What Should You Choose? Vegetarian Diet Or Vegan Diet

Most of the people still don’t know the difference between a vegetarian diet and a vegan diet. They often confuse vegan diet with a vegetarian diet. Are you one of them? Don’t worry. You won’t be anymore.

There are many ‘levels’ of vegetarianism, or you can say, types of vegetarian. Starting right from the most restrictive and working our way down, the types of vegetarians are as follows:

• Vegan: Somebody who is vegan never consumes any dairy products and animal products. So vegans, of course, do not have white or red meat, fish or fowl. They also do not eat eggs, and any product has
• Lacto Vegetarian: Lacto vegetarians are the one who does not consume any meat, fish, and eggs. But, they do intake dairy products such as milk, cheese, and yogurt.
• Ovo Vegetarian: Ovo vegetarians are the ‘eggetarians.’ They don’t eat animal or dairy products but do eat egg products.
• Lacto-Ovo Vegetarian: This is the most common type of vegetarian. They consume both dairy and egg products.
• Proletarian: This ‘semi-vegetarian’ diet restricts the meat consumption to chickens, turkeys, and ducks. They do not consume seafood, fish or red meat.
• Pescatarian: Technically, this isn’t a type of vegetarian. However, pescatarians restrict their meat intake to seafood and fish only.
• Flexitarian: As the name suggests, it’s a plant-based diet with a little flexibility of eating meat occasionally. These people try to take the lowest amount of meat possible.

Now, you must know the difference between a vegan and a vegetarian. Veganism is in talks for a long time, but it has received tremendous attention in past years.

In truth, online researchers for the word ‘vegan’ have gone up by 250% in the last decade. In earlier years, so many celebrities have accepted veganism, and more vegan products are made available in the stores.

Here, in this article, we will tell you which diet should you choose. We’ll go with the vegan diet because, while a vegetarian diet is mere a diet, a vegan diet is more of a way of living and philosophy.

The article briefs you about what vegan means, Vegans’ diet and reasons behind becoming a vegan.

What does Vegan mean?

The word “vegan” was defined by a folk of vegetarians who left the Leicester Vegetarianism to launch Veganism.

This was the group who decided not to eat dairy products, eggs or the products coming from animal origin. They also chose not to eat meat, unlike other vegetarians.

The word Vegan is the combination of starting and ending alphabets of the term vegetarian. In the year 1979, Veganism was officially accepted by the society.

Currently, being a vegan is a lifestyle that eliminates taking advantage of and brutality to animals in possible amount.

What do Vegans Eat?

To your surprise, the Vegan diet is ranked 19^th among the world’s best diets. So many famous international celebrities like Bill Clinton, ArianaGrande, Beyonce, and Jay-Z have gone vegan.

A vegan diet is mainly a plant-based diet which includes consumption of vegetables, whole grains, fruits, and nuts.

Vegans don’t eat foods that are of animal origin. It eliminates the consumption of eggs and dairy products as well.

Healthy Vegan Daily Diet Chart

You must be consuming all the nutrients your body will need from having a balanced and proper vegan diet. For a wholesome vegan diet:

• Drink plenty of fluids. (6 – 8 glasses recommended)
• Use dairy alternatives such as soy drinks or yogurts. You can also use almond milk as a dairy alternative. And guess what, you can make almond milk at your home too.
• Consume starchy carbs such as sweet potatoes, brown rice, quinoa, oatmeal,
• Eat wholegrain when possible.
• Consume protein as much as possible. You can eat beans, pulses asaprotein
• Swap saturated oils and spreads with the unsaturated ones, and have it in very little amount. For instance, replace your ghee, butter with olive oil and sunflower oil.
• Choose lower-fat and lower-sugar options.
• Eat at least five portions of different fruits and vegetables daily.

As vegans don’t eat animal or dairy products, there can be a deficiency of minerals. Minerals are as important as vitamins. Minerals help our body to grow and keeping healthy.

Functions of the minerals in the body are to build strong bones and teeth, grow hair, and maintain a normal heartbeat, nerve function, and metabolic processes. Some minerals are responsible for producing hormones.

To avoid mineral deficiency, you can have:

• Wholewheat bread
• Cashew nuts
• Garlic, onion
• Carrots

For your knowledge, apart from being rich in minerals, there are many other benefits of carrots. Carrots contain a high amount of vitamin A, minerals and antioxidants. They are beneficial for the organs like eyes, skin, metabolism system and teeth.

Not eating animal and dairy products can cause the reduction of vitamin B12 in the body. So it’s important to take B12 supplements:

• Cereals
• Nutritional yeasts
• Plant-based milks

Isn’t this good information, right? Now, the question arises why you should be a vegan? Here we tell you why.

Why do People Choose to Eat This Way?

Vegans choose to avoid consuming animal products for one or more of the following reasons:

1. Ethical Reasons: Vegans have a strong belief that all the animals have a right to living and freedom. That’s why they end up opposing consumption of meat, drinking their milk or wearing their skin, especially when the alternatives are available.
2. Health: Some people choose to become a vegan for its beneficial health effects. They are interestedbecause plant-based diet reduces heart risks, diabetes mellitus, premature death, and cancer. It also helps people lose weight, which in today’s world is themain
3. Environment: People choose to stay away from products made of animals due to environmental effects on animal agriculture. Animal husbandry can cause deforestation as forestsare turned down into areas for growing animal food.

This article helped you to distinguish between a vegan diet and a vegetarian diet, didn’t it? So, are you guys ready to be a vegan?