Vegan and vegetarian

A vegetarian is a person who consumes primarily plants and their products, such as fruits, roots and seeds, while a vegan is a vegetarian who also does not use animal products of any kind, this includes honey, skins and fabrics, such as wool and silk.

Recently there has been an increased interest in adhering to vegetarian diets and the vegan lifestyle, mainly for health reasons and in favor of the protection of animal rights.

	Vegetarian	Vegan
Definition	Person who follows a vegetarian diet	Person who follows the philosophy of veganism
Types	Strict vegetarian Ovolacteovegetarian Lactovegetarian Ovovegetarian Flexitarian Vegan	Strict vegan Raw vegan Frugivorism
Allowed foods	Vegetables: raw, cooked, frozen, fermented Fruits: raw, juices Seeds (dried, sprouted) Vegetable oils Mushrooms Honey Milk: cheese, butter, yogurt, whey (in lacto-vegetarians) Eggs (in ovo-vegetarians) Roots: tubers, bulbs. Grain	Vegetables: raw, cooked, frozen, fermented Fruits: raw, juices Seeds (dried, sprouted) Vegetable oils Mushrooms Milk substitutes: soy milk, almond milk
Advantage	Reduction in: blood cholesterol blood glucose risk of chronic diseases	Reduction in: obesity high blood pressure diabetes blood cholesterol
Disadvantages	Deficiency of: b12 vitamin	Deficiency of: b12 vitamin Omega-3 fatty acids Calcium Iodine
Famous characters	Pythagoras, Plato, Leonardo da Vinci, Mahatma Gandhi, Albert Einstein	Bhuda, Steve Jobs.

What is a vegetarian?

Vegetarians do not eat meat, fish or poultry, in general, they do not eat dead animals. Vegetarianism is diet or nutrition based primarily on the consumption of foods of plant origin. Some vegetarians consume products obtained from live animals, such as milk and its derivatives and eggs.

The reasons for being a vegetarian are diverse:

• For healthSome people stop consuming meats more for a health need than for a choice. A notable example is that of Albert Einstein, who suffered from intestinal problems that were aggravated by the consumption of meat.
• By religion: Buddhists, Hindus and Adventists are vegetarians by religious belief.
• By culture: some ancestral and indigenous cultures base their diet only on plants.
• For ethics: Some people consider that eating animals is a reprehensible act.
• For the environment: the massive production of animals for human consumption represents a huge ecological footprint; If animals are not consumed indirectly, it is believed that the agricultural industry is being affected.

The Greek mathematician Pythagoras (569-475 BC) is considered the father of ethical vegetarianism. Currently there are numerous scientific and epidemiological studies showing the health benefits of vegetarian diets.

The only country where a third of the population is vegetarian is India, with the rest of the countries being a very low percentage.

Vegetarian types

• Strict vegetarian: are those who do not consume animal products, which includes milk and eggs.
• Nutritional vegetarian: people who do not eat meat for health reasons, such as intestinal problems,
• Ovolatile-vegetarian: they are vegetarians who in addition to vegetable products consume eggs and milk.
• Lacto-vegetarianism- This group skips eggs but consumes dairy products, such as cheese, butter, and whey.
• Ovovegetarian: these vegetarians do not consume dairy products but they do include eggs.
• Flexitarian: This group is not really vegetarian as it includes some types of meat in its diet. Some consume fish (pescatarian), others only consume poultry.
• Vegan: these vegetarians follow a strict plant-based diet, in addition to avoiding the use of any product that involves the exploitation of animals.

What are vegans?

A vegan or vegan He is a vegetarian who, in addition to not consuming animal products, does not use animal products such as eggs, dairy products, gelatin, honey, leather, silk, wool, suede, cosmetics and soaps made with animal products. Thus, any product that is related to the exploitation of any animal species is rejected by vegans..

The veganism It is a lifestyle that seeks to reduce and eradicate animal abuse from an ethical, environmental and social point of view. Therefore, vegans also do not use any product that has been tested on animals, such as some cosmetics..

Types of veganism

• Strict vegan: they are vegans who do not eat meat from any animal or use them in their day-to-day life.
• Frugivorism: they are a type of vegans who only consume fruits, in order to avoid the mistreatment or destruction of plants.
• Raw vegan: It is the vegan who eats raw, uncooked and unprocessed vegetables. They base their choice on the fact that the processing of vegetables causes the loss of nutrients.

References

Leitzmann, C. (2014). Vegetarian nutrition: past, present, future. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 100 Suppl 1: 496S-502S. doi: 10.3945 / ajcn.113.071365