Is this grocery list okay for a healthy vegan diet?

[Erikachatfield]

Hi,
I'm 15 years old and have recently transitioned to a vegan. I did it for ethical reasons, but I want to be healthy too. (This list is supposed to supply food for 2 people and is meant to last a week)

I've been struggling with what to buy and would hope you could suggest removing or adding items to this list.

Alpro Longlife Soya Cream Alternative 250ml
x2 Botanic Lab Plant Milk Yuzu & Matcha 3 250ml
Good Hemp Milk UHT 1L
Good Hemp Milk Unsweetened 1L
Oatly Oat Drink 1L
Ocado Fairtrade Bananas 6 per pack
Orchardworld Lemon, Lime & Orange Box min 9 per pack
x2 Plenish Organic 6% Almond M'lk 1L
Plenish Organic Coconut Milk 1L
Waitrose Duchy Organic Carrots 650g
Biona Organic Hemp Seeds 250g
Cooks' Ingredients Organic Curry Powder 37g
Daylesford Organic Long - Grain Brown Rice 500g
Essential Waitrose Wholegrain Mustard 185g
Free & Easy Free From Dairy Free Organic Sweet Potato & Chia Seed Soup 400g
Free & Easy Free From Dairy Free Organic Vegetable Balti Ready Meal 400g
Free & Easy Free From Organic Chick Pea & Vegetable Curry 400g
Granovita Mayola Egg & Dairy Free Mayonnaise 280g
Linwoods Milled Organic Flaxseeds 425g
Lucy Bee Extra Virgin Raw Organic Coconut Oil 500ml
Meridian Natural Date Syrup 330g
Mr Organic Whole Wheat Penne 500g
Mr Organic Whole Wheat Spaghetti 500g
Napolina Extra Virgin Olive Oil 500ml
Ocado Chia Seeds 150g
Pip & Nut Almond Butter 225g
Schwartz Ground Cinnamon Jar 33g
Schwartz Turmeric Jar 31g
Tree of Life Rolled Porridge Oats 1kg
x3 Waitrose Duchy Organic Chickpeas in Water 400g
Essential Waitrose 10" Wholemeal Tortilla Wraps 8 per pack
Glaceau Smartwater 24 x 600ml
BOL Mediterranean Roasted Veg 345g
BOL Mexican Sweet Potato Chilli 345g
BOL Sri Lankan Lentil Sambar 345g
BOL Sri Lankan Lentil Sambar 345g
BOL The Mediterranean Salad Jar 300g
Cauldron Falafel 200g
Cooks' Ingredients Flat Leaf Parsley 25g
Essential Waitrose Blueberries 200g
Essential Waitrose Green Celery
Essential Waitrose Houmous 230g
Essential Waitrose Little Gem Lettuce 2 per pack
Essential Waitrose Mixed Peppers 3 per pack
Essential Waitrose Spinach 260g
Ethical Food Company Organic Gala Apples 6 per pack
Ethical Food Company Organic Pears 4 per pack
Flora Dairy Free Spread 500g
Innocent Smoothie Gorgeous Greens Fruit & Veg 750ml
Innocent Smoothie Pomegranates, Blueberries & Acai 750ml
Innocent Smoothie Strawberries & Bananas 750ml
Oatly The Original Oat Drink 1L
Ocado Mixed Berry Pack 300g
Ocado Organic Broccoli 300g
Ocado Organic Chestnut Mushrooms 250g
Ocado Raspberries 150g
Soupologie Turmeric Carrot & Coconut Soup 600g
Waitrose 5-a-day Selection 400g
Waitrose Pomegranate Seeds 125g
Waitrose Watermelon Chunks 180g
Waitrose Watermelon Slices 440g
Wholegood Organic Baking Potatoes 1.5kg
Wholegood Organic Kiwi Fruit 6 per pack
Genuine Coconut - Raw Organic Coconut Water
Blue Keld Spring Water Premium Ice Cubes 2kg
Essential Waitrose Frozen Berries 500g
PACK'D Energy Smoothie Kits 2 x 140g
PACK'D Protein Perform Frozen Smoothie Kit 2 x 140g

TOTAL: £164.29

I understand that this is a lot financially, especially considering some of it should last only a week, however, the specific brands and products can only seem to be found here. Take for example date syrup which is rather difficult to find (in the UK especially).

I'm also aware that this seems rather high in sugar (fruits, smoothies etc). I know that this may seem like a ridiculous question, but are sugars derived from fruits a lot less harmful or almost just as (junk food etc).

Thank you if you have read all of this, I don't really expect many or any responses due to the longevity of this thread, so once again, thank you.

 

[hopeful]

Welcome to being vegan!

I am in the US and have not heard of a lot of those things. I like fruit a lot, and to be fruit smoothies and fruit seem healthy. I personally do not really worry about the sugars in fruits and fruit smoothies, though I do consider it when eating dried fruits (which are easy to eat tons of and are often with sugar added).

What meals do you plan to make with these things? I am sorry- since I don't know what some of the things are, it's hard for me to tell. I just did the conversion of pounds to dollars, and it seems that your list would be about twice as much as I would have with my wife. However, with my tween daughter, our bill is only about 50 pounds less (and we eat out once a week at least). I do think it's a lot to spend, but here's the thing- you are buying a lot of things that seem like they'll last. You won't need to buy spices every week, and they are expensive! I would guess your bill will vary, but mostly be less than that. I wouldn't worry about that price too much if you can afford it, but if it's pricy to you, maybe you could make adjustments. For example, buying frozen fruits instead of fresh for smoothies can save money. But, you are a teenager, and teenagers require a lot of food/nutrition to have the energy to function and grow.

I am really happy for you that you have decided to be vegan. Good luck!

 

[Jamie in Chile]

Good that you are going vegan. I think it looks great. With that list you probably already have better nutrition than the average meat eater.

I didn't see too many legumes - lentils/beans/soy burgers. You might add some next time just to be on the safe side - no hurry.

Do you know about taking a B12 supplement?

Do you have a source of iodine? If you use salt semi regularly, check it is iodized, otherwise another source such as strawberries or cranberries. Iodine can be low on a vegan diet.

Apart from that I can't think of anything right now.

Remember to eat enough calories - compared to a diet with meat and dairy you have to eat a bit more food - maybe 10-20% more by weight or even more based on space taken up on the plate.

To help with getting enough calories, have some snack foods handy - nuts, cereal bars, dark chocolate for examples.

Your diet is low fat which may be good but fat is also a part of a healthy diet - consider avocado and/or nuts as healthy fats in a healthy diet.

 

[Jamie in Chile]

Hm I made a lot of suggestions there. Keep in mind that even if you ignore most of my suggestions you might be OK. If I suggested things you don't like, you might be OK without them. Or, if you feel this is too much advice for now, you could stick with what you have and look at my comments next month. I just want to be clear that following all my advice is a good idea if you are super cautious and want the absolute best nutrition possible but don't want to give the impression that vegan diets are difficult nutritionally. As I said at the start with what you already have you are probably as healthy or more so than a meat eater.

 

[mikek]

Wow, that is quite a list!
If money is not an issue, then why not go for it!
For me, 90%+ of it would be luxury once-in-a-blue-moon treats. IMO it should actually be cheaper to be vegan than not.

For health, minimal processing is by far the best and organic is even better - not considered proven health-wise although i'm sure it must be better, but much better for the environment.

There seems to be a lot of fruit & veg in your list which is good. In the UK, surprisingly I find ALDI fruit & veg to be very cheap & generally better quality than most of the other supermarkets.
Avoid fruit & veg that is in a sealed packet - it is usually packed in a special atmosphere. It may look good but it is a lot older & not good. - you may notice how quickly it goes off once the packet is opened.

 

[Forest Nymph]

Wow that's actually quite a luxurious list you have there, I don't think you need to worry about nutrition. You're eating like a vegan from upper middle class West L.A. Maybe add in a couple of bags of dried beans, peas and/or lentils or a couple of packs of extra firm tofu to eat with your veggies, pasta or rice. If you are at the upper reaches of your food budget, I would suggest that you stop buying ice cubes and bottled water, it's extremely wasteful and unnecessary, and would leave plenty of money to buy more vegetable proteins.

 

[Forest Nymph]

Welcome to being vegan!

I am in the US and have not heard of a lot of those things. I like fruit a lot, and to be fruit smoothies and fruit seem healthy. I personally do not really worry about the sugars in fruits and fruit smoothies, though I do consider it when eating dried fruits (which are easy to eat tons of and are often with sugar added).

What meals do you plan to make with these things? I am sorry- since I don't know what some of the things are, it's hard for me to tell. I just did the conversion of pounds to dollars, and it seems that your list would be about twice as much as I would have with my wife. However, with my tween daughter, our bill is only about 50 pounds less (and we eat out once a week at least). I do think it's a lot to spend, but here's the thing- you are buying a lot of things that seem like they'll last. You won't need to buy spices every week, and they are expensive! I would guess your bill will vary, but mostly be less than that. I wouldn't worry about that price too much if you can afford it, but if it's pricy to you, maybe you could make adjustments. For example, buying frozen fruits instead of fresh for smoothies can save money. But, you are a teenager, and teenagers require a lot of food/nutrition to have the energy to function and grow.

I am really happy for you that you have decided to be vegan. Good luck!

Yeah I thought the same thing about the chia seeds, flax seeds, olive oil, coconut oil - all of those things are going to last for a while, as are the spices. So those are just good staples to have.

I honestly thought there was an unusual amount of non-dairy milk on the list, like I usually go through maybe one smaller soy milk and one smaller hemp milk, or one larger soy milk carton per week. As long as the vegan milks she's getting are shelf stable, though, she could keep those around unopened and they too would last a while.