Being Vegetarian, What Does that Mean to You?

When someone tells you they are a vegetarian, most folks look strangely at them because they think all they eat is vegetables. While it is true that all of them share a diet that includes vegetables, but it also include grains, seeds. nuts and legumes, there are really four different types of vegetarians, plus some people who claim to be vegetarians that in fact, are not. They prefer to eat few animal products and partake of them occasionally but not on a full time basis.

The four types of vegetarians I spoke of are as follows:

#1 Vegens: These people are strict in their diet and do not eat any meat, fish, poultry, eggs, dairy products, or anything that contains animal ingredients. (Gelatin for example comes from an animal products so they would not eat jello.) It is vital that they supplement their diet with a multivitamin mineral supplement or they could have major problems with nutritional deficiencies. These people need to be especially sure to take vitamin B12 and Vitamin D tablets, which comes from animal products. Vitamin B12 helps the proper functioning of your nervous system and prevents anemia, while Vitamin D helps maintains a health bone structure. They may choose to eat fortified cereal or soy milk instead of taking supplements, but I would recommend them all the same .

#2 Ovo-vegetarians: Their diet will allow them to eat all the things the Vegans eat but they eat eggs, as well. They may also eat jello since gelatin is made from animal products.

#3 Ovo-lacto-vegetariens: When it comes to their dietary choices they eat vegetables, grains, nuts, eggs, even though they don't eat chicken. However they also consume dairy products as well such as butter, yogurt, and milk.

#4 This type of vegetarian is called a Pesco-Vegetarian: Which means they will eat all the above things but also eat fish along with all the other things.

Eating a plant based diet does have a lot of benefits, such as high fiber, low fat and cholesterol. This might reduce your risk of heart disease more than if you ate a regular diet which contained animal fats. There are even those that say having a vegetarian diet can help cure some forms of cancer. It also reduces the chance that you would get gallstones, problems with your lower digestive tract and maybe even diabetes. You seldom find a fat vegetarian, unless they cheat a lot and do not stick to their ideals.

So next time someone says, "I'm a vegetarian", ask them which kind. You might be surprised that they eat a lot of same things that you do and they are not so strange after all.