Becoming a Vegetarian

Do you want to be a vegetarian? Then this is must read article if you’re thinking about becoming a vegetarian.

Vegetarianism is the practice of following a plant-based diet including fruits, vegetables, cereal grains, nuts, and seeds, with or without dairy farm farm products and eggs. A vegetarian does not eat meat, including: red meat, poultry, fish, crustacea, shellfish, and products of animal butcher such as animal-derived gelatine and rennet. There are a number of vegetarian diets. A lacto-vegetarian diet includes dairy farm products but excludes eggs, an ovo-vegetarian diet includes eggs but not dairy farm products, and a lacto-ovo vegetarian diet includes both eggs and dairy farm products. A vegan diet excludes all animal products, including dairy farm products, eggs, and honey. Vegetarianism may be adopted for ethical, health, environmental, religious, political, cultural, aesthetic, economic, or other reasons.

Semi-vegetarian diets consist mostly of vegetarian foods, but may include fish and sometimes poultry, as well as dairy farm products and eggs. With these diets, the word “meat” is frequently defined as simply mammalian flesh. A pescetarian diet, for instance, accepts “fish but no meat”. The common application of the word “vegetarian” to such diets has led vegetarian groups, such as the Vegetarian Society, to clarify that such fish or poultry-based diets are not vegetarian, due to the fact that fish and birds are animal beings.

Kinds of vegetarianism

The following diets are subsets of vegetarianism.

Lacto-ovo vegetarianism is a vegetarian diet that allows consumption of animal products such eggs, milk, and honey .
Lacto vegetarianism allows milk but abstains from eggs.
Ovo vegetarianism allows eggs but abstains from milk.
Veganism abstains from all animal flesh and animal products, including milk, honey, and eggs.
Raw veganism is a diet of fresh and uncooked fruit, nuts, seeds, and vegetables.
Fruitarianism is a diet of only fruit, nuts, seeds, and other plant matter that can be gained without harming the plant life.
Su vegetarianism (such as in Buddhism), excludes all animal products as well as vegetables in the allium family (which have the characteristic scent of onion and garlic): onion, garlic, scallions, leeks, or shallots.

Strict vegetarians also avoid products that may use animal ingredients not included in their labels or which use animal products in their manufacturing e.g. cheeses that use animal rennet (enzymes from animal stomach lining), gelatin (from animal skin, bones, and connective tissue), some sugars that are whitened with bone char (e.g. cane sugar, but not beet sugar) and alcohol clarified with gelatin or crushed shellfish and sturgeon.

Semi-vegetarian diets

Semi-vegetarian diets primarily consist of vegetarian foods, though occasional exceptions are made for some non-vegetarian foods, including fish, poultry and red meat. These diets may be followed by those who choose to reduce the amount of animal flesh consumed as a way of transitioning to a vegetarian diet or for health, environmental, or other reasons. The term “semi-vegetarian” is contested by most vegetarian groups, who believe that vegetarianism must exclude all animal flesh. Many individuals describe themselves as “vegetarian” while practicing a semi-vegetarian diet. Semi-vegetarian diets include:

Flexitarianism: A diet that consists primarily of vegetarian food, but includes occasional exceptions such as red meat.
Pescetarianism: A diet that is mainly vegetarian but also includes fish and sometimes other seafood.
Pollotarianism: A diet that is mainly vegetarian but also includes poultry.
Macrobiotic diet: A diet of mostly whole grains and beans. Not all macrobiotics are vegetarians, as some consume fish.

Health benefits and concerns

Vegetarianism is considered a healthy, viable diet. The American Dietetic Association and the Dietitians of Canada have found a properly planned vegetarian diet to satisfy the nutritional needs for all stages of life, and large-scale studies have shown that “Mortality from ischemic heart disease was 24% lower in vegetarians than in nonvegetarians” Necessary nutrients, proteins, and amino acids for the body’s sustenance can be found in vegetables, grains, nuts, soymilk, eggs and dairy.

Vegetarian diets can aid in keeping body weight under control and substantially reduce risks of heart disease and osteoporosis. Non-lean red meat, in particular, has been found to be directly associated with dramatically increased risk of cancers of the esophagus, liver, colon, and the lungs. Other studies, in contrast, have shown no significant differences between vegetarians and nonvegetarians in mortality from cerebrovascular disease, stomach cancer, colorectal cancer, breast cancer, or prostate cancer, although the sample of vegetarians was small and included ex-smokers who had switched their diet within the last five years.

The American Dietetic Association and Dietitians of Canada have stated: “Vegetarian diets offer a number of nutritional benefits, including lower levels of saturated fat, cholesterol, and animal protein as well as higher levels of carbohydrates, fibre, magnesium, potassium, folate, and antioxidants such as vitamins C and E and phytochemicals.” Vegetarians tend to have lower body mass index, lower levels of cholesterol, lower blood pressure, and less incidence of heart disease, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, renal disease, osteoporosis, dementias such as Alzheimer’s Disease and other disorders.

Source: Wikipedia