Eating a vegan diet could reduce grocery bill 16%, a savings of more than $500 a year, according to new research.
Kahleova et al. found that a low-fat vegan diet was associated with an approximately 16% decrease in total food costs. Image credit: Silvia.
Vegan diets are recognized for numerous health benefits. However, given that food costs may represent a barrier to dietary change, the costs of vegan diets merit examination.
“We knew that a vegan diet significantly reduces your risk of conditions like heart disease, diabetes, and obesity — and now we have proof that opting for beans instead of beef will also lead to significant savings on your grocery bill,” said Dr. Hana Kahleova, director of clinical research at the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.
In their research, Dr. Kahleova and colleagues analyzed the results of a Physicians Committee study in which participants were randomly assigned to a vegan group or control group.
The vegan group was asked to follow a low-fat vegan diet consisting of fruits, vegetables, grains, and legumes, while the control group was requested to make no diet changes. Calorie intake and food costs were not limited for either group.
For the food cost assessment, the participants’ dietary records were linked to food price data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Thrifty Food Plan, 2021.
Total food costs decreased in the vegan group by 16%, or $1.51 per day, compared with no significant change in the control group.
This decrease was mainly attributable to savings on meat, minus $1.77 per day, and dairy, minus $0.74 per day.
Changes in purchases of other food groups (e.g., eggs and added fats) also contributed to the observed savings.
These savings outweighed the increased spending on vegetables, plus $1.03 per day; fruits, plus $0.40 per day; legumes, plus $0.30 per day; whole grains, plus $0.30 per day, and meat and dairy alternatives.
The findings support previous research showing that a plant-based diet provides more cost savings than one that includes animal products.
In addition to the cost savings, the authors found that a low-fat vegan diet resulted in weight loss and improved body composition and insulin sensitivity in overweight adults.
“Our secondary analysis of the randomized clinical trial found that a low-fat vegan diet was associated with an approximately 16% decrease in total food costs,” they concluded.
Their paper was published in the journal JAMA Network Open.
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Hana Kahleova et al. 2023. Vegan Diet and Food Costs Among Adults With Overweight: A Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Netw Open 6 (9): e2332106; doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.32106
