Table of Contents
There are several types of vegetarianism and the most common are:
Lacto vegetarianism — Lacto vegetarians do not eat meat or eggs but do consume dairy products.
Most vegetarians in India and those in the classical Mediterranean lands, such as Pythagoreans, are or were lacto vegetarian.
Lacto-ovo vegetarianism — Lacto-ovo vegetarians do not eat meat but do consume dairy products and eggs. This is currently the most common variety in the Western world because it isn't that much rigorous.
Ovo vegetarianism — Ovo vegetarians do not eat meat or dairy products but do eat eggs.
Vegetarianism practices
Fruitarianism is a diet of only fruits, nuts, seeds, and other plant matter that can be gathered without harming the plant. A fruitarian will eat beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, pumpkins, and the like, but will refuse to eat potatoes or spinach.
A raw food diet includes only food which was not heated above 46.7 °C, so it may be warmed slightly or raw, but never cooked and is usually vegan.
A macrobiotic diet is a diet consisting mostly of whole grains and beans and is usually spiritually based, like Fruitarianism.
Natural Hygiene, in its classic form, includes a diet of raw vegan foods.
Pesco/pollo vegetarianism - Some people choose to avoid certain types of meat because of health, ethical beliefs, etc.
Lacto-ovo-pesco vegetarianism — People that practice this form of vegetarianism don’t eat meat but do consume milk, eggs, and fish. This diet is popular in Japan.
Flexitarianism — People that follow this diet are telling that it is mostly vegetarian but occasionally consume meat.
Freeganism — These people practice a lifestyle based on concerns about the exploitation of animals, the earth, and human beings in the production of consumer goods. Freeganism is also concerned about the waste.
Motivation
Environmental reasons
This is a very popular approach to the vegetarianism. These so-called environmental vegetarians believe that the production of meat and animal products at present and likely future levels is environmentally unsustainable. The fact is that the process of industrialization has lead to intensive farming practices and diets high in animal protein, primarily in developed nations and mainly in the United States.
Physiological reasons
Some experts that studied this field are saying that humans are physiologically better suited for a vegetarian diet. For instance, life expectancy is considerably greater in parts of the world where a semi-vegetarian diet is common than in the parts where a meat diet is more common. The reasons are mainly associated with the differences between predators and plant-eating animals.
Psychological reasons
Many vegetarians choose to be what they are because they find meat and meat products aesthetically disgusting. Proponents believe that human beings are not instinctively attracted to eating live or dead meat in nature.
Reasons concerning food safety
People that are eating meat on a daily basis started to fear about different diseases and conditions that could be caused by various microorganisms found in different animal products. Some of those are: BSE in cows, avian flu in poultry, foot-and-mouth in sheep, salmonella in eggs and PCBs in farmed salmon.