What It Takes To Be A Vegetarian

When you make a decision to be a vegetarian, it is a personal commitment and only a personal commitment. No one will ever give you a rule book, a set of principles to sign up to or a set of guidelines 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 degrees of vegetarianism and some vegetarians might well debate but even argue that their personal point of view is right. The strictest kind of vegetarianism that you are probable to come across is the macrobiotic diet; then there are the vegans, who do not consume any animal products including fish, eggs and dairy products.

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

You could adopt a mild form or vegetarianism at first yet then gradually quit fish yet dairy products later as your craving for animal protein assuages. Or you could jump in at the deep end by going vegan but add fish back in if you find it too difficult. You can do whatever your conscience permits 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 yet dairy products. Ovo-vegetarianism is convenient if you find it hard to be enough protein into your diet, because you can have an egg for breakfast and be vegetarian for the remainder of the day.

Veganism is around 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 as well far yet that it puts undue stress on the vegetarian doing it. After all, a vegan has to know what is in everything he or she eats: every dish, loaf of bread, cake, biscuit yet even milkshake, in case someone has used honey as a sweetener or animal fat instead or margarine.

Most vegetarians would recommend the slow and steady approach to becoming a vegetarian, because it can get problematic at first and you do not want to put yourself off before you have even given it an opportunity to benefit you. Bear in mind that lifestyle alterations are always hard, so go easy on yourself and take your conversion into a vegetarian leisurely.

Owen Jones, the writer of this article, writes on a number of topics, and is now concerned with low carb vegetarian recipes. If you want to know more, please visit our website at http://vegetariancasserolerecipes.com