months leading up to the surgery. His physicians, nurses and therapists complied with his wishes, but told him that, during his recovery at least, he should eat real food. He resisted quite vocally. Our family was dumbfounded at his very lucent, but wrong, ideas. One day during this recovery period, his vitals status got much worse and, because of the liquid drugs they had been required to give him, he died within three or four days.

A body's careful balance of vitamins, minerals, amino acids and just plain old "stuff of life" can't be altered very much without consequences. My brother had an above-genius IQ and researched everything he believed. Unfortunately, he hadn't factored into his research the idea that major surgery would require much more than three nutritional drinks a day.

So, no. I believe that such "smart water," "nutritional drinks" or "energy drinks" should NOT be relied on to supplant a full diet. That is why their industry is called "supplemental" foods. I blame them for making it appear to their customers that one product can mean a simple, cheap avoidance of real food, because it doesn't. I believe that my brother died because of this kind of marketing, his own mistake and a business that convinced him that he could get away with such Bravo Sierra.

Soylent asks: "What if you never had to worry about food again?" My ass.

I think it's better just to eat healthy, regular foods. Don't put yourself on some stupid diet or overload on stupid crap like "pro-biotics" as nothing will "cure" you.

I only eat free range humans. Organically raised, and fair trade.