The green sludge pictured above might look like your garden-variety smoothie, but would you believe it's actually the future of food? Old TV shows and movies depicted 21st century food as nutrient-dense capsules, giving you a day’s worth of calories and nutrients in a single pill – and two new companies are close to bringing that prediction to reality.

These California-based companies – Soylent, named after the 1973 science fiction film "Soylent Green," and Ambronite – have both developed meal replacement mixes that are intended to free you from the burden of cooking. Simply mix the powder with water or any liquid and, in the case of Soylent, a little oil, and you have a ready-to-drink nutritious breakfast, lunch or dinner.

“We took 21 nutrient-rich ingredients and turned them into a powder form that you can mix with water and make a meal – a meal that wouldn’t leave you with an excuse of not eating healthy, no matter where you are,” says Simo Suoheimo, co-founder of Ambronite.

Suoheimo and his team of five friends set out to create Ambronite a little over a year ago after realizing they were frequently stuck with eating less-than-ideal meals. “While we loved to cook at home, we’d often run into the problem that our busy lives made us eat unhealthy,” Suoheimo says. “The market was crowded with all kinds of bodybuilding and weight-loss products, but we couldn’t find a proper meal for the ordinary person that would be fast and be good for you.”

Ambronite’s ingredients are all organic and include oats, almonds, coconut, apple, maca root, stinging nettles and spinach, among others, which Suoheimo says differentiates it from other meal replacements. “We wanted to show that it’s possible to combine great ingredients and fulfill all the needs of the human body,” he says. “These natural ingredients are easily available, and we just had to use a little effort and imagination to combine these ingredients with science to create an innovative product. We’re trying to shake up the food industry.”

While Ambronite is taking the all-natural approach to futuristic food, using whole foods to supply nutrients, Soylent uses powdered supplements to meet the same nutritional specifications. This difference is enough for Suoheimo to consider Soylent an ally, not a competitor. “Soylent looks at the same problem in a different way than us,” he says. “We know Rob [Soylent’s creator] personally, and we don’t see each other as direct competitors. We’re both trying to solve the same problem, just from a different perspective.”​ Soylent did not respond to repeated interview requests.

Ambronite sells 10 bags of its product for $79​, while Soylent sells seven bags, enough for 21 meals, for $85. One bag of each product is a meal. But for people who don’t want to shell out for Soylent or wait through the long shipping times, which are approaching months for some customers, there is an entire community of do-it-yourself Soylent makers​ who replicate the recipe at home.

“I’ve been using Soylent for about five months now,” says Wayne Nilsen​, a 24-year-old programmer from Boston. “It’s about all I eat. I buy all of the ingredients and mix them up once per week.”

Nilsen found out about Soylent on Facebook, and wanting to bulk up from his 6-foot-1-inch, 203 pound frame, decided Soylent would be the best way to fit in the 4,000 calories per day he needed. “It’s hard to eat that much food and still eat healthy,” Nilsen says. “I can eat Ben & Jerry’s all day, but it’s not good for me.”



A day’s worth of DIY Soylent costs Nilsen around $12.

But can a powder really sustain you for the rest of your life? Registered dietitian Tori Cohen​, director of food and nutrition services at Los Robles Hospital & Medical Center in Thousand Oaks, California, says yes, with some caveats. “These foods are nutritionally complete, and will give you everything you need to survive,” Cohen says. “However, the majority of the population likes to have all the sensations that come with a meal. We eat with our eyes. We get satisfaction by picking out foods, tasting and smelling. I don’t think drinking a shakes gives you the same satisfaction.”

As nutritious as these products may be, it doesn’t do any good if they taste horrible. Ambronite sent me three sample packages, and while I was initially skeptical, I ended up being pleasantly surprised. It has a mildly sweet, bready taste, with an upfront, grassy flavor reminiscent of the strongest IPAs, minus the bitterness and booze. I have not had an opportunity to taste Soylent, but Nilsen says one of his favorite things about the product is that he controls the taste. “It tastes good to me,” says Nilsen, who varies up his daily shake by changing the flavored whey protein he adds. “Today, for example, I’m having vanilla, but I’m augmenting it with cinnamon and some vanilla extract.”

The shakes can be a little gritty, Nilsen adds, but it doesn’t bother him. “It’s like watered down pancake batter,” he says.

The differences in taste between Soylent and Ambronite are purposeful, Suoheimo says. “The thinking was to bring all the ingredients we have to offer to the customer,” he says. “We’re really proud of these ingredients, and we want you to taste them, not cover them up.”

A shake might also not keep you full as long as a meal, Cohen says.​ Soylent keeps Nilsen pretty full throughout the day, though he is consuming more than double the daily calories I am and drinks between five and seven shakes per day. I found that after I drank one for breakfast, I was hungry again 2.5 hours later. “When you eat whole foods and your body has to break it down, it’s a slow process,” Cohen explains. “When you have a liquid, your body doesn’t have to do that work, so it goes through your system faster and you get hungrier quicker.”

However, these products are much better for a quick meal than other alternatives, Cohen says. “For people who are on the go or don’t have the opportunity to sit down for a meal, this is a better option than fast food,” she says. “It’s a meal alternative. I wouldn’t use it as my sole food source.”