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  2. Oct 13, 2015

Go Plant-Based: Save $750—and Your Life

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Photo: Getty Images

Meat-eaters can save $750 a year by simply switching to a plant-based diet, according to a recent study in the Journal of Hunger & Environmental Nutrition.

Meat-eaters can save $750 a year by simply switching to a plant-based diet, according to a recent study in the Journal of Hunger & Environmental Nutrition.

The study compared U.S. Department of Agriculture weekly meal plans, which included meat, with plant-based meal plans. Of the two plans, both totaling 2,000 calories per day, the vegetarian diet cost less.

But the cost savings of a plant-based diet don’t stop at the checkout line. The study found that the vegetarian diet had 25 more servings of vegetables, 14 more servings of whole grains, and eight more servings of fruit per week.

These plant-based foods have been shown to fight obesity, heart disease, diabetes, breast, prostate, and colorectal cancers, and other chronic diseases that can cost you tens of thousands of dollars over a lifetime.

So if you want to add years to your life and dollars to your wallet, start choosing plant-based meals over meat and dairy products.

Disease Cost per Person
Obesity $92,235 (lifetime)
Heart Disease $423,000 (lifetime)
Heart Attack $760,000 (single heart attack)
Diabetes $124,600 (lifetime)
Breast Cancer $23,078 (initial year after diagnosis)
$2,207 (annual cost between diagnosis and death)
Prostate Cancer $19,710 (initial year after diagnosis)
$3,201(annual cost between diagnosis and death)
Colorectal Cancer Female:
$51,327 (initial year after diagnosis)        
$3,159(annual cost between diagnosis and death)
Male:
$51,812 (initial year after diagnosis)        
$4,595 (annual cost between diagnosis and death)

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