What is veganism and vegetarianism?

Vegetarianism is when a person does not eat meat, but can eat other animal products. Typically, people choose this type of diet because of health concerns, religious beliefs, or moral concerns about harm to animals. Many people do not eat meat because they consider it unhealthy. There are several types of vegetarianism:

Lacto-ovo vegetarianism (from Latin lacto - "milk", ovo - "egg") is the most common vegetarian diet. In this case, people can eat eggs and dairy products, but do not eat meat and seafood.

Lacto-vegetarianism includes dairy products in the diet, but excludes meat, seafood and eggs from it.

In ovo-vegetarianism, people, on the contrary, eat eggs, but refuse dairy products, meat and seafood.

There are also forms of nutrition close to vegetarianism. For example, pescatarians are people who have given up meat and poultry, but consume fish, seafood, eggs and milk. Pollotarians eschew mammal meat, fish, and shellfish, but include poultry in their diet. With flexitarianism, a person generally refuses meat, but sometimes he can afford it. However, the specific amount of meat that can be consumed is not limited.

Veganism differs from vegetarianism in that it excludes from the diet all products associated with living beings: dairy products, eggs, fish, seafood and, of course, meat. Most vegans are guided by moral principles when they choose this lifestyle. Therefore, in addition to food, they also avoid leather and fur in household items and clothing, cosmetics that are tested on animals, etc.

Vegans are divided into:

raw foodists - that is, those who eat only raw plant foods;

fruitarians - those who eat only the fruits of trees.

Health impact

Vegetarian and vegan diets have some health benefits:

• help to reduce weight;
• remove toxins from the body, help cleanse the skin;
• improve the intestinal microflora and reduce the risk of bowel cancer;
• reduce the risk of developing diabetes;
• reduce the risk of developing heart and vascular diseases.

But those foods that are also part of a vegetarian diet can lead to all these diseases: sugar, pasta, white bread, sweets, and the abuse of vegetable oils. Therefore, if you want to get a therapeutic effect from the diet, observe the measure in taking these products.

The negative effects of the diet include deficiency of iron, vitamins D and B12, omega-3 fatty acids, amino acids, which are very few in vegetable protein.