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Vegetarian diet most affordable when shopping online
Adhering to a vegetarian meal plan when purchasing food online is more affordable than both Mediterranean-style and healthy western-style meal plans, according to study findings presented at the European Congress on Obesity annual meeting.
“Online shopping can be an expensive way to buy health food,” Hilary Green, PhD, of the department of nutrition and health at the Nestle Research Centre in Lausanne, Switzerland, told Endocrine Today. “Our study found that a week’s online shopping for a healthy menu plan costs over $100 per week. [However,] a vegetarian menu plan is probably less expensive than either a healthy western-style menu plan or a Mediterranean menu plan.”
Researchers assessed the nutritional quality of three representative 2-week meal plans. They linked these results to the most affordable retail price (determined by dollar cost per gram) from two online shopping websites (Amazon Grocery and Gourmet Food). Online sales, discounts and deals were not included in the cost assessment.
Researchers found that the average cost of the vegetarian meal plan was $15.40 dollars per day, the western-healthy plan was $17.00 per day and the Mediterranean plan was $17.20 per day. There was so significant difference between the mean nutritional value scores. The fact that no meat or poultry were included in the vegetarian meal plan may have contributed to its affordability, according to the researchers.
“The practical implication of this study is that people of low socioeconomic status may find it difficult to enjoy the convenience of shopping for health foods online,” Green concluded. – by Melissa J. Webb
Reference:
Green H, et al. Abstract T2P4. Presented at: European Congress on Obesity; May 23-26, 2018; Vienna.
Disclosure: Green reports she is employed by Nestle.