You’re vegan but you still wear leather too? Yes, I do! And a lot of other vegans do as well. Why? Simply because I’m not vegan for animals, I’m vegan for me. Don’t come for me PETA! But hey, it’s true. We’ve all come across that die-hard vegan who will let you know every fact there is known to man about why they don’t eat certain things.
So, what’s got people so curious yet confused about this whole vegan thing? There’s just way too many other versions of it! That's not a bad thing--at all! It does, however, make it pretty easy to be confused with the many different types of dietary practices.
Well, here's a breakdown of the differences between vegan, variations of vegetarian, and fruitarian:
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Vegan
Practicing a vegan diet excludes all meat, eggs, and dairy products, and usually any other food produced by animals, such as honey. However, strict vegan practices also avoid products that may seeminnocent, such as refined sugar (white table sugar), because animal bones are used to process it.
Where things get a bit complicated is when some vegans also refuse to use other animal products, such as leather, silk, wool, feathers, and etc. For example, did you know that some lotions contain lanolin, which comes from wool? If you are a strict vegan, you have to be on your p’s and q’s because the ingredients can be very subtle.
Vegetarian
Many are not aware but there are over six types of variations of vegetarianism. Today, about five percent of the current U.S. population considers themselves to be vegetarian. A traditional vegetarian is someone who doesn’t eat meat of any kind, including beef, pork, chicken, turkey, and seafood.
However, they still eat dairy, eggs and other produce made from meat sources like milk, refined sugar and cheese. Yet still, there are many people who don’t quite match this description but still refer to themselves to this label. These variations include…
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Pollotarian
Here, you'd be following a vegetarian diet for the most part but can also indulge in an occasional form of lean turkey, chicken or poultry. In reality, birds are meat, so this isn’t really a form of vegetarianism, but lots of people who call themselves vegetarians do eat a bit of chicken every so often.
Pescatarian
Same goes for pescatarians, they follow a mostly vegetarian diet but also eat seafood and fish. In thought, some don't consider aquatic creatures the same as other land animals. Dietary wise, fish is generally a much healthier choice than pork or beef.
Other people choose to eat fish because it doesn’t affect land use as much as raising livestock does. However, the overharvesting of farmed fish is gradually polluting our seas and lakes which is a significant environmental concern.
Lacto-Ovo-Vegetarian
This person eats no meat, including seafood, but does eat dairy products and eggs. Most lacto-ovo-vegetarians follow this basic rule: if you have to kill the animal to get the product, then don’t eat it. Therefore, milk is okay, but gelatin, which is made from the skin, bones, and connective tissues of animals such as domesticated cattle, chicken, pigs, and fish is not. Watch out because it’s highly used in camera film and marshmallows! Weird, but true.
Lacto-Vegetarian
A lacto-vegetarian eats no meat or eggs but does eat dairy products. Dairy products include cows’ milk and any food you can make from cows’ milk, such as ice cream, yogurt, cheese, cottage cheese, sour cream, butter, and so on. Other animal products, such as goat cheese, are also included.
Ovo-Vegetarian
This diet allows no meat and no dairy products but doesn’t include eggs. Although not common, they’re also referred to as eggetarians.
Fruitarian
Last but certainly not least, a fruitarian is a person who eats primarily fruits but may also occasionally include raw vegetables, beans, nuts, and seeds. Fruitarianism is a subset of dietary veganism and is usually practiced for different reasons, including ethical, religious, environmental, cultural, economic, and health.
Tia Muhammad, BS, is an award-winning freelance content & media creative, copywriter, blogger, digital designer, and marketing consultant. She owns the boutique content and digital media company, jackieGLDN|studio.
