Product review: Aussielent

Aussielent is the Australian version of Soylent, a meal replacement product that became popular a few years ago among US tech entrepreneurs. It was designed to provide all the necessary nutrients to people who were too busy to prepare/purchase and eat real food.

Soylent has been tried and reviewed over the years by podcasters and the general public. I heard a few of those a while ago, enough to make me not want to try it. However, the opportunity to try the Aussie version arose when I found a bottle of the product in my Fitness Show goodies bag. Keep reading if you want to know what I thought of it.

Aussielent

Marketed as an “all-in-one nutritionally complete supermeal”, Aussielent is basically a meal replacement shake that comes in ready-to-drink bottles and powder versions. Each bottle contains 30g protein, 26 vitamins and minerals, and omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids.

The product is vegan, gluten-free and dairy-free.

Aussielent comes in two versions: powder and ready-to-drink. The powder comes in chocolate, vanilla, vegan, salted caramel and lite berry flavours. Each pouch makes 4 meals. Each ready-to-drink bottle equals one meal and comes in vanilla, chocolate and low carb chocolate flavours.

Ingredients

Below are the ingredients for the ready-to-drink range, you can check the website for the powder products.

• Vanilla: Water, maltodextrin, soy protein isolate, high oleic sunflower oil, canola oil, vitamin & mineral premix (potassium, calcium, magnesium, vitamin C, niacin, zinc, pantothenic acid, manganese, riboflavin, vitamin B6, thiamin, vitamin A, iodine, selenium, molybdenum, vitamin K, chromium, biotin, vitamin D, vitamin B12), inulin, sunflower lecithin, stabiliser (gellan gum, cellulose gel, sodium phosphate-dibasic, carageenan, cellulose gum), flavours, sweetener (sucralose).
• Chocolate: Water, maltodextrin, soy protein isolate, high oleic sunflower oil, canola oil, vitamin & mineral premix (potassium, calcium, magnesium, vitamin C, niacin, zinc, pantothenic acid, manganese, riboflavin, vitamin B6, thiamin, vitamin A, iodine, selenium, molybdenum, vitamin K, chromium, biotin, vitamin D, vitamin B12), cocoa solids and flavours, inulin, sunflower lecithin, stabiliser (gellan gum, cellulose gel, sodium phosphate-dibasic, carageenan, cellulose gum), sweetener (sucralose).
• Low-carb choc: Water, soy protein isolate, MCT oil (from coconut), high oleic sunflower oil, canola oil, vitamin & mineral mix (potassium, calcium, magnesium, vitamin C, niacin, zinc, pantothenic acid, manganese, riboflavin, vitamin B-6, thiamin, vitamin A, iodine, selenium, molybdenum, vitamin K, chromium, biotin, vitamin D, vitamin B12), cocoa solids (1%), inulin, sunflower lecithin, stabiliser (gellan gum, cellulose gel, sodium phosphate-dibasic, carrageenan, cellulose gum), flavours, sweetener (sucralose).

Nutrition information

Nutrient	Ready-to-drink: vanilla Per serve (450ml)	Ready-to-drink: chocolate Per serve (450ml)	Ready-to-drink: low-carb choc Per serve (450ml)
Energy (kJ)	2150	2137	1810
Protein (g)	26.7	26.7	26.6
– Gluten (g)	Not detected	Not detected	Not detected
Fat, total (g)	25.2	25.2	36.1
– Saturated (g)	0.2	< 1	15.9
– Trans (g)	< 0.1	< 1
– Polyunsaturated (g)	4.8	4.8
– Omega 3 (ALA) (mg)	964	964
– Omega 6 (g)	3350	3350
– Monounsaturated (g)	20.1	20.1
Carbohydrate (g)	43.2	44	1.4
– Sugars (g)	11.9	11.9	0.9
Dietary fibre (g)	3.3	3.7	4.3
Sodium (mg)	333	331	311
Vitamins
Vitamin A (ug)	188 (25% RDI)	188 (25% RDI)	188 (25% RDI)
Vitamin B6 (mg)	0.4 (25% RDI)	0.4 (25% RDI)	0.4 (25% RDI)
Vitamin B12 (ug)	0.5 (25% RDI)	0.5 (25% RDI)	0.5 (25% RDI)
Vitamin C (mg)	10.4 (26% RDI)	10.4 (26% RDI)	10.3 (26% RDI)
Vitamin D (ug)	2.5 (25% RDI)	2.5 (25% RDI)	2.5 (25% RDI)
Vitamin E (mg)	5.0 (50% RDI)	5.0 (50% RDI)	5.0 (50% RDI)
Vitamin K (ug)	19.7 (25% ESADDI)	19.7 (25% ESADDI)	20 (25% ESADDI)
Thiamin (mg)	0.3 (26% RDI)	0.3 (26% RDI)	0.3 (26% RDI)
Riboflavin (mg)	0.4 (25% RDI)	0.4 (25% RDI)	0.4 (25% RDI)
Niacin (mg)	2.6 (26% RDI)	2.6 (26% RDI)	2.6 (26% RDI)
Folate (ug)	57.6 (29% RDI)	57.6 (29% RDI)	58.5 (29% RDI)
Biotin (ug)	5.0 (17% ESADDI)	5.0 (17% ESADDI)	5.0 (17% ESADDI)
Pantothenic acid (mg)	0.8 (17% ESADDI)	0.8 (17% ESADDI)	0.8 (17% ESADDI)
Minerals
Calcium (mg)	209 (26% RDI)	209 (26% RDI)	204 (26% RDI)
Chromium (ug)	33.8 (17% ESADDI)	33.8 (17% ESADDI)	33.7 (17% ESADDI)
Copper (mg)	0.5 (17% ESADDI)	0.5 (17% ESADDI)	0.5 (17% ESADDI)
Iodine (ug)	37.5 (25% RDI)	37.5 (25% RDI)	37.5 (25% RDI)
Iron (mg)	3.0 (25% RDI)	3.0 (25% RDI)	3.0 (25% RDI)
Magnesium (mg)	82.5 (26% RDI)	82.5 (26% RDI)	82.0 (26% RDI)
Manganese (ug)	846 (17% ESADDI)	846 (17% ESADDI)	846 (17% ESADDI)
Molybdenum (ug)	42.3 (17% ESADDI)	42.3 (17% ESADDI)	42.3 (17% ESADDI)
Phosphorus (mg)	390 (39% RDI)	390 (39% RDI)	394 (39% RDI)
Potassium (mg)	952	952	1140
Selenium (ug)	17.5 (25% RDI)	17.5 (25% RDI)	17.5 (25% RDI)
Zinc (mg)	3.1 (25% RDI)	3.1 (25% RDI)	3.1 (25% RDI)

Taste test

I tried the low carb chocolate version. First, the good news. Aussielent is not very sweet, which I like, nor it has the graininess that you’d normally expect from plant-based protein drinks. Despite not being super thick, it does fill you up. Unfortunately, I did not enjoy the taste at all.

As you know, I am also not a big fan of replacing whole, real food with processed products like this, regardless of their vitamin and mineral content.

More information

For more information and to buy online, head to Aussielent ‘s website.

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