For the last week I’ve been drinking only Joylent for my food, you can find more information about Joylent at http://www.joylent.eu/. Drinking three shakes a day is aimed at being a complete food substitute, complete with nutrients and vitamins.

I started by buying 10 packages online, which together with a shaker were delivered by the Amsterdam based company to me in Berlin in around one week. Each package has enough sustenance for one day, so usually I split the bag into three equal portions which I would then add water to and drink from my shaker.

I had four main motives for trying Joylent:

  • Convenience: Less taking out trash, less cleaning of dishes
  • Non-disruptive: Since you can drink while working, you don’t need to schedule time to eat
  • Cheaper: At €1.83 a meal, it’s substantially cheaper than what I was currently spending
  • Healthier: The shakes contain your daily recommended nutrients and nothing more, which helps reduce overeating

Joylent is advertised as being a ‘tasty’ shake, but I timidly disagree. While it’s not revolting, I would instead say that it’s ‘not a bad tasting shake’. The best description of I can think of is ‘drinkable bread, with subtle flavouring’.

I learned pretty quickly in the week that the key is to use plenty of water when mixing. When skimping on water, the consistency gets a lot thicker and unpleasant which resulted in a few dry retches. Near the end of the week I started drinking 4 shakes with higher water content as I found it a lot more pleasant.

I didn’t experience any radical changes while on this diet. I dropped 1kg, but attribute that just to fluctuations in my body mass. I’m confident though if I stayed on Joylent for longer I would lose more mass, as I often felt slight levels of hunger which wasn’t un-comforting and gave me the impression that my body was burning more fat reserves.

At the end of the seven days I celebrated by ordering a large stuffed crust pizza. Although I won’t be converting any time soon to a long-term Joylent only diet, I do like the idea of having it available for the few times where convenience is important. The team at Joylent is doing a great job at making science more available with their amazing marketing and image. I can’t wait to see how the company develops from here.