Vegetarian and Vegan Diets

Vegetarian and vegan diets have gained immense popularity in the recent past due to perceived health benefits, dietary ethicality, and probable negative impacts on the environment. Both are comprised of mostly plants; one key distinction is that vegan diets are prohibited from including animal-based products.

Types of Vegetarian Diets

Vegetarianism is a form of dieting where an individual decides not to eat meat, fish, or poultry products. undefined

Lacto-vegetarians are allowed to consume dairy products while they are not allowed to consume eggs.

Ovo vegetarians can consume eggs but they do not consume any animal products such as milk.

Lacto-ovo vegetarians include people who also take milk products and dairy products as well as eggs.

Pescatarians include fish and seafood but exclude other types of meats.

It is a diet that focuses on the many fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds, and legumes that most vegetarians eat. They consist of vitamins, minerals, and fibers that are important for the body and enhance its performance.

Vegan Diets

Veganism expands the plant-based diet by excluding animal-derived foods like meat, eggs, cheese, butter, and honey. Vegans do not consume any animal products at all and obtain their nutrient requirements from plant products only; whole foods are desirable. This diet includes fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts, seeds and legumes. It also has a high fiber and low saturated fatty acid that makes it have other health benefits like reduced risks of heart diseases, hypertension, and some types of cancer.

Health and Ethical Considerations

As clearly shown, vegetarian and vegan diets are associated with numerous health benefits. They often contain higher amounts of dietary fiber, vitamins C and E, folic acids, magnesium, and phytonutrients. They also are associated with less cholesterol, better weight, and a decreased probability of chronic illnesses.

Ethically, many people adopt such dieting patterns to make sure that they are not part of any form of animal cruelty in food production. From the environmental perspective, plant-based diets have less carbon footprint, require less water and land, and have the least impact on endangered species than meat diets.

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