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Comment by kellon on May 14, 2013 at 6:57pm

Rolled oat (carbs and fiber), Whey and casien protein powders (fast and slow absorbing proteins), seeds like hemp, sunflower, chia, ect. (healthy fats, omega 3s and protien), Blend kale, spinach, beet greens or any combination of veggies just make sure to use a variety and throw in a multi vitamin pack for good measure (i use Animal Pak). Ontop of that you depending on your calorie content you can add processed Konjac root which will add volume without adding calories. Then your best bet is a artificial flavoring because it can be more potent but i would stay away from sugar as much as possible since it has no nutritional benefit and your better off without it (stevia is always a option if you like sweet things). Thats really all you need the hard part is the ratio because of how diverse we are and because how active or inactive you are is the most important factor in what you should or should not eat to be healthy. As for the shelf live anything with a completely nutritional requirement will have relatively short shelf life unless you pump it full of chemicals and remove a significant amount of the nutritional value (fatty acids and omega 3s dont last long). As a general rule of thumb (some minor exceptions exist) if there isnt anything for simple forms life like bacteria, mold, ect then it has no chance if sustaining more complex forms of life (a easy example is the cheaper the dog food the longer the expiration date). Best of luck on your endeavor not sure if i helped or not lol.

Comment by Gary on May 14, 2013 at 5:28pm

First I stand corrected there is b12 in mushrooms. Second lets really get off the vegan kick this project is going to be hard enough without extra limitation, Thirdly maybe we need to spell out what we need. A food source that comes in a bag of nuggets not more than 1 inch diameter with a shelf life of 2 yrs unopened and 3 months opened, moist enough for a nice mouth feel and should taste Yum that's all Yum. To be eaten by a fairly sedentary male who sits at his computer most of the day but may occasionally go out to play frisbee or some semi active sport. It should be the only food source with water to sustain life for say between the ages of 20 and 45, so 25 yrs with no other food. I have done a little research to find out Ensure while still being the food of choice for doctors of Cancer,Burn,Alzheimer's,and any other patient where one food source is needed (if your wondering why they don't make them eat vegan diets , fuck off) they do make the patients drink tons of water. The reason is there is no fiber in Ensure....none zip zilch. So now I'm adjusting to a mix o Ensure and Benifiber . I'm not sure about the whole protein carb fat ratio it might need one of those protein mixes, I'm 5'8 and when I returned from china after spending some time on a high veggie diet I weighted 135 and friends were worried about me, the protein shake mixtures plumped me back up fast ( then I quit smoking and now weigh 195) We also may consider some sugar for taste quick energy and blood sugar stabilization but not so much as to become Yum Yum. Oh as an after thought fresh greens have the same problem as fresh meat it loses a lot of its nutritional value when dried and powdered. But we of course might consider some additives like jerky for extra protein or spirolena for its ability to help the body use other nutrients and has a great texture for mouth feel. I'm sure some of you body builders or vegans know more about that. P.S. congrats to Arian Foster the first pro football player to have a great year on a Vegan Diet.

Comment by kellon on May 13, 2013 at 6:19pm

The primary problem with human chow is not so much the nutirtional value of the food that is actually the easiest part. Where human chow becomes complicated is the carb/protien/fat ratio. A vegan diet will not provide the protein required to build excess muscle mass (average vegan diet is around 10% protein, 70% carbs and 20% fats) which is why to heavier people vegans can look way too thin which is a simple misconception. A vegan's body type is very typical for people who live off the land in a more primitive/active way this doesn't mean starving simply not storing a few weeks of food in fat. I myself run a high protein diet to promote muscle building (40% protein 50% carbs and 10% fat) but if someone who doesn't workout trying this ratio will gain alot of weight in all the wrong ways. With that being said it is possible to have a high protein vegan diet however it is more work then i am willing to do just to say im vegan.

If you were to use a variety of vegetables (kale, collard greens, turnip greens, hemp, broccoli raw fennel are a few that come to mind that have most vitamins and minerals you need in addition to being good sources of protein/calcium), a few type of grain, and a source of healthy fats (my favorite being avocado). You shouldnt need to add any supplementation because everything you need can easily be found in all vegan diets provided you understand not all plants are equal. If only eat lettuce there will be issues but i don't know of any vegans that only eat one or 2 kinds of veggies. The only source needing supplementation is B12 which of all our vitamin requirements it is by far the lowest at ten micro grams a day and symptoms take around 5 years or more to develop from a complete lack of b12 so just add a little b12 powder and your good to go.

Our bodies have evolved to store what we need in many cases not just fat so variety is the biggest hindrance to having a honest "human chow". Everything we need from one source is going to have a very high caloric value of food even after the ratio is figured out. A possible fix to this would be a 2 or 3 part system to human chow allowing a low calorie low value item to be eaten through out the day to lower hunger combined with a high value item eaten 2 or 3 times during the day. I have been doing trial runs of different combinations in my own diet but it really is easier if you dont lift just to eat a standard vegan diet then allow yourself to eat anything you want when you go out. Plus on a whole food vegan diet you can eat as much as you want without any worries if you avoid oils and bad fats.

Comment by Gary on February 26, 2013 at 8:34pm

I'm pretty sure it would be impossible to make it vegan as most vegan diets are missing a number of important nutrient like vitamin B12 ,B2, D,Calcium, Iron, and Zinc. This is why most vegan are losing weight(not that bad if they start as an American ) but after years they eventually get Anemic and have to be very careful to get the right variety. Lack of B12 which never occurs naturally in plants with make you go blind. But you don't need much to prevent that. I noticed nothing with C in your recipe so we are back to scurvy but again a few drops o lemon juice would fix that

Comment by Tamara Moxham on February 26, 2013 at 7:20pm

I made an attempt at Human Chow (I'm a couple of weeks behind).  It's not vegan or even vegetarian but here's the funny part - my husband didn't know what I was doing and thought it was bread.  There was a pound of turkey in it.  It was really good.  I ground five different grains, added matzos meal, three kinds of squash, onion, garlic (everything pureed, I have a texture issue - look at my profile pic) and baked it for an hour.  It was really good.