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The increasing popular trend in health and lifestyle right now is going vegan, taking a step further than just being vegetarian (though a lot may be getting it wrong) I want to share some of the information I have learnt while learning healthier lifestyle options PS: I am by no means an expert!
Over this year, I have been changing and improving my lifestyle choices aiming for a healthier lifestyle particularly in what I eat! Though I am not full vegan, even vegetarian, I am incorporating a lot of these principals in my day to day life and quite frankly love it!
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My quest for information on veganism started when I was looking into healthier, less meaty recipes (I am not a big meat eater), I'd call myself a mix between a "pescetarian" (doesn't eat all meat and animal flesh except fish) and "flexitarian" (eats mainly vegetarian but occasionally eats meat), more on those later! Anyways in my search to understand what I put in my body, I got drawn into more vegan & vegetarian lifestyles!
As I learnt more, I realized do people really understand the difference between veganism and vegetarianism! I found out that I, just like many others, mix up the two lifestyles! So I'd like to share some of my basic, beginner friendly information I came across.
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First of all, being a VEGETARIAN is NOT THE SAME AS being a VEGAN! Most common mistake. In simple terms, a vegetarian doesn't at meat (poultry, fish, beef, pork, insects or any animal flesh) and sometimes animal products: some can eat eggs and milk! More on that later!
A vegan does not eat any meat, eggs or dairy or processed foods containing any animal derived ingredients like sugars, wines, in some cases honey etc! That is the majority difference between vegans and vegetarians. Being vegan also goes past what you eat, it also entails being more cautious about the earth and your surroundings, not using any personal or household items that are tested on animals and other animal derived non-food products like leather, wool, fur etc! In general more environmentally sensitive! Also a vegan can practice a raw food/ vegan diet where unprocessed vegan foods are not heated beyond 46 degrees Celsius to preserve nutritional value.!
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Other than being a vegan, there are other derivations of vegetarianism that you can incorporate! Cue in "The pescetarian/ pescatarian", here you do not eat all meat and animal flesh but can eat fish! This is my personal favorite because I am not a huge meat eater any more (mainly red meat)!
And the simplest derivative to me is "The flexitarian", now this person basically eats like a vegetarian but occasionally eats meat! This is not a vegetarian but more of a person who likes to eat vegetarian food but can have the occasional meat as a personal choice, health choice (for example giving up red meat) also for environmental reasons: some people prefer organic only! I practice this in terms of sometimes I love my turkey slices and crave them lol!
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| Picture from Healthy Dining Finder |
Before I conclude this, I'd also like to bring other terms to light; "The lacto- vegetarian" a vegetarian who can eat dairy but not eggs, "The ovo-vegetarian" a vegetarian who eats eggs but not dairy products!
Therefore when you put these two together, you get "The lacto-ovo vegetarian", this is what many vegetarians are, those who don't eat meat but eat eggs and dairy!
Well, I hope you enjoyed the little beginner-friendly guide to vegetarianism and veganism, hopefully you grasp interest in these lifestyles and can hopefully incorporate some of these for healthier lifestyles!
XOX!!!
