Vegan vs. Vegetarian: What Are You?
Last Updated on Tuesday, 10 August 2010 14:05
Unless you’ve been living in a cave for the past several years, you will have heard the terms “vegan” and “vegetarian,” maybe because of the increased attention paid to natural healing.
But do you truly understand the differences between the two? And, furthermore, do you realize how many benefits come from these diets (veganism in particular)?
Vegetarianism
The term “vegetarian” actually refers to a category of people who don’t eat meat, fish, seafood or poultry. However, there are five sub-types of vegetarians: the semi-vegetarian, the ovo-lacto-vegetarian, the ovo-vegetarian, the lacto-vegetarian, and the vegan.
A semi-vegetarian is someone who eats eggs, chicken, dairy products and fish but does not eat any other types of animal flesh (including beef and pork).
An ovo-lacto-vegetarian doesn’t eat poultry, meat, seafood and fish; however, he or she does eat eggs and consume milk. Most people who classify themselves as vegetarians fall into this group.
An ovo-vegetarian is someone who would technically be a vegan if they didn’t eat eggs. On the other hand, a lacto-vegetarian is someone who would be classified as a vegan if they didn’t consume milk.
The Benefits of Veganism
The last category of vegetarians is veganism. It is the strictest sub-category of vegetarianism. Vegans don’t consume any type of animal products or by-products. In fact, some vegans also cut products like yeast and honey out of their diets. Other hardcore vegans abstain from wearing clothing made from animal products.
From a moral standpoints, some vegans choose this lifestyle because they believe that animals are not on the earth to be used (some would use the more extreme phrases of “taken advantage of” or “exploited”) by humans.
Putting morality aside (because everyone has their own, individual set of morals), the main issue of veganism versus vegetarianism is nutrition. If you decide to become vegan, or if you already lead a vegan lifestyle, be sure to take both an amino acid and a B12 supplement in order to compensate from the lack of these nutrients.
So what kinds of benefits does veganism hold over a less strict form of vegetarianism?
- A vegan diet can, in a small way, help to stop the pollution of earth, water and air by factory ranches and feed lots
- Provides increased energy, even over a more flexible vegetarian diet
- A vegan diet consists of even less fat than a vegetarian diet, meaning that it can help to balance insulin and sugar levels
- Animal protein actually leeches calcium from bones; therefore, a vegan diet can help to decrease the risk of bone-depleting conditions (yes, even with the absence of dairy)
The choice is yours, and yours alone. If you believe that a vegan diet may be beneficial to your health, and you want to make the commitment, turn vegan—in the end, you’ll be glad you did.
Katrina Robinson is a guest writer who writes for Oxy-Powder.
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