The review, which consists of over 20 years of research and presented at the Alpro Foundation 20th anniversary conference, found that persuading 10% of people to consume high-levels of soya-based foods and drink would lead to a saving of around £7 billion.
Lieven Annemans, professor of health economics at Ghent University, who lead to review, said: “Our research demonstrates that more plant-based eating patterns are cost-effective, reduce economic costs, such as hospital admissions and doctors’ bills, as well as increasing the number of healthy years people live, and enabling them to continue working.”
The study found that following a diet with high quantities of fruit and vegetables had been found to contribute to reducing the risk of diabetes by 26%, a 42% fall of coronary heart disease in men (26% in women), and 37% fewer instances of stroke in women (35% in men).
At the conference, research presented by University of Leeds’ Dr Hannah Ensaff, highlighted the impact of nudge strategies as placement of fruit and vegetables in secondary schools, with no change in availabilities of food option, resulted in student 2.5 times more likely to choose fruit or vegetable.
Dr Stephanie De Vriese, nutrition expert at the Alpro Foundation, added: “After 20 years of intensive support for scientific research, we can argue with great certainty that plant-based eating helps prevent a variety of diseases which many people are currently affected by.
“In addition to more plant-based eating - as we see in Mediterranean diets - a dietary pattern with a daily intake of soya products can also offer additional health benefits.”