Scientists have looked into our eating habits and the consequences on our wallet…
When we talk about diet, we generally expect to know the benefits for our health or weight loss. Eating a healthy and balanced diet, with fruits and vegetables every day, is indeed the key to staying in shape and looking slim. This time, scientists carried out a study to find out precisely how much money certain types of diet save. And there is one in particular, certainly more private than others, which would save 1.71 euros per day, or almost 630 euros per year.
According to Dr Hana Kahleova, this low-fat diet would also help “avoid or improve conditions such as obesity, type 2 diabetes and heart disease”. This is the vegan diet, composed of fruits and vegetables, cereals and beans, of course without meat or fish… The research team also compared the cost of this diet to others such as the diet Mediterranean or a “standard” diet. In total, 506 people participated in this comparison, each time noting their food expenses. Costs fell by 19% for those who opted for the vegan diet, which saves 2.75 euros per day on the price of meat, but also on dairy products and even fish. Savings that offset other expenses such as vegetables, cereals or even alternatives to meat, such as plant proteins for example.
And that’s not all: the authors of the study also reveal the type of diet that costs the most. In fact, according to them, the cost of a Mediterranean diet would increase by 6%. “As the cost of food remains stubbornly high, consumers should replace meat and dairy with a low-fat vegan diet, based on fruits, vegetables, grains and beans, to potentially save more than 650 $ per year on their grocery bill, compared to a standard American diet, and more than $870 compared to the Mediterranean diet“, believes Dr Kahleova.
Remember that vegans do not consume any products of animal origin (no meat, no milk, no eggs or honey, etc.). As for vegans, in addition to the same diet as vegans, they are not limited to food: it is a lifestyle that excludes all products resulting from animal exploitation. A vegan person will not buy, for example, cosmetic products tested on animals, nor leather furniture or shoes…