What It Takes To Be A Vegetarian

If you choose to be a vegetarian, it is a personal commitment and just a personal commitment. No one will ever give you a rule book, a set of principles to sign up to or a set of procedures to observe. It is completely up to you what you mean by being a ‘vegetarian’. There are no regulations for being a vegetarian.

There are, however, different levels of vegetarianism but some vegetarians might well debate and even argue that their personal point of view is correct. The strictest form of vegetarianism that you are likely to come across is the macrobiotic diet; then there are the vegans, who do not consume any animal products including fish, eggs yet dairy products.

Then there is the majority of vegetarians who will eat fish, dairy but eggs yet there are those who do not eat fish, some who will drink milk yet eat cheese and will not eat eggs and some who do. I even knew a vegetarian who allowed himself one bacon sandwich a month but turkey on Christmas Day (my father), and he considered himself a vegetarian.

You could adopt a mild form or vegetarianism at first but then gradually quit eating fish and dairy products later as your craving for animal protein assuages. Or you could jump in at the deep end by going vegan and add fish back in if you find it too hard. You can do whatever your conscience allows you to do.

Let us suppose that you take the mild approach to vegetarianism for a year or two but then decide to stop eating dairy products and eggs. You have now become a lacto-vegetarian. It displays a sympathy for the animals in the dairy and egg industries. Numerous hens live in appalling battery conditions. In general, cows fare somewhat better, yet they still live an abnormal life.

Ovo-vegetarianism is the name give to the diet by which you can bear eating eggs after you have given up meat, fish and dairy products. Ovo-vegetarianism is handy if you find it difficult to be enough protein into your diet, because you can have an egg for breakfast and become vegetarian for the remainder of the day.

Veganism is just about as strict as most people would like to go. Strict vegans do not eat any animal products including honey. Most people find that this is going too far and that it puts unnecessary stress on the vegetarian doing it. After all, a vegan has to know what is in everything he or she eats: each dish, loaf of bread, cake, biscuit and even slushie, in case someone has used honey as a sweetener or animal fat instead or margarine.

Most vegetarians would recommend the slow but steady approach to becoming a vegetarian, because it can become difficult at first and you do not want to put yourself off before you have even given it a chance to benefit you. Keep in mind that lifestyle alterations are always difficult, so go easy on yourself and take your conversion into a vegetarian slowly.

Owen Jones, the author of this article writes on several subjects, but is at present concerned with French dip sandwich recipes. If you want to know more or check out some great offers, please go to our site at Vegetarian Sandwich Recipes.

Similar Posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.