USDA-based generic profile - please read notes

by AbsotivelyLast updated February 18, 2017
Macro NutrientsAmountMax
Calories (kcal)19902010
Carbohydrates (g)226.13323.38
Protein (g)61.64174.13
Total Fat (g)44.6777.39
Saturated Fat (g)0
Monounsaturated Fat (g)0
Polyunsaturated Fat (g)0
Omega-3 Fatty Acids (g)1.692.65
Omega-6 Fatty Acids (g)16.2722.11
Total Fiber (g)36.37
Soluble Fiber (g)0
Insoluble Fiber (g)0
Cholesterol (mg)0
VitaminsAmountMax
Vitamin A (IU)3173.686419.35
Vitamin B6 (mg)2.0164.19
Vitamin B12 (ug)3.22
Vitamin C (mg)100.51283.87
Vitamin D (IU)8042567.74
Vitamin E (IU)29.95956.48
Vitamin K (ug)126.95
Thiamin (mg)1.47
Riboflavin (mg)1.47
Niacin (mg)18.7623.04
Folate (ug)536641.94
Pantothenic Acid (mg)6.7
Biotin (ug)40.2
Choline (mg)581.842246.77
MineralsAmountMax
Calcium (g)1.1821.372
Chloride (g)2.722.86
Chromium (ug)33.5
Copper (mg)1.2066.419
Iodine (ug)201706.13
Iron (mg)21.2828.89
Magnesium (mg)444.32
Manganese (mg)2.437.06
Molybdenum (ug)60.31283.87
Phosphorus (g)0.9382.568
Potassium (g)6.3
Selenium (ug)73.7256.77
Sodium (g)1.771.86
Sulfur (g)0
Zinc (mg)11.6425.68
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Notes:

Short version:

This profile should be nutritionally complete for men ages 19-70 and women ages 19-50. This formula plus possibly a calcium supplement should be nutritionally complete for women ages 51-70.

You likely will need to drink more or less than one batch a day, depending on your calorie needs. The profile takes this into account.

The UL for magnesium from supplements has been left out, since that's how the other profiles I looked at handled it. It is 224.68 mg.

Long version:

This profile is calculated so that for a soylent that fits this profile, if you consume an amount that provides an amount of calories within the "estimated calorie needs" range given by the USDA for your age and sex [1], then your intake of all nutrients except sodium, chloride and calcium will be in the range recommended by the USDA for your age and sex [2].

For sodium, there is no amount that provides the Adequate Intake (AI) for a woman at the low end of the calorie range for women without providing more than the Upper Limit (UL) for a man at the high end of the calorie range for men. I've left the minimum as calculated from AI values, and set the maximum to 105% of the minimum.

The result of doing this is that active men ages 19-50 will get about 0.6 g excess sodium from this profile, or about halfway between the UL and the average American intake. Active men ages 51-70 will get about 0.4 g excess. Moderately active men ages 19-30 will get about 0.22 g excess. Everyone else will get little or no excess.

Since sodium is lost in sweat, and active people seem likely to sweat more than active people, and since this will still be a reduction in sodium intake from the average non-soylent diet, I think this will be ok. It's possible that this could use tweaking, though.

The sodium and chloride values from the USDA are calculated together, so I've set the chloride values here the same way as the sodium values.

Calcium has basically the same problem as sodium. However, in the case of calcium, this is most easily fixed by omitting women over 50 from the minimum amount calculation. If you are a woman over 50 and you wish to use a soylent recipe based on this profile without modifying it, you may need to take a daily calcium supplement. The amount of the supplement will depend on your calorie intake. A supplement with between 318 mg and 414 mg of Calcium would be both adequate and safe for the entire range of estimated calorie intakes for women over 50, but finding a supplement in that dose might be tricky.

The main disadvantage of using a generic profile like this is that the acceptable nutrient ranges are narrower than in more-specific profiles, which will make it harder to balance a recipe using this profile.

You can see my calculations here.

[1] Table 2-3 in Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010. The amounts in the table were rounded to the nearest 200, so I subtracted 100 from the sedentary values to get minimums and added 100 to the active values to get maximums.

[2] Dietary Reference Intakes: Recommended Intakes for Individuals