Vegetarianism and religion are strongly linked in a number of religions that originated in ancient India (Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism). In Jainism vegetarianism is mandatory for everyone, in Hinduism and Mahayana Buddhism it is advocated by some influential scriptures and religious authorities. Comparatively, in the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) and in Sikhism, vegetarianism is not promoted by mainstream authorities. In Christianity and Sikhism, however, there are groups promoting vegetarianism on religious grounds.
Hinduism
Most major paths of Hinduism hold vegetarianism as an ideal. There are three main reasons for this: the principle of nonviolence (ahimsa) applied to animals; the intention to offer only "pure" (vegetarian) food to a deity and then to receive it back as prasad; and the conviction that non-vegetarian food is detrimental for the mind and for spiritual development. Nonviolence is a common concern of all the vegetarian traditions in Hinduism; the other two aspects are relevant for those who follow special spiritual paths. Most Hindus are lacto-vegetarian, however in the west there are some lacto-ovo vegetarians.
Buddhism
The first lay precept in Buddhism prohibits killing. Unlike the Biblical commandment (Thou Shalt Not Kill), which Jewish and Christian authorities have typically applied only to human beings, the First Precept has always been held to apply to animals as well as humans. Many see this as implying that Buddhists should not eat the meat of animals. There are however differing points of view. The Buddha made distinction between killing an animal and consumption of meat, stressing that it is immoral conduct that makes one impure, not the food one eats. At one point the Buddha specifically refused to institute vegetarianism, and the Pali Canon records the Buddha himself eating meat on several occasions. There were, however, rules prohibiting certain types of meat, such as human, leopard or elephant. Monks are also prohibited from consuming meat if they witnessed the animal's death or know it was killed specifically for them.
On the other hand, the Buddha in certain Mahayana sutras strongly denounces the eating of meat. In the Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra, the Buddha states that "the eating of meat extinguishes the seed of great compassion", adding that all and every kind of meat and fish consumption (even of animals already found dead) is prohibited by him. The Buddha goes on to emphasize that meat-eating cannot coexist with the great compassion and calls for not just a vegetarian, but a vegan lifestyle.
Christianity
Several Christian monastic groups have encouraged vegetarianism, including the Desert Fathers, Trappists, Benedictines, and Carthusians. Some Christian groups, such as Seventh-day Adventists and Christian anarchists, take a literal interpretation of the Biblical prophecies of universal vegetarianism and encourage vegetarianism as a preferred, though not required, lifestyle. However, most evangelical groups are unaware of the existence of any such prophecies, and point instead to the explicit prophecies of temple sacrifices in the Messianic Kingdom, many of which are eaten—see Ezekiel 46:12 where peace offerings and freewill offerings will be offered, and Leviticus 7:15-20 where it states that such offerings are eaten. Some Christian vegetarians argue that Jesus himself was a vegetarian. There is one argument that Jesus was an Essene (vegetarian inhabitants of the Dead Sea community at Qumran). The present academic consensus is that Jesus was not an Essene. While it is true that there is a great deal we do not know about Jesus’ precise attitudes to animals, there is a powerful strand in his ethical teaching about the primacy of mercy to the weak, the powerless and the oppressed. Some key Christian historical figures such as St. Augustine and Saint David became vegetarians for ascetic reasons, not necessarily because of a religious edict to that effect. In the 19th century, members of the Bible Christian sect established the first vegetarian groups in England and the United States.
Islam
Islam explicitly prohibit eating of some kinds of meat, especially pork. However, one of the most important Islamic celebrations, 'Eid ul-Adha', involves animal sacrifices. Muslims who can afford to do so sacrifice their best domestic animals (usually sheep, but also camels, cows, and goats). According to the Quran[citation needed] a large portion of the meat has to be given towards the poor and hungry people so they can all join in the feast which is held on Eid-ul-Adha. The remainder is cooked for the family celebration meal in which relatives and friends are invited to share. The regular charitable practices of the Muslim community are demonstrated during Eid ul-Adha by the concerted effort to see that no impoverished Muslim is left without sacrificial food during these days. Since these practices are justified by Koran, advocacy of vegetarianism by implying that God ordained diet to be immoral could be seen as contrary to Islam.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Vegetarian and History
A vegetarian ideology was practiced among religious groups in Egypt around 3,200BC, with abstinence from flesh based upon karmic beliefs in reincarnation.
Abstention from meat was central to such early philosophies as Hinduism, Brahinanism, Zoroasterianism and Jainism. Vegetarianism was encouraged in the ancient verses of the 'Upanishads' and also mentioned in 'Rig Veda' -- the most sacred of ancient Hindu texts. Pivotal to such religions were doctrines of non-violence and respect for all life forms.
Famed philosopher and mathematician Pythagoras encouraged vegetariamsm. While wishing to avoid animal cruelty, he also saw the health advantages a meat-free diet. Pythagoras viewed vegetarianism as a key factor in peaceful human co-existence, putting forward the view that slaughtering animals brutalised the human soul.
Other notable Ancient Greek thinkers favoured a vegetarian diet. Socrates, Plato and Aristotle all advocated a 'natural' life that did not involve animal cruelty.
Pythagorean ideals found very limited sympathy within the brutality of Ancient Rome, where many wild animals were murdered at the hands of gladiators in the name of sport and spectacle. Pythagoreans were despised as subversives, with many keeping their vegetarianism to themselves for fear of persecution.
However, vegetarianism was to spread throughout the Roman Empire from the 3rd to 6th centuries among those influenced by Neo-Platonist philosophy, a progression from the teachings of Plato.
Vegetarianism has always been central to Buddhism, which enshrines compassion to all living creatures. The Indian king Asoka (who reigned between 264~232 BC) converted to Buddhism, shocked by the horrors of battle. Animal sacrifices were ended as his kingdom became vegetarian.
The Essenes were an ancient Jewish sect from the second century BC, who reacted against the excessive animal sacrifices of the day.
Early Christianity brought with it ideas of human supremacy over all living things, but several unorthodox groups did break ranks.
Practiced between the 3rd and 10th centuries AD, Manicheanism was another philosophy against animal slaughter. These non-violent vegetarian ascetics were painted as fanatical deviants, feared, loathed and frequently persecuted by the established church.
The vegetarian Bogamils were burned at the stake for heresy, against the paranoid backdrop of Mediaeval Europe in the 10th Century. There was a fervent 'anti-heretic' tone to most of Europe during this dark period and many innocents perished. However, two notable vegetarians escaped -- St David, Patron Saint of Wales, and St Francis of Assisi.
During the early Renaissance period, an open vegetarian ideology was a rare phenomena. Famine and disease were rife as crops failed and food was short. Meat was largely a scarce and expensive luxury for the rich. It was during this period that there was to be a rediscovery of ancient classical philosophy.
Pythagorean and Neo-Platonic thought would once again become influential in Europe.
With the bloody conquest of 'new' lands, new vegetables were introduced into Europe, such as potatoes, cauliflower and maize. This had a beneficial effect on health, helping to prevent such things as skin diseases which were then widespread.
With the Enlightenment of the eighteenth century there emerged a new appraisal of man's place in the order of creation. Arguments that animals were intelligent feeling creatures were voiced and moral objections were raised as there was an increasing distaste for the mistreatment of animals. Amongst western religions there was a re-emergence of the view that, in fact, flesh consumption was an aberration from God's will and the genuine nature of humanity.
During these days, slaughter methods were extremely barbaric. Pigs were flogged to death with knotted rope to tenderise the carcass and hens were slit at the mouth, hung up and left to bleed to death.
Famous vegetarians of the period included the poets John Gay and Alexander Pope, royal physician Dr John Arbuthnot, penal reformer John Howard and creator of the Methodist movement John Wesley. Great philosophers such as Voltaire, Rousseau and Locke all questioned man's inhumanity to animals, and Paine's extremely influential 'The Rights of Man' (1791) raised wider animal rights issues.
Noteworthy vegetarians of the 19th Century included romantic poet Shelley, who became vegetarian in 1812. He was fervent in his renunciation of meat consumption, convinced of the healthy advantages a meat-free diet could offer. Shelley also added a political dimension to the cause of vegetarianism by pointing out the inefficient use of resources. Meat was still at this time the habitual reserve of the privileged and Shelley cited meat production as a reason for food shortages among society's most needy
The influence of radical Christianity in the 19th Century was to give the cause of vegetarianism great impetus in Britain and the USA. Such groups were vegetarian fundamentalist Christians, with large congregations made up of the newly urbanised poor.
Representatives were to venture away from Britain and vegetarian communes were evident in the USA in the 1830s, practiced among such groups as the Seventh Day Adventists. A notable practitioner of this religion was Dr John Harvey Kellogg, preacher and inventor of the famous breakfast cereal.
By the 1880s vegetarian restaurants were popular in London, offering cheap and nutritious meals in respectable settings.
At the turn of the 20th Century, British public health was still in a poor state, with high levels of infant mortality and widespread poverty. The Vegetarian Society sent food parcels to mining communities during the General Strike of 1926 -- vegetarianism and humanitarianism have always been closely linked.
Any history of vegetarianism would be incomplete without mentioning the contribution made by Gandhi, who wrote extensively on the subject. Vegetarianism was central to his life and was informed by the ascetic life of his mother Putlibai, Jainism, his politics and, of course, Hinduism.
Because of general food shortages during WW2, the British were encouraged to 'Dig For Victory' and grow their own fruit and vegetables. A near vegetarian diet sustained the population and the nation's health was to improve vastly during the war years.
In the 1950 and '60s, the general public became increasingly aware of the truth behind intensive factory farming, introduced following the war. Vegetarianism also appealed to mid 1960s counterculture, as Eastern influences permeated Western popular culture.
During the 1980s and '90s, vegetarianism was given major impetus as the disastrous impact humanity was having upon the Earth become more apparent. Environmental issues dominated the headlines and were for a time foregrounded in politics. Vegetarianism was rightfully seen as part of the process of change and conservation of resources.
More recently, issues such as livestock imports rallied opposition from many 'ordinary' people from all over the UK. Very real health concerns were raised when it was realised that some flesh foods were infected with such diseases as 'Mad Cow Disease' (BSE), Lysteria and Salmonella. Since the 1980s, popular conscience had anyway become focussed on healthy living and there was the realisation that food was very important in this. Consequently consumption of meat has plummeted, as many millions of people in the West have turned to vegetarianism as a safe and healthy alternative.
The history of vegetarianism has consisted of an amazing diversity of characters and events. Vegetarianism has been evident in cultures all over the world and a largely vegetarian diet has sustained humanity for many thousands of years -- for moral, religious and economic reasons.
A list of few notable vegetarians:
Pythagoras
580 – 500 BC
Greek mathematician and philosopher
Plato
428 – 347 BC
Greek philosopher
Plutarch
46 – 120 BC
Greek philosopher and biographer
St. Frances of Assisi
1182 – 1226
Italian founder of Franciscan order of friars
Leonardo da Vinci
1452 – 1519
Italian painter, architect and engineer
"One day the world will look upon research upon animals as it now looks upon research on human beings."
Martin Luther
1483 – 1546
German church reformer; founder of Protestantism
Sir Isaac Newton
1642 – 1727
English physicist and mathematician
Voltaire
1694 – 1778
French writer
John Wesley
1703 – 1791
English founder of Methodism
Benjamin Franklin
1706 – 1790
US scientist and diplomat; inventor of the lightning conductor
Ralph Waldo Emerson
1803 – 1882
US philosopher, essayist and poet
Hans Christian Andersen
1805 – 1875
Danish writer of fairy tales
Charlotte Bronte
1816 – 1855
English writer; author of Jane Eyre
Henry David Thoreau
1817 – 1862
US writer; back-to-nature exponent
Susan B. Anthony
1820 – 1906
US feminist and anti-slavery campaigner
Leo Tolstoy
1828 – 1910
Russian novelist; author of War and Peace
"A human can be healthy without killing animals for food. Therefore if he eats meat he participates in taking animal life merely for the sake of his appetite."
Vincent Van Gogh
1853 – 1890
Dutch Post-Impressionist painter
George Bernard Shaw
1856 - 1950
Irish dramatist, novelist and socialist
"It is nearly fifty years since I was assured by a conclave of doctors that if I did not eat meat I should die of starvation." (He lived a healthy life and died aged 94.)
Henry Ford
1863 – 1847
US car manufacturer
Mahatma Gandhi
1869 – 1948
Indian nationalist leader and advocate of non-violence
Albert Schweitzer
1875 – 1965
French theologian, missionary and Nobel Peace Prize winner
Albert Einstein
1879 – 1955
Swiss-German scientist; author of the theories of relativity
"Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet."
H.G. Wells
1886 – 1946
English science fiction writer
Abstention from meat was central to such early philosophies as Hinduism, Brahinanism, Zoroasterianism and Jainism. Vegetarianism was encouraged in the ancient verses of the 'Upanishads' and also mentioned in 'Rig Veda' -- the most sacred of ancient Hindu texts. Pivotal to such religions were doctrines of non-violence and respect for all life forms.
Famed philosopher and mathematician Pythagoras encouraged vegetariamsm. While wishing to avoid animal cruelty, he also saw the health advantages a meat-free diet. Pythagoras viewed vegetarianism as a key factor in peaceful human co-existence, putting forward the view that slaughtering animals brutalised the human soul.
Other notable Ancient Greek thinkers favoured a vegetarian diet. Socrates, Plato and Aristotle all advocated a 'natural' life that did not involve animal cruelty.
Pythagorean ideals found very limited sympathy within the brutality of Ancient Rome, where many wild animals were murdered at the hands of gladiators in the name of sport and spectacle. Pythagoreans were despised as subversives, with many keeping their vegetarianism to themselves for fear of persecution.
However, vegetarianism was to spread throughout the Roman Empire from the 3rd to 6th centuries among those influenced by Neo-Platonist philosophy, a progression from the teachings of Plato.
Vegetarianism has always been central to Buddhism, which enshrines compassion to all living creatures. The Indian king Asoka (who reigned between 264~232 BC) converted to Buddhism, shocked by the horrors of battle. Animal sacrifices were ended as his kingdom became vegetarian.
The Essenes were an ancient Jewish sect from the second century BC, who reacted against the excessive animal sacrifices of the day.
Early Christianity brought with it ideas of human supremacy over all living things, but several unorthodox groups did break ranks.
Practiced between the 3rd and 10th centuries AD, Manicheanism was another philosophy against animal slaughter. These non-violent vegetarian ascetics were painted as fanatical deviants, feared, loathed and frequently persecuted by the established church.
The vegetarian Bogamils were burned at the stake for heresy, against the paranoid backdrop of Mediaeval Europe in the 10th Century. There was a fervent 'anti-heretic' tone to most of Europe during this dark period and many innocents perished. However, two notable vegetarians escaped -- St David, Patron Saint of Wales, and St Francis of Assisi.
During the early Renaissance period, an open vegetarian ideology was a rare phenomena. Famine and disease were rife as crops failed and food was short. Meat was largely a scarce and expensive luxury for the rich. It was during this period that there was to be a rediscovery of ancient classical philosophy.
Pythagorean and Neo-Platonic thought would once again become influential in Europe.
With the bloody conquest of 'new' lands, new vegetables were introduced into Europe, such as potatoes, cauliflower and maize. This had a beneficial effect on health, helping to prevent such things as skin diseases which were then widespread.
With the Enlightenment of the eighteenth century there emerged a new appraisal of man's place in the order of creation. Arguments that animals were intelligent feeling creatures were voiced and moral objections were raised as there was an increasing distaste for the mistreatment of animals. Amongst western religions there was a re-emergence of the view that, in fact, flesh consumption was an aberration from God's will and the genuine nature of humanity.
During these days, slaughter methods were extremely barbaric. Pigs were flogged to death with knotted rope to tenderise the carcass and hens were slit at the mouth, hung up and left to bleed to death.
Famous vegetarians of the period included the poets John Gay and Alexander Pope, royal physician Dr John Arbuthnot, penal reformer John Howard and creator of the Methodist movement John Wesley. Great philosophers such as Voltaire, Rousseau and Locke all questioned man's inhumanity to animals, and Paine's extremely influential 'The Rights of Man' (1791) raised wider animal rights issues.
Noteworthy vegetarians of the 19th Century included romantic poet Shelley, who became vegetarian in 1812. He was fervent in his renunciation of meat consumption, convinced of the healthy advantages a meat-free diet could offer. Shelley also added a political dimension to the cause of vegetarianism by pointing out the inefficient use of resources. Meat was still at this time the habitual reserve of the privileged and Shelley cited meat production as a reason for food shortages among society's most needy
The influence of radical Christianity in the 19th Century was to give the cause of vegetarianism great impetus in Britain and the USA. Such groups were vegetarian fundamentalist Christians, with large congregations made up of the newly urbanised poor.
Representatives were to venture away from Britain and vegetarian communes were evident in the USA in the 1830s, practiced among such groups as the Seventh Day Adventists. A notable practitioner of this religion was Dr John Harvey Kellogg, preacher and inventor of the famous breakfast cereal.
By the 1880s vegetarian restaurants were popular in London, offering cheap and nutritious meals in respectable settings.
At the turn of the 20th Century, British public health was still in a poor state, with high levels of infant mortality and widespread poverty. The Vegetarian Society sent food parcels to mining communities during the General Strike of 1926 -- vegetarianism and humanitarianism have always been closely linked.
Any history of vegetarianism would be incomplete without mentioning the contribution made by Gandhi, who wrote extensively on the subject. Vegetarianism was central to his life and was informed by the ascetic life of his mother Putlibai, Jainism, his politics and, of course, Hinduism.
Because of general food shortages during WW2, the British were encouraged to 'Dig For Victory' and grow their own fruit and vegetables. A near vegetarian diet sustained the population and the nation's health was to improve vastly during the war years.
In the 1950 and '60s, the general public became increasingly aware of the truth behind intensive factory farming, introduced following the war. Vegetarianism also appealed to mid 1960s counterculture, as Eastern influences permeated Western popular culture.
During the 1980s and '90s, vegetarianism was given major impetus as the disastrous impact humanity was having upon the Earth become more apparent. Environmental issues dominated the headlines and were for a time foregrounded in politics. Vegetarianism was rightfully seen as part of the process of change and conservation of resources.
More recently, issues such as livestock imports rallied opposition from many 'ordinary' people from all over the UK. Very real health concerns were raised when it was realised that some flesh foods were infected with such diseases as 'Mad Cow Disease' (BSE), Lysteria and Salmonella. Since the 1980s, popular conscience had anyway become focussed on healthy living and there was the realisation that food was very important in this. Consequently consumption of meat has plummeted, as many millions of people in the West have turned to vegetarianism as a safe and healthy alternative.
The history of vegetarianism has consisted of an amazing diversity of characters and events. Vegetarianism has been evident in cultures all over the world and a largely vegetarian diet has sustained humanity for many thousands of years -- for moral, religious and economic reasons.
A list of few notable vegetarians:
Pythagoras
580 – 500 BC
Greek mathematician and philosopher
Plato
428 – 347 BC
Greek philosopher
Plutarch
46 – 120 BC
Greek philosopher and biographer
St. Frances of Assisi
1182 – 1226
Italian founder of Franciscan order of friars
Leonardo da Vinci
1452 – 1519
Italian painter, architect and engineer
"One day the world will look upon research upon animals as it now looks upon research on human beings."
Martin Luther
1483 – 1546
German church reformer; founder of Protestantism
Sir Isaac Newton
1642 – 1727
English physicist and mathematician
Voltaire
1694 – 1778
French writer
John Wesley
1703 – 1791
English founder of Methodism
Benjamin Franklin
1706 – 1790
US scientist and diplomat; inventor of the lightning conductor
Ralph Waldo Emerson
1803 – 1882
US philosopher, essayist and poet
Hans Christian Andersen
1805 – 1875
Danish writer of fairy tales
Charlotte Bronte
1816 – 1855
English writer; author of Jane Eyre
Henry David Thoreau
1817 – 1862
US writer; back-to-nature exponent
Susan B. Anthony
1820 – 1906
US feminist and anti-slavery campaigner
Leo Tolstoy
1828 – 1910
Russian novelist; author of War and Peace
"A human can be healthy without killing animals for food. Therefore if he eats meat he participates in taking animal life merely for the sake of his appetite."
Vincent Van Gogh
1853 – 1890
Dutch Post-Impressionist painter
George Bernard Shaw
1856 - 1950
Irish dramatist, novelist and socialist
"It is nearly fifty years since I was assured by a conclave of doctors that if I did not eat meat I should die of starvation." (He lived a healthy life and died aged 94.)
Henry Ford
1863 – 1847
US car manufacturer
Mahatma Gandhi
1869 – 1948
Indian nationalist leader and advocate of non-violence
Albert Schweitzer
1875 – 1965
French theologian, missionary and Nobel Peace Prize winner
Albert Einstein
1879 – 1955
Swiss-German scientist; author of the theories of relativity
"Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet."
H.G. Wells
1886 – 1946
English science fiction writer
What is Vegetarian? Meanings and Ideas
Vegetarianism is the practice of a diet that excludes meat, fish (including shellfish and other sea animals) and poultry. There are several variants of the diet, some of which also exclude eggs and/or some products produced from animal labour such as dairy products and honey.
Some people are vegetarians for reasons relating to animal rights, some are "picky" or health-conscious eaters, and some are vegetarians for religious reasons.
Some of the different kinds of vegetarians are lacto vegetarians, lacto-ovo vegetarians, pesca vegetarians, and vegans. None of these types of vegetarians eat meat or poultry; pesca vegetarians are the only vegetarians that eat fish.
Vegans differ from all the other types of vegetarians as they eat only plant based foods and consume no animal products of any kind. The vegan diet is the strictest vegetarian diet. Vegans must plan their diets carefully to ensure they get all of the nutrients they need each day
Those who practice veganism for ethical reasons exclude animal products from their diet as part of a larger practice of abstaining from the use of animals for any purpose (e.g. leather, fur, etc.), often out of support for animal rights.
Lacto vegetarians are vegetarians that eat dairy products however, they do not eat eggs.
Lacto-ovo vegetarians are like lacto vegetarians, except they include eggs in their diet.
Pesca vegetarians eat everything that lacto-ovo vegetarians do but they also consume fish.
HOW HEALTY IS A VEGETARIAN DIET?
All the research appears to confirm that if a well-balanced vegetarian diet is followed you will be eating healthily. And properly planned vegetarian diets have been found to satisfy the nutritional needs for all stages of life, and large-scale studies have shown vegetarianism to significantly lower risks of cancer, ischaemic heart disease, and other diseases.
1. It's usually lower in saturated fats(found mainly in meat and dairy products)
2. It's high in complex carbohydrates which provide bulk for the diet. These are the unrefined or low-refined starchy food that should form the majority of the average vegetarian diet--bread,rice,other grains, pasta, potatoes, cereals, dried beans, peas, lentils, fruit and vegetables.
There are many alternatives to obtain the protein found in flesh, such as nuts,seeds, legumes(beans and pulses) and some whole grains.These foods also contain fibre which helps the body stay healthy.
The four main food groups
1. Beans,nuts and seeds.
2. Grains.
3. Dairy produce.
4. Fruit and vegetables.
If something from each group is included in the daily diet, you will be sure of getting the nutrients you need for a healthy diet.
Other dietary practices commonly associated with vegetarianism
* Fruitarianism is a diet of only fruit, nuts, seeds, and other plant matter that can be gathered without harming the plant.
* Su vegetarianism originating in Buddhism, excludes all animal products as well as the fetid vegetables: onion, garlic, scallions, leeks, or shallots.
* Macrobiotic diet is a diet of mostly whole grains and beans. Not all macrobiotics are vegetarians, as some consume fish.
* Raw veganism is a diet of fresh and uncooked fruit, nuts, seeds, and vegetables.
* Dietary veganism: whereas vegans do not use animal products of any kind, dietary vegans restrict their veganism to their diet.
Some vegetarians also avoid products that may use animal ingredients not included in their labels or which use animal products in their manufacturing i.e. cheeses that use animal rennet, 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. Vegetarians who eat eggs sometimes prefer free-range eggs (as opposed to battery farmed eggs) on moral grounds.
Some people are vegetarians for reasons relating to animal rights, some are "picky" or health-conscious eaters, and some are vegetarians for religious reasons.
Some of the different kinds of vegetarians are lacto vegetarians, lacto-ovo vegetarians, pesca vegetarians, and vegans. None of these types of vegetarians eat meat or poultry; pesca vegetarians are the only vegetarians that eat fish.
Vegans differ from all the other types of vegetarians as they eat only plant based foods and consume no animal products of any kind. The vegan diet is the strictest vegetarian diet. Vegans must plan their diets carefully to ensure they get all of the nutrients they need each day
Those who practice veganism for ethical reasons exclude animal products from their diet as part of a larger practice of abstaining from the use of animals for any purpose (e.g. leather, fur, etc.), often out of support for animal rights.
Lacto vegetarians are vegetarians that eat dairy products however, they do not eat eggs.
Lacto-ovo vegetarians are like lacto vegetarians, except they include eggs in their diet.
Pesca vegetarians eat everything that lacto-ovo vegetarians do but they also consume fish.
HOW HEALTY IS A VEGETARIAN DIET?
All the research appears to confirm that if a well-balanced vegetarian diet is followed you will be eating healthily. And properly planned vegetarian diets have been found to satisfy the nutritional needs for all stages of life, and large-scale studies have shown vegetarianism to significantly lower risks of cancer, ischaemic heart disease, and other diseases.
1. It's usually lower in saturated fats(found mainly in meat and dairy products)
2. It's high in complex carbohydrates which provide bulk for the diet. These are the unrefined or low-refined starchy food that should form the majority of the average vegetarian diet--bread,rice,other grains, pasta, potatoes, cereals, dried beans, peas, lentils, fruit and vegetables.
There are many alternatives to obtain the protein found in flesh, such as nuts,seeds, legumes(beans and pulses) and some whole grains.These foods also contain fibre which helps the body stay healthy.
The four main food groups
1. Beans,nuts and seeds.
2. Grains.
3. Dairy produce.
4. Fruit and vegetables.
If something from each group is included in the daily diet, you will be sure of getting the nutrients you need for a healthy diet.
Other dietary practices commonly associated with vegetarianism
* Fruitarianism is a diet of only fruit, nuts, seeds, and other plant matter that can be gathered without harming the plant.
* Su vegetarianism originating in Buddhism, excludes all animal products as well as the fetid vegetables: onion, garlic, scallions, leeks, or shallots.
* Macrobiotic diet is a diet of mostly whole grains and beans. Not all macrobiotics are vegetarians, as some consume fish.
* Raw veganism is a diet of fresh and uncooked fruit, nuts, seeds, and vegetables.
* Dietary veganism: whereas vegans do not use animal products of any kind, dietary vegans restrict their veganism to their diet.
Some vegetarians also avoid products that may use animal ingredients not included in their labels or which use animal products in their manufacturing i.e. cheeses that use animal rennet, 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. Vegetarians who eat eggs sometimes prefer free-range eggs (as opposed to battery farmed eggs) on moral grounds.
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