Vegan vs. Vegetarian, what's the difference?

By: Jennifer Abrefa

What's the difference Many people often ask what the differences are between a vegan diet and a vegetarian diet. The simple answer is that a vegan diet is

one of a number of vegetarian diets. Typically, vegetarian diets are broken into

three or more groups include lacto-ovo vegetarians (whose diets include eating dairy products and eggs), lacto vegetarians (who eat dairy, but avoid eggs), and vegan vegetarians (those who avoid animal products altogether).

Vegan and vegetarian Food restrictions Vegans eliminate all animal products from

their diet, including dairy and eggs. Vegetarians also do not eat products that

contain gelatin or other meat-based products.

Vegans' tremendous compassion for animals is an abiding, overriding conviction in their lives.

Vegetarians do not eat meat, fish or poultry but they tend to consume dairy products and eggs.

Vegan Being vegan, in the strictest sense of the word, is much

more than just a diet. Vegans strive to avoid animal products in all aspects of

their lives including clothing, cosmetic products, household items, and of course food. Therefore, the strict animal product-free vegetarian diet is only a part of being vegan.

For most vegans the transition from a standard diet to their new lifestyle happens in stages. This can sometimes include stepping through a number of less strict vegetarian diets and then stepping up the lifestyle changes once a strict vegan diet has been achieved.

Other types of vegetarians Flexitarian/Semi-vegetarianYou don’t have to be vegetarian to love vegetarian food! “Flexitarian” is a term recently coined to describe those who eat a mostly vegetarian diet, but occasionally eat meat.

Pescatarian (also spelled pescetarian)The word “pescatarian” is occasionally used to describe those who abstain from eating all meat and animal flesh with the exception of fish. Although the word is not commonly used, more and more people are adopting this kind of diet, usually for health reasons or as a stepping stone to a fully vegetarian diet.

Missing Nutrients for Vegetarians/Vegans

From a nutritional standpoint, the only difference is that vegans need to take a B12 and amino acid supplement, since they have no dietary source of these nutrients.

The nutrients for which you are at risk of not getting enough will depend on the foods that you have omitted from your diet.

You can get all the nutrients you need on a lacto-ovo (eggs and milk) vegetarian diet without supplements.

Six kinds of vegetarian (by Ariel Leve) 1 The Diet Veggie. Otherwise known as the episodic vegetarian. They'll cut out meat for a few weeks and proudly declare, "I'm vegetarian now" with unwavering conviction. As soon as they say this you know it's only a matter of time before they're carving a turkey. Anything they say about how great it is being vegetarian doesn't count.

2 The Health-Conscious Veggie. This one is always talking about the virtues of avocado and the best source of protein. They work at a health food store and usually look anemic.

3 The Ambivalent Veggie. Having been vegetarian for so long, the ambivalent vegetarian worries they won't be able to digest meat any more and the fear of getting sick trumps everything. And also, they've lost the craving for meat which makes it easy. And also, they eat fish.

Six kinds of vegetarian (by Ariel Leve)4 The Moral Veggie. Frequently self-righteous because they're vegetarian for moral reasons which makes them better than you. They tend to pass judgment on meat-eaters.

5 The Moral People-Pleasing Veggie. This person goes out of their way to pretend it's not a morality issue so as not to upset the person they're dining with and make them feel bad for ordering beef. They'll say, "No, it's fine. It doesn't bother me" while secretly resenting them.

6 The American Veggie. The vegetarian who sometimes eats bacon.

Vegetarian Statistics DataNumber of Americans who are vegetarian 7.3 MillionNumber of Americans who follow a “vegetarian-inclined diet.” 22.8 Million

Number of Americans who are vegan 1 Million

Percent of kids age 8 to 18 that are vegetarians 3 %

Percent of adults who consider themselves vegetarians 10 %

Percent of people surveyed who said they are "definitely interested" in following a vegetarian diet in the future

5.2 %

Veggie Stats

Top Vegetarian Cities (Ranked by number of vegetarian restaurants)1 Portland, Oregon2 Seattle, Washington3 San Francisco, California4 New York, New York5 Atlanta, Georgia6 Washington, D.C.7 Minneapolis, Minnesota8 Austin, Texas9 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania10 Chicago, Illinois

Reasons cited for being a vegetarian

 

Improve overall health 53 %Environmental concerns 47 %Natural approaches to wellness

39 %

Food-safety concerns 31 %Animal welfare 54 %Weight loss 25 %Weight maintenance 24 %

Demographics of Vegetarians

 

Percent of female vegetarians

59 %

Percent of male vegetarians

41 %

Percent age 18 to 34 42 %

Percent age 35 to 54 40.7 %

Percent over 55 17.4 %

Length of time being a vegetarian

 

Percent who have followed a vegetarian diet for more than 10 years

57.1 %

Percent who have followed a vegetarian diet for 5 to 10 years

18 %

Percent who have followed a vegetarian diet for 2 to 5 years

10.8 %

Percent who have followed a vegetarian diet for less than 2 years

14.1 %

Sources http://journals.cambridge.org/download.p

hp?file=%2FPNS%2FPNS65_01%2FS002966510600005Xa.pdf&code=18a57cfb9525055d13924f0d065b8fde

http://ncp.sagepub.com/content/25/6/613.full.pdf

http://www.atasteofhealth.org/vegan-vs-vegetarian.htm

http://www.medicinenet.com/vegetarian_and_vegan_diet/page2.htm#what_are_the_potential_dangers_from_consuming_the_various_kinds_of_vegetarian_and_vegan_diets

http://www.statisticbrain.com/vegetarian-statistics/