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Vegetarians
Vegetarianism
Vegetarianism is the practice of not consuming meat or
fish, with or without the use of dairy products or eggs. This
includes products derived from animals, such as lard, tallow,
gelatin, rennet and cochineal. Some vegetarians also choose to
refrain from wearing clothing derived from animals, such as
leather and fur. Veganism excludes all animal products from its
diet and attire, whether or not this involves the actual death
of an animal (dairy, eggs, honey, down feathers and silk). Still
stricter is fruitarianism, which excludes all food but the
fallen botanic fruits of plants.
Types of Vegetarianism
Different practices of vegetarianism include:
- Lacto vegetarianism — Lacto vegetarians do not
eat meat or eggs but do consume dairy products. Most
vegetarians in India and those in the classical
Mediterranean lands, such as Pythagoreans, are or were lacto
vegetarian.
- Ovo-lacto vegetarianism (also called
eggitarian colloquially in India) — Lacto-ovo
vegetarians do not eat meat but do consume dairy products
and eggs. This is currently the most common variety in the
Western world.
- Ovo vegetarianism — Ovo vegetarians do not eat
meat or dairy products but do eat eggs.
- Veganism — Those who avoid eating any animal
products, including eggs, milk, cheese, and sometimes honey,
are known specifically as dietary vegans or strict
vegetarians. Most additionally avoid using animal products,
such as leather and some cosmetics, and are called vegans.
The following are less common practices of vegetarianism:
- Raw food diet involves food, usually vegan, which
is not heated above 46.7 °C (116 °F) ; it may be warmed
slightly or raw, but never cooked. Raw foodists argue that
cooking destroys enzymes and/or portions of each nutrient.
However, some raw foodists believe certain foods become more
bio-available when warmed slightly as the process softens
them, which more than negates the destruction of nutrients
and enzymes. Other raw foodists, called "living foodists",
activate the enzymes through soaking the food in water a
while before consumption. Some spiritual raw foodists are
also fruitarians, and many eat only organic foods.
- Macrobiotic diet involves a diet consisting
mostly of whole grains and beans and is usually spiritually
based, like fruitarianism.
- Natural Hygiene, in its classic form, involves a
diet principally of raw vegan foods.
- Fruitarianism involves a diet of only fruit, nuts,
seeds, and other plant matter that can be gathered without
harming the plant. Some fruitarians eat only plant matter
that has already fallen off the plant. Thus, a fruitarian
will eat beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, pumpkins, and the like,
but will refuse to eat potatoes or spinach. It is disputed
whether it is possible to avoid malnutrition with a
fruitarian diet, which is rarer than other types of
vegetarian or vegan diet.
The following similarly named diets are not considered full
vegetarianism:
- Pesco/pollo vegetarianism (semi-vegetarianism) —
Some people choose to avoid certain types of meat for many
of the same reasons that others choose vegetarianism: health,
ethical beliefs, etc. For example, some people will not eat
"red meat" (mammal meat – beef, lamb, pork, etc.) while
still consuming respectively seafood and/or poultry. It may
also be used as an interim diet by individuals who are on a
path to becoming fully vegetarian.
- Flexitarianism — Flexitarians adhere to a diet
that is mostly vegetarian but occasionally consume meat.
Some, for instance, may regard the suffering of animals in
factory farm conditions as their sole reason for avoiding
meat or meat-based foods and will eat meat or meat products
from animals raised under more humane conditions or hunted
in the wild.
- Freeganism — Freegans practice a lifestyle based
on concerns about the exploitation of animals, the earth,
and human beings in the production of consumer goods. Many
tend towards veganism, but this is not an inherent practice.
Those that eat meat generally support the arguments for
vegetarianism, but as freeganism is concerned about waste,
freegans prefer to make use of discarded commodities than to
allow them to go to waste and consume landfill space.
Source: Wikipedia.org
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