Crazy Idea???

[Days Off]

Hi,

First a bit of background...

I was diagnosed to have a sensitivity to gluten in 2012.  Blood tests for celiac were negative and I haven't had a biopsy.  I have a similar reaction to rice, coffee and flax seeds as I do with gluten.  I'm not sure what else I can't tolerate, but suspect there's more than what I just listed.

I live in Asia and I like to travel.  Do you know how challenging it is to live in Asia and not eat rice or gluten???  It sucks.  The worse part of my symptoms is the affect on my cognitive ability.  Seems like it's hard for me to work or concentrate at all these days.

Anyway...about the crazy idea.  It started when I was working in Africa on a month on/month off rotation back in 2015.  The food where I worked was awful (tasting and for my food sensitivities) and it wasn't possible for me to go out and get food on my own.  I did bring a lot of food with me each month, but it was hard to bring enough for every meal.  I started to do a lot of dehydrating to make it easier to carry more food.  This led me to think...what if you could cram dehydrated food into a capsule for a meal?  Of course once I gave it much thought I came to the realization that you would need a lot of capsules to make a meal. 

I started researching it a lot more in 2016 when I wasn't working (oilfield downturn).  Turns out a full meal would indeed be a bunch of capsules...maybe 150-200 depending on the "ingredients" used and the density of the calories.  Fast forward to present and I'm still having food issues. It's depressing.  I want to be able to consume nourishment in any form as long as I feel good.  Does anyone else feel this way?

So my crazy idea is to bring to market a "meal" in capsule form.  The beautiful thing about the idea is the meal can be custom tailored.  The more I think about the concept, the more strongly I feel that it's ultimately the way of the future if the planet is ever going to feed 9 gazillion people.

What I would like to hear from the audience here is how many folks would be receptive to such a product?  Think about how easy it would be to travel and plan your life if you knew you had a safe meal in your pocket or handbag.  To me it's a no-brainer.  However, I might be an outlier.  When I mentioned all this to friends and family, they all pretty much thought it was a horrible idea.  People love to eat.  Here in Thailand that especially holds true.  But these are people with normal digestive systems.  They can eat anything without impunity.  I'm guessing there's a lot of folks like me here on this forum.  Frustrated and at their witt's end.

What do y'all think?  I'd love to hear honest feedback.

Thanks!

[trents]

For one thing, I would be concerned about the nutritional losses from dehydration v. fresh food. Certain vitamins, like C, would be virtually eliminated.

[Scott Adams]

Taking that many pills would not be very appeasing to many people...they carry a choking risk, there may be cellulose or other ingredients in the capsules that would likely make taking so many a turn off.

There are many nutritional shakes out there that claim to do exactly what you are proposing. Ensure makes a line of them and they are at Costco. I'm not sure if they are designed for 100% meal replacement, but they are the closest thing I can think of that might be.

[knitty kitty]

How about MRE's (Meals Ready to Eat) like the military uses to feed troops on maneuvers?  Foil pouches of long shelf life foods. 

And there's freeze dried things.  Astronaut ice cream is pretty cool. (Pun intended 😸)

Emergency food buckets are sold on Amazon.  

And jerky, beef, turkey, bison, etc. 

You'd rattle if you swallowed 200 capsules a day! 

 

 

[Days Off]

Thanks for the replies.

Yes, it's a lot of capsules.  For most it is a turn-off.  The most common type of capsules are gelatin which is reported to have benefits to the gut.  There's not really enough gelatin in the capsules to make a difference.

The shakes are certainly an option.  I've tried some meal replacement shakes and have yet to find one that agreed with me.  A powder that you mix with water would offer similar convenience.  Toting around bottles of a pre-mixed product like Ensure is much less convenient.  

Regarding the MREs...are these gluten and rice free?  I was in Pensacola in 2004 for Hurricane Ivan.  The Red Cross handed out MREs.  They were ok, but pretty bulky. 

There's also dehydrated foods like jerky.  I became all to familiar with these back in 2015.  I love jerky.  Dehydrated fruits are tasty as well.  Can you make a complete meal from these?  It's tough from a well-rounded nutrition perspective.

That's the beauty of the capsules.  Any combination of allergen-free ingredients could be utilized to form a "meal" that checks every recommended daily allowance with the proper ratios of fats/carbs/proteins.  From an environmental responsibility aspect, it's great in the sense that the ingredient list could be expanded to included non-traditional food items such as insects.  If you look at cricket flour/powder...it's hugely nutritional with a minimal environmental impact relative to traditional protein sources.  

I'm obviously easily convinced but judging from the comments so far that sentiment is not shared. 

[DJFL77I]

Plenty of other food in Thailand besides rice .. they have lots of fresh fruit and veggies... poultry.. meat.. and tons  of fish seafood

Dunno about Africa but I'm sure they must have meat and potatoes?

[Days Off]

17 minutes ago, DJFL77I said:

Plenty of other food in Thailand besides rice .. they have lots of fresh fruit and veggies... poultry.. meat.. and tons  of fish seafood

Dunno about Africa but I'm sure they must have meat and potatoes?

Yup, plenty of food in Thailand.  Unfortunately it's almost always served with rice, soy sauce, or oyster sauce.  It's a major pain to eat out here if you want to avoid both rice and gluten.  Papaya salad is my go-to dish.  The fresh fruit is delish, but can't survive on that alone.  For Thais, their life revolves around food. I'm surrounded by tons of food I can't enjoy.

There's also plenty of produce in Africa.  For security reasons I was basically stuck in a compound with no access to cooking facilities.  Meals were buffet style.  At the time I didn't realize I had issues with rice.  That didn't come until I moved to Asia and started eating rice breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Cheers.

[DJFL77I]

just eat fish and meats in thailand.. and maybe vegetable soups if you know they're guten free

https://www.seasaltandsandcastles.com/2018/01/28/gluten-free-koh-samui-thailand/#:~:text=Koh Samui was a big,have been to in Asia.

[Days Off]

9 minutes ago, DJFL77I said:

just eat fish and meats in thailand.. and maybe vegetable soups if you know they're guten free

https://www.seasaltandsandcastles.com/2018/01/28/gluten-free-koh-samui-thailand/#:~:text=Koh Samui was a big,have been to in Asia.

Meat and fish, it sounds so easy, eh?  Thais have a habit of putting soy or oyster sauce on everything.  Steamed or grilled fish is usually ok...not fried.  Hot soup when it's 100 sticky degrees isn't always appealing. 

Let's not stray too far from the OT...it's not about what to eat in Thailand. 

And thanks, I'm familiar with that blog!

[DJFL77I]

make your own fish.. cant trust eating out..  i don't even trust the 100% gluten free restaurant near me... its probably alright but im too paranoid

have to adapt now

[Days Off]

17 minutes ago, DJFL77I said:

make your own fish.. cant trust eating out..  i don't even trust the 100% gluten free restaurant near me... its probably alright but im too paranoid

have to adapt now

Of course when I'm home that's exactly what I do.  Do you never leave your home?  What about traveling?  That's the biggie I'm trying to overcome.  Hence the meal in a capsule idea...I'd like to make it easier to venture away from home.   

I like to travel.  There's a lot to explore in the world (once the craziness dies down).

[ravenwoodglass]

36 minutes ago, Days Off said:

 What about traveling?  That's the biggie I'm trying to overcome.  Hence the meal in a capsule idea...I'd like to make it easier to venture away from home.   

I like to travel.  There's a lot to explore in the world (once the craziness dies down).

Have you tried using a dehydrator? You could do fruit leathers and jerkies and dehydrate veggies etc to eat either dry or rehydrate into stews, sauces or whatever your imagination can think up. I think you would keep more fiber and nutrients but still keep packing space minimized. Plus you would know for sure that everything was safe.

[DJFL77I]

46 minutes ago, Days Off said:

Of course when I'm home that's exactly what I do.  Do you never leave your home?  What about traveling? 

travel is easy locally.. just get a cooler if you're going for a few hours.... 

international... i would only cook for myself and rent a condo with a kitchen

[trents]

As an alternative to rice, are yams or sweet potatoes readily available in Thailand? 

[Nikki2777]

Not me. Yes, it’s a pain to find safe food when I travel, but few of us travel to such remote locations that we can’t find something at all, if even a bag of chips. I don’t think it’s enough to sustain a market. That said, if you were going to do it, I’d focus on the extreme/remote travelers and campers.

I’m hoping to go to Nepal next year and yes, I worry about how I will bring enough food to manage, so for something like that it might be useful - but eating locally is part of the experience so I’m not sure... likely just have a few things in my bag for backup. 

[Scott Adams]

Nepal should not be an issue with regard to finding gluten-free foods, but I would bring a gluten-free food card in Nepalese that spells out your dietary restrictions. I regularly eat at a Nepalese restaurant and their curries with rice have never caused me issues. I do take AN-PEP (GliandinX enzymes) before I eat out, and you may want to consider bringing some with you.

[Nikki2777]

2 hours ago, Scott Adams said:

Nepal should not be an issue with regard to finding gluten-free foods, but I would bring a gluten-free food card in Nepalese that spells out your dietary restrictions. I regularly eat at a Nepalese restaurant and their curries with rice have never caused me issues. I do take AN-PEP (GliandinX enzymes) before I eat out, and you may want to consider bringing some with you.

Thank you. I will definitely bring a card!

[Days Off]

3 hours ago, Nikki2777 said:

Not me. Yes, it’s a pain to find safe food when I travel, but few of us travel to such remote locations that we can’t find something at all, if even a bag of chips. I don’t think it’s enough to sustain a market. That said, if you were going to do it, I’d focus on the extreme/remote travelers and campers.

I’m hoping to go to Nepal next year and yes, I worry about how I will bring enough food to manage, so for something like that it might be useful - but eating locally is part of the experience so I’m not sure... likely just have a few things in my bag for backup. 

Thanks for the feedback.  For sure travelers/campers/hikers would be the primary market. 

Your comments reminded me of my travels to India.  In that case, it's not necessarily food allergies or intolerance that is the challenge but overall food security.  From my experience and those who've traveled to India...Delhi belly is real and anything you eat there can be a time bomb.  I survived by bringing much of what I ate with me.  Unfortunately the most convenient things to bring are not the most healthy.

Hope your travels to Nepal are safe and enjoyable.