Way too much TL;DR (too long; don’t respond) and vacuous claims from both of you to bother with point by point rebuttals. But on this one point: comparing powdered soylent with liquid ensure is the mistake you made. My original post referring to a meal costing about $2.50 was in reference to the cost of powdered soylent - 1/3rd of a 2000 calorie diet as shipped in one bag. You went with liquid. Liquid soylent is about convenience, not cost and consequently they charge a premium for it.
Furthermore the original post about “chi-chi organic shakes” referred to costs one-third to one-half that of soylent. Even the generic shakes you’ve cited are just marginally cheaper (17%) and are still not remotely close to being nutritionally balanced - containing tons of sugar, no fibre and significantly more vitamins and minerals than the RDA recommendations for a standard 2000calorie/day diet which means long-term consumption risks accumulation. Ensure and its ilk are suitable as supplements, not replacements.
