The thing is, a lot of fast food isn’t nutritious at all. If we’re going to eat something, it should at least be nutritious, right? In comes Soylent, a complete meal engineered to provide protein, good fats, and a plethora of vitamins and minerals. But, Is soylent keto friendly?
Soylent stacked and Soylent bridge may be consumed in moderation while following a keto diet with between 7 and 9 grams of net carbs per bottle. However, Soylent original and Soylent cafe have well over 30 grams of net carbs per bottle, making them not ideal for a ketogenic diet.
Many people on keto are busy people, working professionals, working mothers, college students. Sometimes we don’t always have time to stop for a meal, so naturally grabbing a protein shake or meal replacement shake is a quick and convenient option.
In this article, I’ll go over which soylent products are keto-friendly, which are not, what Soylent is, if it’s safe, better options for keto, and if it is a good option if weight loss is your goal.
Table of Contents
Can you drink Soylent on keto?
Soylent was created to be a “healthy” animal-free protein-infused meal replacement shake filled with additional omega-3’s, vitamins, and minerals.
However, many of their products are not suited for a ketogenic diet due to carbohydrate content.
As of writing this, Soylent has four varieties of their soylent drink product.
- Soylent Original
- Soylent Cafe
- Soylent Bridge
- Soylent Stacked
Both the Soylent Original and Soylent Cafe have well over 30 grams of net carbs per bottle, making them not keto-friendly. However, the soylent bridge and Soylent stacked may be enjoyed in moderation.
Soylent stacked contains 12 grams of total carbs and 3 grams of fiber, which leaves 9 grams of net carbs per bottle. Soylent bridge includes 10 grams of total carbs and 3 grams of fiber, so bridge only has 7 grams of net carbs per bottle, the lowest of the four.For a more keto-friendly version with the same premise of Soylent, I would recommend Ketolent/Sated (made by a different company)
A Note On Keto Friendly
When people use the term keto-friendly, it’s usually describing whether or not a particular food item has too many carbohydrates to make it worth your while.
There’s technically no food that is off-limits while following a ketogenic diet, so long as it fits within your carbohydrate allotment for the day.
Take, for example, if you try to stick to between 20 and 30 grams of net carbs per day, you could eat almost any food, so long as you don’t go over your threshold.
While fibrous carbs such as vegetables are more filling and nutritious, which is conducive to losing weight, sometimes fitting in some less than ideal foods are ok in moderation.
How Many Carbs Are In Soylent
Soylent offers a variety of products from drinks, powers, to bars. Below is a table that demonstrates the number of total carbs, fiber, and net carbohydrates in each of their products.
| Product | Total | Fiber | Net |
|---|---|---|---|
| Soylent Stacked | 12g | 3g | 9g |
| Soylent Original | 36g | 3g | 34g |
| Soylent Cafe | 37g | 3g | 34g |
| Soylent Bridge | 10g | 3g | 7g |
| Soylent Bar | 12g | 2g | 10g |
| Soylent Powder | 28g | 4g | 24g |
What Is Soylent?
Soylent is a complete animal-free meal on the go made in both drink and bar form.
According to its website, Soylent’s goal was to make sustainable and nutritious products made to feed everyone.
Being that Soylent was made by two engineers working in Silicon Valley, they took their expertise to the food industry and engineered what they believed to be a healthy plant-based meal replacement.
What Is Soylent Made Of?
There are four key ingredients that Soylent stresses about each of their products:
- Soy protein
- Carbs synthesized from beets (isomaltulose)
- High oleic sunflower oil
- Vitamin and mineral blend
However, after looking at their nutrition labels more closely, I’ve made the following discoveries:
- Their bars do not contain sunflower oil, only canola oil. There are carbs synthesized from beets (isomaltulose), but soluble corn fiber and whole oat flour make up the majority of the carbohydrates.
- The powder also does not contain sunflower oil, only canola oil. The majority of carbs come from maltodextrin and then isomaltulose.
- In Soylent stacked, there is a more substantial portion of canola oil compared to sunflower oil.
- In Soylent original, maltodextrin makes up the majority of carbohydrates compared to isomaltulose.
- In the Soylent bridge, there is a more significant proportion of canola oil to sunflower oil.
Also, Soylent’s products all use the same non-nutritive sugar substitute Sucralose, popularly known by the brand name Splenda.
Is Soylent Safe? Is It Good For You?
Within the context of a well-formulated diet, there are worse choices then Soylent products. Many of their products also contain soluble corn fiber, similar to many low-carb protein bars, such as Quest Bars, on the market today.
Soluble corn fiber (SCF) is a non-digestible fiber used to bulk up food items or thicken liquids, such as protein shakes.
Some individuals report bloating and digestive issues when ingesting small or large quantities of soluble corn fiber, but everyone’s body is different. There are also anecdotal reports of SCF affecting blood glucose and insulin, but research seems to suggest otherwise. 1
On the opposite end, soluble corn fiber helps specific individuals with satiety and may even help you go poop, which is vital on any weight loss diet.
That said, if you are looking for a meal replacement shake you can drink on the go while following a ketogenic diet, I would recommend the following instead.
For a more keto-friendly version with the same premise of Soylent, I would recommend Ketolent/Sated (made by a different company)
Is Soylent Good For Weight Loss?
There are no magical foods when it comes to weight loss; I wish there were.
However, certain foods make things more convenient due to time or temptation. Eating certain foods may also cause you to feel more full, while some may trigger you and make you more hungry.
If Soylent or any other meal replacement is a more convenient option that:
- Fits your lifestyle and schedule
- Allows you to stay on track with the rest of your diet
- Kills a craving
Then I’m all for it.
However, if Soylent or any other meal replacements cause you to:
- Overeat or binge
- Crave other sweets
- Don’t fill you up or leave you wanting to eat something else
Then it would be best if you skipped it.
The Takeaway
Many of Soylent’s products are high in carbohydrates, but there are a few that may be enjoyed on a ketogenic diet, but sparingly and in moderation.
The Soylent products that may be enjoyed in moderation include the Soylent bars, Soylent stacked, and Soylent bridge with 10 grams of net carbs or less.
However, if you want something more “keto-friendly” I would recommend a very similar product called Sated, formerly known by Ketolent.