Vegetarian and Vegan? Which is better and Why?

This is probably one of the most common questions nowadays, What's the difference between being a vegetarian and vegan?  Both are often misunderstood and thought to be the same.

Both vegetarian and vegan are similar but they are some differences between them. Here's why:

Differences

Vegetarian

Vegetarian diet is when a person doesn't consume any meat, poultry, game, fish, shellfish or by-products of animal slaughter.

Most vegetarians only consume vegetables and fruits, this includes all sort of beans, nuts, grains, and seeds. Consumption of eggs, milk, and other dairy products depends of what type of vegetarian diet one follows. The most common types of vegetarian diets are:

1. Lacto-ovo vegetarians: Vegetarians who avoid all animal flesh, but do consume dairy and egg products.
2. Lacto vegetarians: Vegetarians who avoid animal flesh and eggs, but do consume dairy products.
3. Ovo vegetarians: Vegetarians who avoid all animal products except eggs.
4. Demi-Vegetarian: Vegetarian who avoid meat, but do consume fish, eggs, cheese and milk-based products.
5. Semi-Vegetarian (flexitarian diet): This can be considered to be a person who is reducing or decreasing his or her consumption of meat, but still eats meat when they feel like it.

Some people becomes vegetarian due to religion such as buddhism and hinduism. This is because it's a part of their culture to do so. Chinese culture includes the first and second day of Chinese new year, people who follow this will be Lacto-Ovo vegetarians for two days.

Vegan

Vegan can sometimes be called as a type of vegetarian but most types of vegetarians still consume eggs, onions, milk, and other dairy products. For a vegan, that's a big no, as vegans only consume pure vegetables and fruits. Vegan does not consume any form of food that originates from animals.

Most people live their life by following this diet, is mostly due to the pursuing of weight loss or mental trauma ( animal slaughter). 

There are two types of vegan:

1. Raw Vegan: A raw vegan is a person who combines the concepts of veganism and raw foodism, which means they exclude all food and products of animal origin from their diet, as well as food cooked at a temperature above 48 °C (118 °F).
2. Paleo Vegan:  A Paleo diet is based on the types of foods presumed to have been eaten by our Paleolithic ancestors. Those who follows this, eat a diet consisting mainly of meat, fish, vegetables and fruit, and excluding dairy, grains and processed food. So a paleo vegan is basically a vegan who doesn’t eat processed foods.

Similarities

Well we can conclude that both vegetarian and vegan are very much alike as both in general does not consume any form of meat (excluding those specific types). Yet those who becomes vegetarian or vegan, tend to believe that they will live longer than those who consume meat. Research state that those vegetarians are actually helping the planet to become healthier, for themselves and everyone around them. This is because it decreases the rate of using equipment from factories and slaughter to produce process meats such as nuggets, sausages, and canned food.

In conclusion, those who like to try this new diet out, please do so as its new experience, recommended for trial a day until a week perhaps. For those who like to challenge themselves, they are welcome to try out a vegan diet as its very difficult for some.

Interested in other diets? Check out our other post on Ways People Are Changing Their Diet To A Healthier One| https://hlthylf.blogspot.com/2018/10/ways-people-are-changing-their-diet-to.html

Links:

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/vegan-vs-vegetarian#section1

https://www.veganmotivation.com/vegan-vs-vegetarian/