Vegetarianism: Encyclopedia II - Vegetarianism - Terminology and varieties of vegetarianism

Vegetarianism - Terminology and varieties of vegetarianism

Different practices of vegetarianism include:

• Lacto vegetarianism — Lacto vegetarians do not eat meat or eggs but do consume dairy products. Most vegetarians in India and those in the classical Mediterranean lands, such as Pythagoreans, are or were lacto vegetarian.

• Lacto-ovo vegetarianism — Lacto-ovo vegetarians do not eat meat but do consume dairy products and eggs. This is currently the most common variety in the Western world.

• Ovo vegetarianism — Ovo vegetarians do not eat meat or dairy products but do eat eggs.

• Veganism — Those who avoid eating any animal products, including eggs, milk, cheese, and sometimes honey, are known as dietary vegans. Those who avoid eating or using animal products, such as leather and some cosmetics, are called vegans.

The following are less common practices of vegetarianism:

• Raw food diet involves food, usually vegan, which is not heated above 46.7°C (116°F) ; it may be warmed slightly or raw, but never cooked. Raw foodists argue that cooking destroys enzymes and/or portions of each nutrient. However, some raw foodists believe certain foods become more bio-available when warmed slightly as the process softens them, which more than negates the destruction of nutrients and enzymes. Other raw foodists, called "living foodists", activate the enzymes through soaking the food in water a while before consumption. Some spiritual raw foodists are also fruitarians, and many eat only organic foods.

• Macrobiotic diet involves a diet consisting mostly of whole grains and beans and is usually spiritually based, like fruitarianism.

• Natural Hygiene, in its classic form, involves a diet principally of raw vegan foods.

• Fruitarianism involves a diet of only fruit, nuts, seeds, and other plant matter that can be gathered without harming the plant. Some fruitarians eat only plant matter that has already fallen off the plant. This typically arises out of a holistic philosophy. Thus, a fruitarian will eat beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, pumpkins, and the like, but will refuse to eat potatoes or spinach. It is disputed whether it is possible to avoid malnutrition with a fruitarian diet, which is rarer than other types of vegetarian or vegan diet.

The following similarly named diets are not considered full vegetarianism:

• Semi-vegetarianism — Some people choose to avoid certain types of meat for many of the same reasons that others choose vegetarianism: health, ethical beliefs, etc. For example, some people will not eat "red meat" (mammal meat – beef, lamb, pork, etc.) while still consuming poultry and seafood. It may also be used as an interim diet by individuals who are on a path to becoming fully vegetarian.

• Flexitarianism — Flexitarians adhere to a diet that is mostly vegetarian but occasionally consume meat. Some, for instance, may regard the suffering of animals in factory farm conditions as their sole reason for avoiding meat or meat-based foods and will eat meat or meat products from animals raised under more humane conditions or hunted in the wild.

• Freeganism — Freegans practice a lifestyle based on concerns about the exploitation of animals, the earth, and human beings in the production of consumer goods. Many tend towards veganism, but this is not an inherent practice. Those that eat meat generally support the arguments for vegetarianism, but as freeganism is concerned about waste, freegans prefer to make use of discarded commodities than to allow them to go to waste and consume landfill space. [9]

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Terminology and varieties of vegetarianism", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki