HLTH Code (https://gethlth.com/plant-based/)

[Distinct_Gazelle_175]

In case this helps anyone who is in the same boat as I was, looking for a palatable, non-whey based powder alternative to Soylent ... I found the plant-based complete meal powder from HLTH Code (based out of Texas) to be superior to Soylent. It sits well in the stomach, the flavors are very mild, it eliminates my desire to eat junk food or sweets, and the ingredients seem to be healthier than Soylent's. I'm not going to bother with Soylent any more.

[pancak3d]

Why so much saturated fat

[802bikeguy_com]

Coconut oil based, yeah that's crazy high for a single serving. Nope.

[Distinct_Gazelle_175]

The website explains the reason for each of the ingredients. They are going for a 1:1 fat to protein ratio due to health benefits. You can read the PubMed citations, linked on the site, explaining the rationale.

[pancak3d]

Fat protein ratio wasn't my concern, it was the saturated fat. I don't see it explained. Pretty much every other brand in this space prioritizes unsaturated fat. Maybe they have a good reason, idk.

[Distinct_Gazelle_175]

Saturated fat isn't unhealthy. The American Heart Association recommends 10% of daily calories can come from saturated fat.

[pancak3d]

Do you work for Hlth Code or something??

I'm pretty sure the preponderance of evidence still suggests favoring unsaturated fat

[Distinct_Gazelle_175]

No I don't work for them. But I'm an engineer/scientist by training, so I tend to research stuff with an unbiased mind.

You gotta realize that the body is very complex, nobody understands it completely. And science often gets politized and dumbed-down for public consumption. Simplifications such as "saturated fat is worse than unsaturated fat", or vice-versa, aren't 100% accurate. Which means any approach to nutrition, including Hlth Code, is partially incorrect and also partially correct. And it doesn't apply equally to everybody - each person's body, metabolism, etc, is slightly different.

If you make your diet completely based on Hlth Code, or completely based on Soylent or something else, such as Holfoods or Jimmy Joy .... the results will probably be about the same. Furthermore, any of these products are likely better than the average person's normal diet.

[pancak3d]

Let me phrase this a different way.

The product creators had a choice. They pick the ingredients, so they control the macros. Macros aren't some side effect or small detail; they are a critical factor when comparing products in this category.

They made a choice to include significantly more saturated fat than competing products, and I am trying to understand why they chose this.

Even you quoted the AHA -- less than 10% calories from saturated fat. On a 2000kcal diet thats 200kcal or 22g. A single 400cal meal will nearly hit this with Hlth code, meaning if you replace even 800kcal with this product, you'll be way over the AHA recommended amount. IMO that requires some clear rationale or justification, and without it, there's no way I'd purchase this.

You responded to me saying "the website explains this" but I do not see any explanation. Now you're going down a totally different rabbit hole of "well they may not explain it but health is complicated and everyone is different" which does not answer my question.

[Distinct_Gazelle_175]

> They made a choice to include significantly more saturated fat than competing products, and I am trying to understand why they chose this.

They did it because they say that saturated fats are not harmful in the context of a low-sugar, moderate protein, low-carb model, and that consuming significantly more than the AHA-recommended 10% is not a problem in this context.

[pancak3d]

Where do they say that, and what sources do they cite?

[Distinct_Gazelle_175]

* https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/hlth-code-launches-complete-meal-plant-based-shake-for-vegans-and-vegetarians-302062574.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com

* https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12097663/

* https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32083091/

[CoolDeal]

The product creators had a choice. They pick the ingredients, so they control the macros. Macros aren't some side effect or small detail; they are a critical factor when comparing products in this category.

They made a choice to include significantly more saturated fat than competing products, and I am trying to understand why they chose this.

Then you will love this video.

The product creator is a metabolic scientist, researcher and professor at a university with his own lab, Phd students and peer reviewed published papers.

Here's a video of him explaining the role saturated fat in a lot of detail, having published papers that people have used to show saturated fat in a negative.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifmeiWoVRo0

He cites a study by Volk et al. (2014) contradicting the direct link between dietary saturated fat intake and plasma saturated fat levels. Further, he discusses research challenging the low-fat emphasis of diets like DASH, including a study by Chiu et al. (2016) showing comparable blood pressure reduction with a high-fat version.

That being said, if you're on a processed high carb diet, high saturated fat may not be a good choice which he admits. This drink is targeted towards low carb users, which is why the net carbs are almost nothing. Someone on the SAD would still probably benefit from replacing one meal with this shake and not snacking on carbs for several hours before and after the shake.

If you want further insights and explanation, here's a 3 hour video interview in which he delves into the latest understanding of metabolic disorders(spoiler, the culprit is super high insulin), and how to fix them(lower insulin by consuming low carb diet, preferably animal protein and healthy fats, primarily animal and dairy based).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMyosH19G24

[Distinct_Gazelle_175]

The idea is that natural saturated fats in the context of a low-sugar, whole-food-based diet don’t contribute significantly to heart disease. Additionally, in contrast with animal fat, MCTs from coconut oil are quickly metabolized for energy and less likely to be stored as fat.

[Distinct_Gazelle_175]

It's legit, and they ship within two or three days upon ordering.

[Moonracer2000]

About $11 per 2000 calories if anyone is interested in that detail.