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Types of Vegetarians

My friend, Ann, was baffled when she found out some vegetarians do eat eggs. She exclaimed, "But my vegetarian friend, Scott, doesn't take eggs."

Let me take this opportunity to explain if vegetarians take eggs or not.

In general, people go vegetarian because they don't want to hurt animals. When animals get slaughtered for food, that's not a vegetarian way of life. That's the mutual acceptance among us who advocate meatless diets.

But animal by-products like milk and infertile eggs create controversy.

Vegetarians who consume dairy products and eggs consider them vegetarian since production of dairy products and eggs do not cause harm or even death to animals. They also believe these foods provide rich nutrients that benefit human health.

As demand for those by-products grows, farmers begin to resort to unscrupulous means to feed the demand, such as mixing hormonal chemical in the animals' food or directly inject the chemicals into the animals to make sure they grow fast and big enough to produce more milk or hatch more eggs.

Like dairy farming, honey represents the product of exploitation on bees. In the olden days, we gathered honey from wild hives. Now, we develop commercial beekeeping by forcing bees to build their honeycombs on man-made racks of movable trays.

Instead of leaving honey as winter food for the bees, beekeepers steal their honey for profit and feed sugar syrup to bees as replacements.

Furthermore, beekeepers implement all kinds of methods for the sole purpose of enslaving the bees.

Vegetarians disapprove any kind of cruelty inflicted on animals, so naturally they stop eating animal by-products.

For me, I've long quit consuming dairy milk and am now cutting down on egg and honey consumption. Am I still a vegetarian? Yes, I'm still a vegetarian - more specifically, a lacto ovo vegetarian. But I'm working my way towards a 100% vegan lifestyle, which I strongly believe will bring me more benefits physically, mentally and spiritually.

As you can see, most people perceive vegetarians as people who do not consume animal meat or animal products.

But vegetarians can be categorized by the choices they made, that is, the extent to which they quit consuming animals or animal products. To give you a better idea, let's go through the different types of vegetarian and their characteristics.

8 Types of Vegetarians

If you plan going vegetarian, they serve as a guide to help you think about what you would like to achieve in the short and long run.

1. Pescetarian

   Avoid: Red meat, poultry.

   Include: Fish, eggs, vegetarian cheese, milk-based products.

2. Demi-Vegetarian / Semi-Vegetarian

   Avoid: Most meat.

   Include: Fish, eggs, vegetarian cheese, milk-based products.

   The difference between pescetarian and demi-vegetarian is the amount of meat consumption. As a beginner, it's easier to adjust your diet by slowly phasing out meat and eating mostly fish. Once you feel it's time to stop eating fish, you're ready to advance to the next level of vegetarianism.

3. Lacto Ovo Vegetarian

   Avoid: Meat, Fish, poultry, products containing animal-based ingredients (gelatine, rennet, etc), non-food products made from animals (leather, fur, wool).

   Include: Eggs, egg-based products (cakes), milk, milk-based products (yogurt, vegetarian cheese and ice creams).

   Although eggs and dairy products are good sources of proteins, vitamins and minerals, they nevertheless are also high in cholesterol and saturated fat.

   Adopting this diet may not benefit some vegetarians who're already suffering from high cholesterol levels. Therefore, I suggest that you use eggs and low-fat dairy products sparingly to supplement a diet rich in whole grains, fruits, vegetables and legumes.

4. Lacto Vegetarian

   Avoid: Meat, Fish, poultry, eggs, ice cream, pastry.

   Include: Dairy products, milk, ice cream (but egg-less), yoghurt and vegetarian cheese.

   Lacto vegetarians avoid eggs but consume dairy products. The main reason is the potential risk of killing unborn / unhatched animal since half of the time we do not know if the store-bought eggs are infertile or not.

   Consuming dairy products does not involve killing animals. When managed properly the calves are not denied an adequate supply of their mother's milk, and the human can still consume the excess milk for essential nutrients and vitamins.

5. Macrobiotics

   Avoid: Meat, eggs, dairy products, some vegetables like potato, pepper, eggplant, refined sugar, tropical fruits.

   This diet focuses on a more traditional way of living and eating with nature, and the environment we live in, and living naturally in harmony with all things around us.

   It studies the Chinese principle of Yin and Yang in foods and how we can maintain the balance in our body systems by adequately consuming such foods.

   Choosing from a variety of grains, beans or bean products and assorted seasonal vegetables from land and sea are some of the key ingredients that comprise this diet.

   Some common Asian foods found in this diet are miso soup, daikon and lotus, seaweed, kelp and arame.

6. Vegan

   Avoid: Fish, meat, poultry, eggs, dairy products, honey, white granulated sugar, margarine, products that contain any of the dairy products, non-food products made from animals (leather, fur, wool).

   Among all vegetarians, vegan is the most careful in choosing what to eat and wear so as to minimize the harm that could have done to animals.

   • Vegans do not eat honey as bees may be killed while harvesting it.

   • They also do not take margarine which contains casein, a milk product.

   • They avoid taking white granulated sugar because it's often processed by using char derived from animal bones to whiten the sugar.

   • They also ensure the cosmetics they used are not tested on animals.

7. Raw or Living Food diet (Vegetarian)

   Avoid: Cooking fruits and vegetarians, prefer eating them raw.

   Include: Uncooked fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and sprouted grains, seaweeds, etc.

   Raw vegans / vegetarians believe that prehistoric humans were largely vegetarians, and thus human digestive systems are designed for raw vegetarianism.

   They also believe raw food prevents and / or heals many illnesses and chronic diseases such as cancer, diabetes, migraine, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and many more. It's an effective way to lose that extra pounds which give them a healthy, fit body and youthful appearance.

   That's because raw food supplies more enzymes to the body and keep the acid-alkaline balance in check. When we chew raw food, enzymes from raw food are released in the mouth which actually help the digestion of that same food. This will free the body's enzymes to work on other metabolic processes.

   What are enzymes? Why are they important to us?

   We need enzymes to help break down food into nutrients so that our body can absorb those nutrients to help us talk, walk, eat, and breathe, etc.

   Although our body continues to produce natural enzymes, we could well be using up the enzymes reserve faster than we can produce them.

   It gets worse as we age.

   If we don't replenish this natural source by eating raw food and we continue to eat cooked foods, then we'll eventually begin to deplete our enzyme supply.

   The result: we become more vulnerable to aging, disease and premature death.

   You've probably heard of how cooking destroys the nutrients in food. What you may not know is that heat degrades or destroys enzymes in foods, making it harder for the body to break up and digest the foods we eat.

   These foods then get stored in our body as toxins, leading to diseases and illness.

   Cooking also changes the molecular structure of the food and renders it more acidic. Our typical diet already consist too much acid forming foods - eggs, white sugars, flour products, pasta, breads, cooked beans and nuts, soda, coffee, alcohol, tobacco, chemical additives, preservatives, drugs.

   Cooking the fruits and vegetables only adds to the list.

   When we lose the acid-alkaline balance in our body, our organs have to work doubly hard to maintain the balance. This is detrimental to our heath in the long run.

   As a result, we could suffer from illness such as arthritis, depression, headaches, lethargy and ultimately cancer diseases.

   But some debates cooking on the other hand makes food easier to digest, especially for elderly and kids.

8. Fruitarian

   Avoid: all living things that are killed for food.

   Include: 75% raw fruits by weight, the remaining foods vegan and raw.

   As its name suggests, fruitarians eat fruits only. Eating fruits involves neither killing nor maiming.

   Fruitarians believe they're working with the trees and plants in acts of mutual cooperation and benefit. It is part of the nature system meant to be.

   Here's how it works: Trees and plants need to spread their seeds by producing fruits. When the fruits ripen, they turn into attractive colors with all the fiber and nutrients needed by us. The fruit trees now offer us the ripened fruits. We in turn serve the fruit trees by spreading and implanting the seeds which are enclosed within the fruits.

   Fruitarians believe raw fruit diet will free them from all undesirable effects of eating dead animals. It's a fact that dead animals contain too much toxins. The toxins will transfer to your systems when you eat them.

   Raw fruits actually give you strength and protection to enjoy longer life with a more joyful and healthy body.

   If they can help it, fruitarians prefer to eat only raw fruits grown locally. By doing so, they're saving the environment from pollutants as shipping, refrigerating, pesticides treatments and further processing of fruits are causing some level of violence to the environment.

   Fruitarians include root vegetables like tomatoes, cucumber, squash and many other plant fruits in their diets.

What to Avoid?

If you're going to be the type of vegetarian who will not touch any meat-based ingredients, you need to exercise precaution when choosing what to eat.

Especially when you buy processed foods, be sure to read their labels for any animal products ingredients.

Here are some common but often overlooked animal-derived ingredients, their customary sources, their function in processed foods, and where they most frequently are used. (You can know more from Raising Vegetarian Children)

If you have questions about a specific product or ingredient source, you may want to contact the manufacturer directly.

• Why Become Vegetarian
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• How to Get Enough Nutrient from Vegetarian Diet
• How to Become Vegetarian
• After Becoming Vegetarian

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