Vegetarian Vs Vegan Delicious Diets In 2024

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Doesn't this fruit platter look delicious? You will always find fruit on our kitchen counter or in the fridge. Here you see bananas (which we always have at home), apricots (only available for a short time) and nectarines.

Vegetarian vs Vegan Delicious Diets

Did you ever wonder what the difference is between vegetarian and vegan delicious diets? I know, I did, and I asked Google this very question. A lot of people confuse the two. This article will shed some light on them. As you might know, they are becoming more and more popular. I will also briefly examine their benefits for our bodies, the animals and the environment.

Vegetarian diets have reportedly been around since as early as 700 BC.
There are several types of vegetarian diets and also a few different vegan diets. People may practice one for various reasons, including health, ethical, environmental, and religious reasons. I am a vegan for health reasons, to protect the animal world from cruelty, and to help the environment become healthier again.
Vegan diets are a little more recent but are getting a fair amount of press. They are also called strict vegetarian diets.
Both diets avoid meat, poultry, fish, shellfish, seafood, and any slaughtered animals or their by-products.
This article looks at the similarities and differences between these two diets.
It also briefly discusses how they affect your health and the environment.

The Vegetarian Diet

According to Wikipedia, a vegetarian does not eat meat, poultry, game, fish, shellfish, or by-products of animal slaughter.

Vegetarian diets contain various levels of fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds. Including dairy and eggs depends on the type of diet you follow.

The most common types of vegetarians include:

Vegetarians who avoid all animal flesh, however, consume dairy and egg products are called Lacto-ovo (lacto=dairy & ovo=egg) vegetarians.
Lacto vegetarians avoid animal flesh, fish, and eggs but consume dairy products.
Vegetarians who avoid all animal products except eggs would be ovo vegetarians.
There are also people eating fish and, once in a while, a piece of meat. In my opinion, they are not vegetarians anymore.

The Vegan Diet

See below what Wikipedia has to say: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veganism.

Vegans do not eat any animal products or by-products. However, there are different types as well.

Dietary vegans (also known as strict vegetarians). They don’t eat animal products and by-products, i.e., meat, poultry, fish, shellfish, seafood, dairy, eggs, or honey.
They eat mainly cooked food, including grains, potatoes, rice, pasta, vegetables, soy products, vegan meat replacement, etc.
Vegans eat fruit and vegetables only. They don't eat rice, pasta, grains, or legumes.
A raw vegan diet includes vegetables, fruits, sprouted grains and legumes, nuts and seeds, and sea vegetables. See also Amazing Health Benefits Of A Raw Vegan Diet.
Then there are the ones who eat raw vegetables and fruit only.
And the diet I am aiming for is the natural and raw fruit diet (called a “frugivorous” diet).
The ethical vegan (also known as a moral vegetarian) is not only eating a vegan diet (cooked or raw) but also avoiding all uses of animal products or by-products. They avoid the following:
- Wearing leather clothing, accessories, and shoes.
- Wearing wool clothing, like sweaters, mittens, and scarves.
- Buying leather furniture.
- Omit all uses of silk, honey & honey candles, gelatin, etc.
- They will not use any products, which are animal tested, i.e.,
  - Cosmetics,
  - Body wash,
  - Soaps,
  - Shampoo,
  - Cleaning supplies, etc.
- The list is very long.

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Effect Of A Vegan Lifestyle On Our Health

The animal products-free diet has many health benefits, and it helps with the following:

Weight loss
Reduced risk of cancer, especially prostate and colon
Reduced risk of cardiovascular and other diseases
Increased energy
Beautifies skin and hair
Extends life expectancy

How Does It Affect Our Environment?

A strict and moral vegetarian diet (also called veganism) presents many environmental benefits:

One huge benefit is the reduction of greenhouse gases, by
- Reducing the need for meat, poultry and fish. The substantial animal farms would slowly disappear. That means fewer animals are to be fed, and we could re-forest the planet and grow plants for our food, which significantly impacts the environment.
- No meat and fish transport is needed because we can use local products in a vegan diet.

Please click here to read my extensive blog on Reasons To Avoid Fish And Seafood And What I Can Eat Instead.

Please click here to read my blog post about the 8 Delicious Vegan Fish Recipes For Your Kids

It reduces world hunger.
- Almost ¾ of grains planted in the US are fed to livestock, even more globally.
- Plants & trees could be grown on the land used for livestock and grain production.
- It conserves water. Livestock is drinking millions of litres of water, which we could use for people instead.
- Livestock is a significant cause of water pollution due to its excretion.
- Growing many different plants will cause the earth to recover.
It decreased pollution caused by deforestation and live animals’ defecation. Trees store a lot of carbon.
Raising livestock uses up a lot of precious energy. A tremendous amount would reduce this.

A Vegan Diet Has A Lot Of Advantages

As you can see in this article, a strict and moral vegetarian diet has many benefits on

Our health
Increases our energy
Protects the animals from cruelty and abuse
Reduces waste and pollution
Saves forests and animal habitats
The environment
Global hunger and thirst

Conclusion

There are not too many differences between a vegetarian and a vegan diet. The main one is that some vegetarians eat dairy products and/or eggs. Both diets include raw and cooked fruit, vegetables, squash, potatoes, rice, grains, nuts and seeds, legumes, tofu and pasta.

I don't eat any animal products or byproducts. I also stay away from gluten, dairy and eggs. My leading food is raw fruit, smoothies, vegetables, herbs and juices. I have a delicious mixed salad for dinner, and my husband eats organic vegetables and organic potatoes. We thrive on this food and have a lot more energy.

I trust you enjoyed this article about Vegetarian vs Vegan Delicious Diets. Please stay tuned for more blog posts on veganism to come soon. Take care!

JeannetteZ

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Your Opinion Is Important To Me

Thoughts? Ideas? Questions? I would love to hear from you. Please leave your questions, experiences and remarks about this blog post about the Vegetarian vs. Vegan Delicious Diets in the comments below. You can also reach me by email at Jeannette@LivingTheVeganLifestyle.org.