UK Is 'Vegan' Expensive?

This is what is lacking in almost every guide to retirement! So much push to pad retirment accounts and information on how best to keep it safe, and what kinds of insurance to have and how to protect your money if in need of Medicaid---but so very little on how to stay healthy
No amount of money will compensate for weak muscles, shortness of breath, achy stiff joints and declining memory. Good health on the other hand, can compensate for little money.
I have to say I need to get back on the wfpb track myself, before I "have" to!

I volunteered at a food bank before I retired. All of these elderly people, with oxygen tanks and motorized scooters, would come in to pick up their food. I protested the kind of food they were giving to these vulnerable people. Their boxes would be filled with giant boxes of Ho Hos, Nutty Bars, candy, Mac and Cheese, Hamburger Helper, white bread, Soda Pop, Juice drinks, potato chips, and huge packages of meat.

I was appalled when I saw a 300 lb. diabetic woman, in a motorized wheelchair with an oxygen tank, picking up her boxes of meat, dairy, and processed food.

That is why the poor have the worst health outcomes.
 
ABSOLUTELY TRUE. Humans get fat and sick (no offense, unless its' a serious imbalance) because they consume processed foods,
fast food, dairy, animal flesh, not enough vegetables/beans/fresh fruit (if they eat any), get no exercise, etcetera. Most lower income humans
do not know what healthy food is. However many higher income humans do not know what healthy food is either. In inner cities there
are food deserts where only fast food restaurants and maybe smallish ethnic markets abound.
Agreed, the humans who need the most help are those who are those with the poorest incomes.
I watch what foods humans buy in Walmart, and supermarkets. Most of it is not at all nutritious or healthy. Some humans buy no fruit
or vegetables, but they tend to load up on soda, chips, frozen boxes, pizza.
 
I'm 70 years old. I am on NO MEDICATIONS. My BP is 114/78, I don't have diabetes, still have my (mostly) hair color, no arthritis, and only see my doctor once a year. Every year all my blood tests come back normal.

I live in a senior only building, and another woman asked me how I got in because I looked so much younger than her, and she was the youngest woman in the building. Turns out I was 8 years older than her.

I watch all the motorized carts running around with people younger than me.

My mother died of abdominal cancer, my sister had breast cancer, my other sister had ovarian cancer; no cancer yet with me.

The only thing I can put it down to is diet.
Good for you!. YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT is true. Meat, ages humans, but so does fast foods and processed foods.
So many humans over age 50 are on 4-5 drugs, yet the medical system thinks this is normal. Health is normal
when you take care of yourself and eat healthfully (high in whole plant foods).
When my mom lived in NY she had many friends. Every one of them was on high blood pressure drugs. how sad.
 
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Good for you!. YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT is true. Meat, ages humans, but so does fast foods and processed foods.
So many humans over age 50 are on 4-5 drugs, yet the medical system thinks this is normal. Health is normal
when you take care of yourself and eat healthfully (high in whole plant foods).
When my mom lived in NY she had many friends. Every one of them was on high blood pressure drugs. how sad.

I can't remember who said this, "The Paleo diet works great if you don't plan to live past 40 years".

When I was growing up in the 1950's and 60's, I didn't know anyone with cancer. I never met an elderly person with Parkinson's, Dementia, or Alzheimer's. I never met anyone who was Autistic.

I worked at a High School before I retired. A student was doing a project of the yearbooks from the 50's, 60's, and early 70's. She was amazed that almost no-one was severely overweight. Almost everyone was thin. She said that both the students and the staff were almost all thin. And even the ones that were overweight were only a little bit chunky.
 
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The heart of the matter is, EXPENSIVE is much more than money. Meatonomics.com states that by humans eating animal products, the cost of
disease-care increases to an extra $300 billion every year.
EXPENSIVE is eating processed and fast foods, animal saturated fats and cholesterol that create a myriad of health problems including obesity,
cholesterol (clogged arteries including heart problems, diabetes, and E.D.). What is EXPENSIVE is heart transplants and heart bypasses ($100k),
kidney problems ($8k and up), stents ($8k??), diseases related to obesity ($?), cancers (chemo can easily cost $100k to $1 million a year).
"Health insurance" rates are high because of humans who do not take care of themselves and eat lots of animal foods. They raise the
cost of "health insurance" for those of us who DO eat healthfully and take care of ourselves.
The most 'expensive" healthy whole vegan plant foods (not processed and over-salted foods) cost much less than the cost of killing animals,
eating them, cleaning up the environmental pollution, and paying for increased costs of diseases associated with such foods.
Please, stock up on grains, beans, nuts, pasta, vegetables, dried fruits before Fall to avoid food shortages then., .cheers to all.
 
I can't remember who said this, "The Paleo diet works great if you don't plan to live past 40 years".

When I was growing up in the 1950's and 60's, I didn't know anyone with cancer. I never met an elderly person with Parkinson's, Dementia, or Alzheimer's. I never met anyone who was Autistic.

I worked at a High School before I retired. A student was doing a project of the yearbooks from the 50's, 60's, and early 70's. She was amazed that almost no-one was severely overweight. Almost everyone was thin. She said that both the students and the staff were almost all thin. And even the ones that were overweight were only a little bit chunky.
Cancer is a modern disease for sure. But humans did get sick in the 18th and 19th centuries. But they were leaner, not as heavy. Yes, obesity is largely a modern problem because of over-processed and fast foods, soda, dominating humans diets. We have gotten lazier and become a lot of couch-potatoes. Look at photos of humans in the 1920's to the 1950's, they were much leaner and looked healthier. Humans overeat because of the lack of nutrition in these processed foods, and their excitotoxins within them. They are high in salt, sugar and fat--none of which are necessary. Only about 3 in 10 americans eat the suggested amounts of fruits and vegetables everyday. Only 2% of americans eat beans every week or month.
We join gyms instead of getting hard physical labor done. We use gas powered mowers and electric blowers instead of hand-push mowers and rakes.
I do not follow the Paleo diet as it has no regard for the life of the animals eaten, its' all about FOOD, not ethics. However, at least the Paleo people
consume vegetables including the starchy one's...
 
You are right, vegan food is so expensive like a prepared veggie burger, there are more expensive than its nonveg counterparts. but fortunately are not the only option. The prepared vegan food is always expensive and the best option is you make it yourself. So you buy the ingredients and make them at home will typically save money. Veggie staples such as pasta, rice, tofu, and beans are much cheaper than meat.
.
I see - prepared vegan food is expensive, it's better to prepare your own food, and that's why you post a website that sells prepared vegan food (?)
 
Yes, you can do all this - but not everybody wants to do this. :)

Also in regards to "what it costs": one needs to look at the time it takes to shop and prepare the food and also the cleaning up. When taking these into the equation, a ready-made veg-burger isn't that expensive anymore. Same with canned beans compared to made from scratch. For whatever reason people usually conveniently forget to mention the time all of this takes (apart from the actual cooking).

My motivation for the minimal cooking I do and the meal prepping is "health" and in some cases "taste", not "money".
Interesting comments. Yes, time matters, and many humans would prefer to grab frozen cardboard boxes, and vegan deli slices.
Another big consideration is freshness and nutrition. Packaged food are sadly mostly loaded with salt, oil, and sugar.
I like making my own food and knowing what and what does not go into it. Some prefer to buy it ready made. Personal choices.
 
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I have heard so many people say that to be vegan is expensive. As a struggling vegan myself (Life long vegetarian and mainly vegan)I would say it depends how you go about it. If you are buying pre-packed all the time then in my opinion yes it is very expensive....very much over priced by companies who are not helping the cause by putting people off with the price. If however you are cooking fresh then no it is not expensive...vegetables and basics are very cheap and can make multiple meals.
Best thing to do I feel is find something you like the look of and try to make it yourself..for a fraction of the price! ha
Hi, bulk foods are the least expensive, such as buying grains and beans, in 25 pound bags, nuts in 5 pound bags, vegetables or fruit
by the case, etcetera. Prepackaged foods, as others have stated is the most pricey, most salty, and least healthy.
I will mention an option for some. Dumpster diving saves edible food from being thrown out. You only take food that is not
moldy, smashed, has not needed to be refrigerated. There are many stores like Aldi that throws out foods when they get a new
shipment in. I have seen enough food in their dumpsters to feed a family of 4 for a whole month. I am not telling someone to
dumpster dive, but many have done it after the store has closed and before the garbage is picked up.
 
I have warned my family and friends about arsenic in rice. but they mostly eat white rice and from what I understand that doesn't have that much arsenic.

At first I switched to Lundberg California White Basmati because it has very little arsenic. but I just bought their brown rice. I soak it and rinse it before cooking it.

And I don't have rice more than a few times a week.

Yeah, don't like cooking It like pasta either.
Dr. Greger has a great video on how to eliminate arsenic in rice, presoak it, forgive me if this was posted before.......
 
yup, understood and I do eat fake meats/sausages

I guess the question is what do you eat with the fake meat? I try to add things like lots of sauerkraut with the sausages, and fried onions, and maybe some boiled potatoes and/or steamed veggies. Other things that are filling and so allow me to eat half of the fake things that I might otherwise.

If you compared eating a "convenience food" regular diet (eg premade beef burgers, french fries, etc) with "convenience food" vegan I am almost sure that the costs would be similar. It is the "convenience food" lifestyle that is so unhealthy for both vegans and non-vegans and that, of course, is our own choice. It is, by definition, a more expensive lifestyle. IMO

Emma JC
EAT LOTS OF VEGETABLES
 
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Actually, Americans only spend 10% of their income on food, which is a record low amount compared to years ago
and what other countries citizens spend.........
I do more than 10% for sure. Not only that, but I still get help from mom. Not sure what to do when I can't get that help anymore. I think in general, I am a horrible spender. I like having good things though, so it's tough. Kinda like an addiction.
 
I do more than 10% for sure. Not only that, but I still get help from mom. Not sure what to do when I can't get that help anymore. I think in general, I am a horrible spender. I like having good things though, so it's tough. Kinda like an addiction.
There are some vegan foods that are much less costly than others. If you can focus on fresh food (fresh fruits, veggies, grains, beans, nuts
and seeds) and making your own it is much easier to pay for. If you can buy in bulk, (such as 5 pound or 10 pound bags) thats' also less
costly. If you can make your own foods, such as veggie burgers, you save 75% over the cost of buying frozen cardboard boxes. Not trying
to tell you what to do, but so many vegan buy packaged and grab and go foods which cost much more. Omnivores also love to sometimes say
that eating as a vegan is expensive. Its' not at all unless someone lives on processed foods. Take care.
 
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Veganism is not necessarily more expensive than other diets. It is possible to buy vegan food items at a wide range of prices, from bulk items such as legumes, grains, and nuts to more expensive items such as vegan meat substitutes and faux cheeses. Many vegan items are also available at discount store prices. Additionally, it is possible to save money on a vegan diet by cooking meals at home and taking advantage of store sales and promotions.
 
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Veganism is not necessarily more expensive than other diets. It is possible to buy vegan food items at a wide range of prices, from bulk items such as legumes, grains, and nuts to more expensive items such as vegan meat substitutes and faux cheeses. Many vegan items are also available at discount store prices. Additionally, it is possible to save money on a vegan diet by cooking meals at home and taking advantage of store sales and promotions.
Hello, Vai101, you might enjoy this thread:

 
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Rice and beans are very cheap indeed,
there are lots of tempting exotic foods as well of course which I have found very nice but more expensive so I am learning to prepare some of these myself
 
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