Who is a vegetarian?

A vegetarian diet involves avoiding eating meat, fish and poultry, and people who follow this diet are called vegetarians. Vegetarian individuals often adopt this form of diet for religious or personal reasons as well as ethical issues such as animal rights.

Some vegetarians adopt and follow this diet mostly for sustainability issues. For example, there are millions of vegetarians who decide to become vegetarians for environmental reasons because livestock production increases greenhouse gas emissions, contributes to climate change, and requires large amounts of water, energy and natural resources.

There are several forms of vegetarianism, each differing in their limitations.

The most common types are:

• Lacto-ovo-vegetarian diet: It does not consume meat, fish and poultry, but eggs and dairy products are consumed.
• Lacto-vegetarian diet: Meat, fish, poultry and eggs are not consumed but allow dairy products.
• Ovo-vegetarian diet: Meat, fish, poultry, and dairy products are not consumed but allow eggs.
• Pesketarien diet: Meat and poultry are not consumed, but allow fish and sometimes eggs and dairy products.
• Vegan diet: Meat, fish, poultry, eggs and dairy products as well as other animal-derived products such as honey and anything containing animal by-ingredients are not consumed.
• Flexible vegetarian diet: It is a mostly vegetarian diet that includes occasional meat, fish, or poultry.

According to some studies, vegetarians who follow their diets in a balanced way tend to get a few more essential nutrients than other people, and at the same time vegetarianism leads to weight loss, reduced cancer risk, better blood sugar, and better heart health.