Research at the University of South Australia (UniSA), has found that people are losing more than just weight while they’re dieting with the cost of cutting calories reaching up to $300 per week in some cases.
In a new study entitled Developing and implementing a new methodology to test the affordability of currently popular weight loss diet meal plans and healthy eating principles, UniSA researchers compared the affordability of five popular diets and two healthy eating principles, finding that diet trends could leave a hefty hole in our hip pockets.
Lead Researcher and Associate Professor of Nutrition and Dietetics at UniSA Clinical & Health Sciences, Karen Murphy said the study, which focused on a range of popular diets, found the most cost-effective diet was modelled from the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating and adapted for weight loss through calorie restriction.
The diets considered were Ketogenic; Palaeolithic; 8 Weeks to Wow (8WW); Intermittent fasting (IF); and Optifast and healthy eating principles were The Australian Guide to Healthy Eating and The Mediterranean Diet (MedDiet),
“This meal plan included all five core food groups and a range of affordable staple items such as breads, pasta, and legumes, as well as lower amounts of animal products,” Professor Murphy said.
“The diet plans that were most expensive typically restricted multiple food groups and included premium products such as organic produce, protein supplements, low-carbohydrate replacements, and high protein bread,” she said.
Prof Murphy said understanding the costs of weight loss programs was important, especially when people were facing financial struggles and reduced access to fresh produce amid COVID-19 and floods.
“Not surprisingly, interest in weight loss diets continues to rise, yet very rarely are the associated costs of these programs reported,” she said.
“In our research, we assessed the weekly costs of seven different meal plans and found that weekly grocery shopping of entire product units cost between $345 and $625, which is substantially higher than more than what the average Australian spends on groceries each week,” she said.
“Additionally, there tends to be a misconception that consuming a healthy diet made up of the five key food groups, like the AGHE, is too expensive, which it’s really not,” Associate Professor Murphy said.
UniSA’s 10-page study can be accessed at this PS News link.
