About

Why make a ketogenic meal replacement shake?

I've been obsessed with the question of how to industrialize nutrition for as long as I can remember.  I've always been a bit envious of the shelf-stable meal pills in The Jetson's (even as a kid).  So, when Soylent first came on the scene, I saw a potential answer to my long-asked question of how to make what I'd been calling "future food."  I bought a week's worth as soon as it went on sale and was promptly told that it would ship in a few months... then 3 months... then 6 months.. then 9.  

While waiting for my order, I saw a video about soylent on vice.com that mentioned a very low calorie medical food as a currently available alternative to Soylent.  So, being impatient for my future food to arrive, I bought some on Amazon and tried it for a week. I was amazed that I wasn't hungry, even though it only had 800 calories a day. I set out to try to figure out what kind of appetite suppressant they put in it.  After various searching, it seemed the consensus was: you don't feel hungry on this medical food because it induces a mild state of ketosis. 

Researching ketosis lead me to reddit's /r/keto/ sub, Peter Attia's blog, and the work of Phinney and Volek.  I decided to try a ketogenic diet and bought a bunch of Quest bars to make sure I'd always have keto-friendly food when driving or traveling.

Fast forward to September 2014. My Soylent order finally arrived, almost a year after I placed it.  I wanted to try "the soylent approach to eating," but wanted to stay on a ketogenic diet.  This meant that the 200+ grams of carbs a day in Soylent was a non starter.  So, I decided to make DIY ketogenic soylent. I found a recipe, ordered $500 worth of supplies from amazon, and started making some on my own.

My experience with DIY soylent was good -- having a blender bottle of DIY soylent on hand kept me from snacking, the stuff tasted pretty ok, and I enjoyed tweaking the recipe.  First, I got the consistency to be more like a shake and less clumpy.  Then, I researched and found a less bitter, higher fat cocoa powder.  Then, I found a slower digesting protein (less amino acid spikes = less guconeogenesis = deeper ketosis).  Then I got obsessed with omega-3 fatty acids, and bought every omega-3 rich oil I could find to see what ones were palatable.  Once I had the omega3:6 ratio in a healthier format, I wrote software to try every combination of available oils to get the SFA/MUFA/PUFA ratio i wanted.  

After all this tweaking, I got a recipe that I liked and a pretty efficient process for making it. But it was still taking me about 2 hours every sunday to make the weeks worth of food. I kept wishing someone would just sell me the stuff pre-made.  After complaining "why can't I just buy this stuff" for about the 23rd time, I decided to scratch my own itch.

In September 2014 I started market research for "a ketogenic soylent" company.  By mid-October all the research was done, the company seemed viable, and I started putting together the resources and a team.  On December 1st, 2014 KetoSoy.com opened for business.  

Even though we've moved fast for a food startup, I've refused to cut corners.  This is people's food, and the diligence due in food is more than just the minimal due diligence.  We produce in a city and state licensed facility, package in high-barrier pouches, follow food regulations to the letter, and everyone who handles the product is a certified food handler.  

I started ketosis about six months ago. I weighed 250 lbs when I started. I tipped the scale the morning of our launch at 215. 

I hope KetoSoy helps you and makes the ketogenic diet a bit easier.  I know it has helped me,

Ted