What Is a Vegan Diet?
A vegan diet is a strict form of vegetarian diet that excludes the consumption or use of any animal products or byproducts like meats, seafood, eggs, fish, dairy, goose-fat shoe polish and leather products. In short, a vegan diet totally dispenses products that are partially or wholly from animals.
This diet type is gaining more popularity these days, especially among younger individuals. It is because people have started considering veganism as a way of living that focuses on practices in which no forms of exploitation or cruelty to animals is carried out, neither for food, clothing or other purposes, for the benefits of animals, humans and the environment.
A vegan diet excludes products like[2]
- Eggs
- Beeswax and honey
- Dairy
- Garlic
- Onions like spring onions, scallions and leeks.
- Animal products may contain animal ingredients like cheese and gelatin.
- Cane sugar as they are whitened with bone char.
Vegans consume products like veggies, fruits, nuts, grains, pulses, seeds in endless combinations. People following a vegan diet are compassionate about not using anything related to animal exploitation for any purposes. They even avoid using clothing, accessories, beauty products and medicines made with animal products or their byproducts. [3]
What Is a Vegetarian Diet?
A vegetarian diet is a restrictive diet type that excludes eating meat products or byproducts of animal slaughter. Unlike a vegan diet that totally excludes animal products/byproducts, a vegetarian diet includes animal byproducts such as eggs, milk and honey as they do not involve animal slaughter.
In vegetarianism, these products are excluded:
- Beef and pork
- Poultry like duck, chicken and turkey
- Seafood and fish
- Gelatin and rennet or other types of animal protein
- Insects
It includes foods like nuts, seeds, fruits, vegetables, pulses, grains and meat substitutes like tofu and paneer.
People follow a vegetarian diet due to multiple reasons, such as personal ethics, health benefits, concern about animal welfare, and cultural and religious beliefs.
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Also, though vegetarianism is a restrictive diet type, it is not associated with any serious eating consequences or disorders. This is because vegetarians consider this diet type as a dietary restrain or say, their habitual eating pattern, and not a form of dieting in which people intentionally restrict themselves of calories and later, end up overeating meat products and increasing the risk of diseases like obesity and diabetes. [4]
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Compared to veganism, vegetarianism is less restrictive. In a vegetarian diet, there are also different variations available like alacto-vegetarian (those who not eat meat products but eat dairy), lacto-ovo-vegetarian (those who do not eat meat and fish but dairy and eggs), pescatarian (those who eat only fish and seafood) and ovo-vegetarian (those who consume only eggs and no meat products).
Vegan Vs Vegetarian
Both vegan and vegetarian diet types mainly involve the use of plant-based products, the foods have a high amount of nutrients like fibre, plant proteins, folate, vitamins C, A, and E, thiamin, riboflavin, folate, calcium, magnesium, and iron compared to non-vegetarians foods. [4]
However, they have certain differences that include:
1. Glycemic control
Both vegan and vegetarian diets are known to lower glucose levels and control diabetes, however, according to a study, glucose control was found to be better in a vegan diet compared to a conventional diabetic diet. [5]
2. Lowers body weight and risk of heart diseases
A low-carbohydrate vegan diet can help in reducing body weight and risk of heart diseases, compared to a high-carbohydrate lacto-ovo-vegetarian diet (milk and eggs but no meat products). [6]
3. Lower intake of calories
Though both diet types are plant-based, a vegan diet type is associated with lower calorie intake. Therefore, a vegan diet can effectively lower the risk of obesity, diabetes and other chronic diseases.
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4. Low energy
Some studies have mentioned that as a vegan diet is low in calories, it may cause low energy in vegans compared to vegetarians in which foods like dairy are included which are a good source of energy. [1]
5. Bone health
Some plant-based foods like kale and broccoli are rich in calcium, however, not as much as dairy products like milk, yoghurt and tofu. Therefore, veganism may cause certain bone-related diseases due to deprivation of calcium, compared to vegetarianism.
6. Certain toxins
A study has shown that eggs contain food-related carcinogenic toxins like dioxin that may increase the risk of cancer in some. As a vegetarian diet also includes the consumption of eggs, it can be less preferred over a vegan diet. [7]
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