While there is no single form of vegetarianism, what all forms have in common is a lifestyle that abstains from the consumption of meat, fish, and poultry. One of the more moderate end lacto-ovo-vegetarians eats dairy and egg foods and products. At the other extreme are vegans who do not eat or use any animal by-products (ie meat, fish, poultry, eggs, dairy, honey, leather products…etc). Between these two extremes are ovo-vegetarians, who eat eggs but not dairy, and lacto-vegetarians, who eat dairy but not eggs.
The reasons why people become vegetarians are many. It can be for religious/spiritual reasons, like I did with Buddhism, or for political, health, ethical, environmental, practical or aesthetic reasons. Here is a brief summary.
- Religious – Most Eastern religions (eg Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, Taoism) prescribe a vegetarian diet. Although Western religions (eg, Judaism, Christianity, Islam) do not advocate a vegetarian diet, certain lines of Scripture or the morals behind sacred stories or prophecies may be interpreted as good cause for practicing vegetarianism.
- ethical – A person may refrain from eating meat because he feels it is abominable to take the life of any living creature.
- Political – One can refrain from eating meat for reasons of fighting globalization, food corporations, agribusiness, the trade that revolves around cattle and meat.
- Environmental – Since cattle need large pastures, a large amount of land would have to be cleared, increasing the carbon footprint. Additionally, there is always the risk of overgrazing on a particular parcel of land and methane released by the cows, all of which have environmental repercussions.
- Practical – Some people just don’t have the access or resources to buy and eat meat.
- aesthetic – Some people just don’t like the taste of meat, or the way it looks, or the fact that they’re eating something dead.
But the best and perhaps the most widespread reason why people go vegetarian is for the health benefits. Vegetarian diets have been shown time and time again to be healthier and more viable than non-vegetarian diets. A vegetarian is less likely to have a high BMI, high cholesterol levels, high blood pressure levels, and a lower incidence of type 2 diabetes, kidney failure, bone loss, and dementia. The reason for the health benefits of vegetarianism is due to the omission of meats, especially non-lean red meats, which are high in saturated fat and carry risks of disease transmission between animals and humans, as well as foodborne pathogens due to poor preparation.