Amount | Volume | Ingredient | $ / day | Source | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | pill | Centrum Advance^ | $0.12 | Chemist warehouse | ||
0.5 | pill | Ostelin Cal-DK2^ | $0.21 | Chemist Warehouse | ||
43 | g | 2¼ | tbsp | Sunflower Seeds* | $0.32 | Woolworths |
77 | g | ⅔ | cup | Rolled Oats - (Blend into powder)* | $0.10 | Woolworths |
33 | g | ¼ | cup | Lecithin Granules* | $0.66 | Chemist Warehouse |
73 | g | ¼ | cup | Masa Lista^ | $0.24 | PennusiCuisine |
83 | g | ½ | cup | Skim Milk Powder* | $0.58 | Woolworths |
50 | g | 1⅔ | scoop | USN Diet Whey Ultralean^ | $2.22 | Chemist Warehouse |
2.2 | g | ¼ | tsp | Diet Rite Salt Lite^ | $0.03 | Woolworths |
3.8 | g | ⅔ | tsp | Salt, table (non-iodised)* | $0.00 | Woolworths |
4 | g | ⅓ | tsp | Plaistowe Premium Cocoa^ | $0.13 | Woolworths |
1.1 | g | ⅓ | tsp | Nature's Way Super Kale^ | $0.10 | Chemist Warehouse |
1.2 | ml | ¼ | tsp | Biogenic Linseed (Flaxseed) Oil | $0.04 | Woolworths |
Amounts for: Total Daily Cost: | $4.75 | Add Ingredients to Amazon Cart |
*Testing is ongoing to improve the consistency and taste components, right now though this is a neutral/choc flavour with the consistency depending entirely on how much water is added and if it is refrigerated.
You can keep tabs of Ausoylent's progress on my blog as well as reading below. Remember to drink plenty of water with any Soylent variety as you are missing out on the waters normally contained in fruits and vegetables.**
Key
- *Data sourced from the Australian Health Survey Food Nutrient Database (8b. AUSNUT 2011-13 AHS Food Nutrient Database) which I maintain a Google Sheet for here
- ^Data sourced from producing company nutritional labels, supplemented with data from http://nutrition.data.self.com and http://www.whfoods.com
- ~Data sourced from the Australian Health Survey Dietary Supplement Nutrient Database (AUSNUT 2011-13 AHS Dietary Supplement Nutrient Database)
Blog
Progress, notes, decisions and thoughts will be tracked via http://adamjowett.com/
Background
Ausoylent is an Australian sourced DIY Soylent version aimed at nutritional accuracy while keeping prices low and sources few. I try to stick as close to the 40/25/35 (Carbohydrate/Fat/Protein) Macronutrient ratio (currently sitting at exactly those levels).
Cost is under $5, with ingredients coming primarily from Woolworths and Chemist Warehouse, although recent change requires the use of Masa Lista which adds another source unfortunately. Would love to lose this at some point if there was a suitable non-oat replacement.
Prices can be brought down with bulk purchases, or more varied sources, but I have tried to keep the initial purchase cost as low as I could and logistics simple.
Nutritional Accuracy
The original version of this recipe (3.0.0) used community sourced nutritional information which on deeper investigation was wildly inaccurate in most cases compared to official sources. I now use only ingredients I can verify from the following sources:
- The Australian Health Survey Food Nutrient Database
- The product packaging providing it goes into Micro and Macro nutrient detail
- Further missing information is polyfilled via http://nutritiondata.self.com and http://whfoods.com
Ausoylent aims to keep the percentage levels as even as possible, eliminating some of the extreme levels seen in other recipes above 1000% of RDI.
Low in Sugar
While not tracked through this site, the sugar ratio of this recipe is carefully considered. Currently the sugar profiles are:
- Skim Milk - 0.035 g
- Cocoa - 0.035 g
- Protein Powder - 1.862 g
- Sunflower Kernels - 1.04 g
- Oats - 0.225 g
- Masa Lista - 1.2 g
Total Sugars = 4.397g
This brings a full days worth of Ausoylent to 4.397g (1 tsp), way below the recommendation from the Dietary Association of Australia of 90g (22 tsp!), and far below the recent recommendation from the American Heart Association of 36g (9 tsp).
More exploration of these levels will be done in upcoming version, and be sure to check these levels with other DYI recipes.
Preparation
Note: All volume measurements (cups, tsp, tblsp) have been rounded to make them realistic. This slightly adjusts the nutrient balance though still keeps things within required limits. For complete accuracy, use the gram measurements via a kitchen scale
What you will need
- Kitchen scale that can do grams in decimal places, especially if you want to measure out daily serves such as this 1000 by 0.1g scale
- Food processor or Coffee grinder to grind the oats, vitamins, seeds and Lecithin granules. Some of these can be swapped out for already ground varieties if you don't mind the small increase in price.
- Some large, air tight containers depending on how much you are making at a time.
- Measuring spoons and cups
- Pill Cutter (to cut any pills that are not whole numbers)
- Pill Grinder (optional)
- A funnel (optional)
Method
Step 1: If using a food processor, use your kitchen scales to measure out each non-powdered component from the top down, placing each measured out ingredient together. Once all are in, process them into a powder and leave in the processing bowl.
A quick tip here, Lecithin granules can be sticky when ground, so don't do these on their own, make sure they are done with other dry ingredients to save cleaning hassle.
Step 2: For any ingredients that come in pill form and do not use a whole pill, use a pill cutter which you can get from most Pharmacies/Chemists, and decide if you want to grind them in with the powder, or take them whole while drinking your Ausoylent.
Step 3: If you decide to grind the pills (as I do), a small coffee grinder is better for this, especially if you can mix it with another component to make grinding easier such as some of the oats. Another option is to purchase a Pill Grinder which some Pharmacies will sell right next to the Pill Cutters.
Step 4: If you food processor is large enough, and depending on the quantity you are preparing, you may be able to place all remaining powdered ingredients in with those you have just processed, and give them a quick pulse to mix them properly.
Step 5: Once complete, tip the now mixed Ausoylent powder into a large air-tight container (a used Protein Powder container is a good option). A funnel with a large head and spout might help to keep all ingredients in the container rather than on the bench top.
Notes:
- I keep my Ausoylent powder in the fridge to be safe from the humidity of where I live, but in theory it should keep on the bench top or cupboard as long as the container is air tight.
- Make sure you have refrigerated some water as most DIY Soylent users prefer the taste when chilled rather than luke warm.
- While there is no hard and fast rule on how much of the daily quantity to drink when, spreading it through the day seems to work best for most as per normal meals.
- The current taste is reasonably milky/neutral, and very low in sugar, so feel free to add taste as you please, either through swapping out the fiber with a flavoured one, or by adding flavouring of your choice such as cinnamon, Xylitol or other flavourings (I throw in some Vanilla essence at times).
Consumption
To mix one meal worth of Ausoylent, take approximately 124g (approx 1 full cup, 1/3 of the daily intake) of Ausoylent powder and add an equal portion of hot tap water (not boiling water). This will help dissolve any hard to break down particles and help with the texture later.
Give it a good shake, or a blast in a blender, and leave it to sit for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, give it a quick shake, and add desired amount of cold water and refrigerate for later consumption.
Ausoylent can be drunk straight after mixing (even warm if that is your thing), but the texture improves if you can refrigerate it for a few hours (or refrigerate it overnight). Try it either way for yourself and see what works. Consistency will depend on the quantity of water used, so play around with it until you get the consistency you like.
Taste
After many experiments with taste testing different combinations, Ausoylent is now at a nice neutral flavour with a hint of choc/vanilla. The vanilla comes from the Whey powder selection, so you may wish to switch it with another flavour if you prefer. The choc comes from the Cocoa, but I have tried to keep both flavourings to a minimum to allow easy flavouring. Would love to hear your flavouring method in the comments.
There is some great threads on how to flavour your variety of Soylent:
- http://discourse.soylent.me/t/taste-flavorings-thread/317/60
- http://discourse.soylent.me/t/the-flavoring-soylent-thread/12603
Roadmap
- Ausoylent Dairy Free
- Ausoylent Full Carb
- Ausoylent Ketogenic
- Ausoylent Women
- Further smoothing of micro-nutrient profiles with maximum levels
- More taste and texture adjustments after further personal trials
Changelog
01 June 2015
- Swapped out Flaxseed Meal with Flaxseed Oil to help with graininess of mixture
17 May 2015
- Reworking of ingredient quantities to smooth out fat profiles
05 May 2015
- Removed Milo to bring sugar profile way down, sugar is now no longer an issue (< 1/6 of max daily intake)
- Upped Cocoa to counter loss of Milo
- Reworked amounts of all ingredients to smooth out ratio levels and counter for loss of Milo
- Re-introduced Kale powder to bring up Vitamin C levels
- Rounded volume measurements to make them more realistic
03 May 2015
- Added volume measurements
- Re-ordered list to put elements that needs grinding at the top
- Very small changes to balance neutrients
01 May 2015
- Removed Rice Protein completely
- Changed Whey Protein to even nutrients
- Added small amount of Cocoa for taste and to reduce Milo (and hence sodium and sugar)
30 Apr 2015
- Reduced Rice Protein substantially and added Vanilla Whey protein to assist with the taste profile
- Added Diet Rite Salt Lite to aid with Potassium profile
- Removed Potassium Chloride to make logistics easier
- Reduced Lecithin slightly
- Reduced Skim milk powder
- Other small profile adjustments to reach desired 40/20/35 ratios
29 Apr 2015
- Removed Cream of Tartar, was great for Potassium levels but made it undrinkable due to added saltiness
- Removed Cocoa powder completely, too much bitterness and added graininess to texture
- Added Milo
- Upped Skim milk ratio to add milkiness
- Evened out Oats to Masa proportions after reading other recipes that had good taste reviews
- Added Sesame and Linseeds for Omega profiles
- Reduced Lecithin amounts due to addition of Omega seeds
- Added Potassium Chloride to help with those levels
- Other small taste adjustments
28 Apr 2015
- Reduced Cocoa proportions substantially, now only 5g per day
- Added Cream of Tartar to boost Potassium levels left behind by reduced Cocoa
- Other small adjustments to cater for reductions in Cocoa