Iron. Calcium. Niacin. Vitamin D. The list of things we are “supposed” to eat goes on and on. The US government provides recommended daily intake values for over thirty nutrients. Ideally, we’d all eat the suggested amounts of each nutrient every day, no more and no less.
The problem is, nutrients aren’t food.
Foods, like bananas, chocolate cake, and ham sandwiches, each contain fractional amounts of many of the nutrients we are supposed to consume. Unfortunately though, without spending ridiculous amounts of time with a scale, calculator, and spreadsheet, it’s difficult to track the amounts of each nutrient that we eat each day. We really have no idea if we’re getting proper nutrition or not. We do our best and try to choose “healthy” foods, hoping that enough of them together will get us close enough.
But what if we didn’t have to guess?
RoboShake is Computer-Generated Nutrition
As a
video game developer and programmer, I turned to the computer to help me find answers:
The goal of RoboShake is to produce a fruit and vegetable smoothie with ideal nutrition. By using a fine-tuned computer algorithm, it chooses foods that fulfill our macronutrient (carbohydrates, fats, and protein) and micronutrient (vitamins and minerals) needs as closely as possible with a minimum number of ingredients.
Here’s an example:
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3.8 cup, sliced (627g) PLUMS,RAW
3.9 cup (609g) BARLEY,PEARLED,COOKED
1.5 cup (368g) ALMONDMILK,SILK,PUREALMOND,UNSWEETENED
4 cup (365g) GRAPES,AMERICAN TYPE (SLIP SKN),RAW
3.1 cup, shredded (145g) LETTUCE,COS OR ROMAINE,RAW
0.8 cup (118g) PEANUTS,ALL TYPES,RAW
1 tsp (6g) SALT,TABLE
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2022 calories
Carbs 330g; Protein 55g; Fat 68g
weight: 2238 g / 4.9 lbs
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Energ_Kcal: 102%
Protein: 110%
Lipid_Tot: 104%
Carbohydrt: 110%
Fiber_TD: 193%
Calcium: 101%
Iron: 98%
Magnesium: 110%
Phosphorus: 95%
Potassium: 98%
Sodium: 109%
Zinc: 79%
Copper: 128%
Manganese: 352%
Selenium: 88%
Vit_C: 182%
Thiamin: 125%
Riboflavin: 105%
Niacin: 155%
*Panto_Acid: 40%
Vit_B6: 90%
Folate_Tot: 156%
Vit_B12: 77%
Vit_A_IU: 320%
Vit_E: 139%
*ViVit_D_IU: 39%
Vit_K: 309%
FA_Sat: 46%
Cholestrl: 0%
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This large “shake,” chosen from hundreds of millions of computer-generated combinations, provides near-perfect nutrition for someone consuming a 2000 calorie diet (as long as one believes the FDA’s recommended daily intake levels.) With the exception of pantothenic acid, which is difficult to find in non-animal products, and Vitamin D, which the human body produces from sun exposure, this combination is a day’s worth of near-perfect nutrition with just seven ingredients.
Each run of the RoboShake algorithm produces dozens of optimized shakes, and can be tuned for different caloric needs and food preferences.
RoboShake Objectives
My first goal with RoboShake was to discover whether computer-calculated nutrition with a minimum number ingredients was possible. After lots of programming trial-and-error, I was happy to learn that the answer is absolutely, “Yes.”
This has led to two new questions:
- What is it like to consume proper nutrition? I believe RoboShake puts me in the unique position of being able to eat exactly what I’m supposed to (at least, according to the government.) If I do this, will I notice a difference? Will I get in better shape? Will I have more energy? Will I be more productive?
- Can eating RoboShakes as meal replacements save time and money? I spend a lot of time deciding what to eat and preparing it every day. While I love a good meal as much as anybody, sometimes I just want to “get the job done” and eat something that will give me energy. Now that I have a go-to collection of recipes that I can just throw in the blender, will I be able to eat efficiently when I simply need fuel, and save the time-consuming decisions and preparation for special occasions?
This blog will document my attempt to answer these two questions, and provide a healthy selection of RoboShake recipes along the way!
Stay tuned!
