His experience actually sounds very much like what people report when they go on fasts: crappy couple of days followed by increased energy, mental clarity, weight loss, etc. All temporary and possibly delusional, but hey fun to be your own guinea pig!

A person cannot fast forever, right? Can a person eat Soylent for the rest of her or his life?

I guess no one quite knows yet.

when i need to lose a few pounds, fasting is highly effective and surprisingly easy.  i think the first missed lunch is the hardest part, then it's oddly energizing.  two days max, though.  then break fast lightly.  i don't think it ever feels crappy, actually.  and feeling empty lightens both the body and mind!  it's just hard to say, "okay, i'm not going to eat for the next day or two."  but physically, it's not so bad.

and let's be real: we're darn lucky that fasting is an option at all!

That's true: for some, fasting is not a choice.

Why two days max? Just because the body starts to go into starvation mode?

my two-day rule is just something i came up with for myself so i don't go all fast-crazy!  fasting makes turning off the appetite button surprisingly easy.  and i don't want to go overboard.  plus, yes, i think some damage to the body may be an issue.  but if i fast 1-2 days a week, i can lose all the weight i want in a steady, slow, healthy progression.  i had to lose 80 pounds after my pregnancies!

Wow, 80 pounds!

This article from 24 years ago questions if fasting is bad for us...

http://articles.latimes.com/1990-06-12/news/vw-44_1_estrogen-replacement

...but then again, that's from 24 years ago.

well, i think it has a good point: fasting can be harmful.  but they are talking about hardcore fasting, and i am not into that!  even on the days i fast, i am drinking lots of water and i will eat a few things here and there, like a yogurt or an apple or a bowl of fiber cereal. i just keep my food intake super low—around 500 calories a day. the point is to take food off my list of to-dos for the day. if i focus on other things, the food becomes a side note, and that's when weight loss happens for me.

Ah, ok, that has something in common with Soylent: they take food off your to-do list, too.

More to reduce decisions than to reduce calories, though.

yes, taking food off your mind makes it much easier!  but that might be the hardest part of all!

It's especially hard if we're used to foods that make us crave them.

http://pandawhale.com/post/43726/fed-up-movie-sugar-is-addictive-poison-that-makes-people-sick

I don't see why Soylent avoids being for fat shredding.

Are there really that many lazy people who would rather eat processed goo than actual food?

This is the only thing I think of when I hear Soylent:

Soylent Green is a 1973 American science fiction film

Plot

The 20th century's industrialization has left the world permanently overcrowded, polluted and stagnant by the turn of the 21st century. In 2022, with 40 million people in New York City alone, housing is dilapidated and overcrowded; homeless people fill the streets; 20 million are unemployed, the few "lucky" ones with jobs are barely scraping by, and food and working technology is scarce. Most of the population survives on rations produced by the Soylent Corporation, whose newest product is Soylent Green, a green wafer advertised to contain "high-energy plankton", more nutritious and palatable than its predecessors "Red" and "Yellow", but in short supply.

It's discovered later that Soylent Green is made from humans.

Why would someone name a food product Soylent?

They did name it after the movie because it was a food everyone could live on.

But you're right that the name has negative connotations for most people:

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2014/05/12/140512fa_fact_widdicombe?currentPage=all