Rootana vs Soylent

When taking a look at both Rootana and Soylent, you can see a lot of similarities. For example, both are not only vegan friendly meal replacement shakes, but are also equally concerned with sustainable ingredients and their utility in environmental conservation. On top of that we both have similar macro nutrients, as you can see on this table below, but are there any differences lurking beneath the surfaces? And which one is better?

We’ll be taking a crack at answering these questions with today’s article, and if nothing else you’ll walk away having learned a lot about meal replacement shakes, as deceptively simple as they may be.

Category	Rootana	Soylent
Calories per servings	400	400
Flavours	2	2
Protein	20-21g	20g
Fats	14-16g	19g
Carbs	43-44g	42g
Fiber	7-9g	6g
Micronutrients	27	26
Servings per Pack	14	5
Vegan Friendly?	Yes	Yes
Artificial Sweeteners?	No	Yes
Subscription Available?	Yes	Yes

Starting things off let’s take a look under the hood and see what makes these meal replacement shakes tick.

First of all, despite how similar these two shakes are in terms of nutrition, they share almost no ingredients whatsoever. The only two that are shared are Xanthan Gum, which is an ingredient that provides satisfying thickness to each shake, and sunflower oil, which is always present in Rootana but is listed as “Canola And/ Or Sunflower Oil” so it seems this will likely differ based on some undefined variables.

Let’s instead focus on the major differences between them.

Rootana Vs. Soylent Protein

Looking at the protein, for Rootana we opted to include a pea protein isolate that is derived from yellow split peas as our main source of protein, with oats and golden-milled flaxseed each contributing. By including these synergistic ingredients we were able to ensure that, not only is there a high amount of protein in our shakes, but also that the protein is of a high quality, providing a complete amino acid profile.

Though it may seem obvious by the name, Soylent has opted instead to include a soy protein isolate, claiming that this too offers a complete amino acid profile, but is this true? The answer is yes, soybeans provide a complete amino acid profile, but unfortunately, that’s where the praise ends for soy.

First of all, 90% of soy grown is genetically modified [1] and sprayed with a herbicide called Roundup, known to cause health complications when ingested [2]. On top of that, Soy contains phytates which bind to important minerals such as calcium, magnesium and zinc and reduce your ability to absorb them [3].

Basically, they’re both good plant-based sources of protein, both having a complete amino acid profile, but pea protein just hedges slightly ahead with a high amount of branched-chain amino acids, as well as better and more organic agricultural practices being followed when compared to soy farming.

Rootana Vs. Soylent Sustainability

Sticking on the topic of protein, let’s quickly take a look at which is more sustainable, pea protein isolate or soy protein isolate. In this regard, it’s not even a competition, with yellow split peas requiring less water, energy and land to produce than soy. On top of this, yellow split peas are also fantastic for crop rotation as they provide nitrogen for the soil.

Let’s look at the carbs, and Rootana opted to include Oat Flour Powder thanks to its low GI score, high fiber content and of course, its low climate impact. Soylent on the other hand seems to get all of its carbohydrates from sugars and sweeteners, with inclusions such as Allulose, Isomaltulose, Cellulose and Sucralose, all of which are inorganic and require much more energy and resources than most plants, whilst also being a lot less nutritious.

Rootana Vs. Soylent Sweeteners

As we’ve seen already, despite being incredibly similar on the surface, under the hood these two couldn’t be more different. The largest difference, however, is without a doubt in their approach to sweetener and sugars.

Rootana contains one ingredient to tackle the sweetness of the drink, and that’s 2.1g of organic coconut sugar. People often have a knee-jerk reaction to hearing Rootana has sugar in it, and that’s understandable, but coconut sugar has a much lower GI score (35) than regular sugar (58), meaning it’s going to spike blood sugar far less than regular sugar would [4]. It’s also a lot more nutritious, containing vitamins E and C, as well as minerals such as zinc, iron, potassium and phosphorus.

Soylent also contains added sugar, about 16g according to their label, as well as a slew of different artificial sweeteners. This is a lot of sugar, in fact, it’s only half of what’s contained in a regular can of Coke (32g), which is highly likely to spike your blood sugar. Next up are the sweeteners, which are supposed to be a healthier alternative to sugar, though research indicates long-term use can cause similar health issues to sugar down the line, including insulin resistance and obesity [5]

What About Taste?

Now it can be difficult to discuss taste as it’s a highly subjective and personal experience, but here’s the differences that can be noted. Rootana has a subtly sweet and natural oaty flavor alongside a smooth and thick texture that is delicious on its own, but also lends itself perfectly as a base for many creative customisations (There’s the customizing meal replacement shakes list that could be linked in here). This is thanks to the real food ingredients that make up the entire formula.

Soylent on the other hand is very sweet, as should be expected with the sugar and sweetener content. The shake isn’t quite as thick as Rootana but to be fair you can prepare things differently to get thickness towards personal preferences, such as adding more water to Rootana or preparing soylent in advance, keeping it refrigerated.

At the end of the day it’s about what you want, do you enjoy more natural and subtle flavors? Or perhaps a fantastic base that you can personalise?

What About Price?

Price wise Rootana comes in at $49.99 for a single one time purchase, or $44.99 with a subscription, and offers free delivery on orders of two bags or more.

Soylent is a bit more complicated as there are a lot more options. We’ll limit this down to just the powders, which are available in pouches, tubs and single serves.

Pouches are available in bulk buy, where you get 7 pouches (35 meals) for $80.00, or subscription at $67.00, or prepaid subscription for $316.50.

The tubs offer 12 meals for either $35.50 or $32.50 on subscription and then the single serves offer 10 packets (each one is half a meal, so 5 meals total) at $15.00 or $13.50.

What About Variety?

This is something we can definitely tip our hat to Soylent on, as both offer only 2 flavours as a baseline, but Soylent offers these flavor boost packs that boost that number to 6 for them, with caramel, peanut butter, strawberry and matcha all being offered.

This is great in theory, but it’s very similar to the idea of just adding in your own fruits and other customisations to Rootana. The difference is while adding fruits would improve the nutrition of Rootana as well, these flavor boosts are really just extra sweeteners for Soylent, which has enough to begin with.

That being said it’s a great concept and it’s this sort of innovation that we love to see here at Rootana.

Conclusion

Both are great meal replacement shakes so at the end of the day it really does depend on your personal goals and preferences.

For people who still care about the environment but don’t mind the idea of added sugars and sweeteners, then Soylent is a great choice.

Rootana however is focused on delivering a true replacement to your meals without sacrificing your health or sensibilities. We strive to provide excellent nutrition from carefully selected, sustainable sources that come from actual, real food – which allows us to provide a delicious, natural taste that avoids anything artificial.

We believe we’ve achieved this thanks to the years of development alongside the unwavering ambition to provide the world with what we felt was lacking for ourselves – a great, convenient meal replacement shake that is not only completely natural, but does its part to help protect the natural world.