There’s a common misunderstanding about vegans and vegetarians, especially in terms of what they eat, how it’s “done,” and what’s the difference. Let Philippine Primer help you learn more about the lifestyle of being a vegan and vegetarian, and what are their essential sources of food. Who knows, you might want to be one too?
Vegetarians
A vegetarian is someone who doesn’t eat meat. They consume food that comes from plants, like grains, fruits, vegetables, and nuts. Some stricter vegetarians avoid more than just meat. They also avoid animal products, which are non-meat foods that come from animals. Some examples would be milk (from cows) and eggs (from chickens).
There are five types of vegetarians, in which some cases differs from the others.
Lacto Vegetarian – Doesn’t eat red or white meat, fish, fowl, or eggs, though they do eat dairy products such as cheese, milk, and yogurt.
Ovo Vegetarian – Similar to Lacto Vegetarian, only they consume egg products instead of dairy.
Lacto-ovo vegetarian – A mix of both, Lacto-ovo vegetarians eat dairy products and egg products. This is the most typical type of vegetarian.
Flexitarian – A plant-based diet, although not exactly a “vegetarian” diet; Flexitarian focus on plants rather than meat.
Pescatarian (Pescetarian) – While technically not a type of vegetarian, they mostly rely on fish and seafood for their protein intake. They follow the “semi-vegetarian” or “flexitarian” diet.
Pollotarian – Also a “semi-vegetarian” diet, Pollotarians do not consume red meat or fish and seafood. They eat chicken or birds such as turkey, duck, and other poultry.
Vegan
As simple as it is, vegans are someone who does not eat or use animal products. They withdraw and abstain all animal products, even to their milk, meat, body parts, everything. It is much harder to find alternatives for vegans in the Metro, as not all restaurant offers a vegan menu. Their diet is strict and mostly they rely on vegetables or fruit. Vegans do not use animal products such as silk, leather, and wool as well.
There are also kinds of vegans, and also depending on their diets.
Ethical Vegan: An ethical vegan abstains from everything that uses animal products. They believe eating and using such products are barbaric and unjust. These are the most common type of vegan in the world.
Plant-Based: They follow a strict plant-based diet for health reasons. On some occasions, they may consume honey or fish oil, and may also wear leather or fur, or still use products that contain animal by-products.
Raw-Vegan: Done mostly for health reasons, a raw vegan is someone who does not eat any animal by-products as well as anything cooked above 115 degrees Fahrenheit (46 degrees Celsius). They live this way because they believe any food cooked at or above this temperature have lost their enzymes and nutrients.
Junk Food Vegan: From what they’re called, they literally consume common junk food with the idea that these aren’t made by harming animals and the like. They may also take in alcohol if they wish.
