Vegetarian Diet Variations
Vegetarian diets have been around for centuries. Researchers have also found that a diet rich in raw vegetables lowers your risk of breast cancer, and eating lots of fruit reduces your risk for colon cancer, according to a study published in the May 1998 issue of the journal Epidemiology. Including fresh fruit as part of your daily diet has been associated with fewer deaths from heart attacks and related problems, by as much as 24%, according to a study published in the September 1996 issue of the British Medical Journal.
People choose vegetarian diets for religious, economic, health-related, or other reasons.
When you hear the word "vegetarian," you automatically assume it's a diet that omits animal products. However, there are several variations of the vegetarian diet, as shown below:
- Semi-vegetarian diet--includes fish, poultry, eggs, and dairy products. The term semi-vegetarian is sometimes also referred to as a diet that excludes "red meat". A semi-vegetarian may also be an individual that does not consume meat on 1,2 or 3 days of the week. Semi-vegetarianism is often criticised by vegetarians or vegans who assert that one cannot be "semi-vegetarian" or vegetarian only occasionally. According to such criticisms, a vegetarian is someone who consistently keeps to a diet that excludes all animal products.
- Lacto-ovo-vegetarian diet--includes dairy products and eggs
- Lacto-vegetarian diet--includes dairy products
- Ovo-vegetarian diet -- includes eggs
- Vegan diet -- includes only plant foods and omits all animal products. Scientific evidence shows that raw vegan diets decrease toxic products in the colon (From: J Nutr 1992 Apr;122(4):924-30). Shifting from a conventional diet to an uncooked vegan diet reversibly alters fecal hydrolytic activities in humans, according to researchers, Ling WH, and Hanninen O, of the Department of Physiology, University of Kuopio, Finland. Results suggest a raw food uncooked extreme vegan diet causes a decrease in bacterial enzymes and certain toxic products that have been implicated in colon cancer risk. For recipes containing raw foods only, visit our Paleolithic Recipe Collection.
Although you would think vegetarian diets lacked some of the nutrients of normal diets, a well-planned vegetarian diet can be just as nutritionally adequate and healthy.
