Faq

Vegetarians are people who abstain from eating all animal flesh including meat, poultry, fish and other sea animals. An ovo-vegetarian includes eggs, a lacto-vegetarian includes dairy products, and an ovo-lacto vegetarian includes both eggs and dairy products. A total vegetarian (vegan) consumes no animal products at all.

A number of widely respected health organizations, such as the American Heart Association, the American Cancer Society, and the World Health Organization - as well as many physicians and health practitioners - recommend reducing the consumption of animal protein and saturated fat (which are abundant in meat), and cholesterol ( found only in meat and other animal products). Although illness and disease can be caused by many factors, several health problems have been positively linked to a diet high in animal products. Among these are cardiovascular diseases including heart attack and stroke (which are the leading causes of death for both men and women in the United States), diabetes, and certain cancers.

While fruits and vegetables have many health-protective qualities, there is no single 'miracle food' or supplement that can prevent illness or death from diseases that have complex and long-term causes. Eating a whole-foods vegetarian diet and adopting health-promoting lifestyle changes such as regular exercise, sufficient sleep, and stress reduction, are a more comprehensive and effective way to promote health.

Getting enough protein on a vegetarian diet is easy as long as you eat a varied diet of unrefined foods that include enough calories to meet your energy needs. When caloric intake is adequate, protein deficiency is virtually non exist ent. This is because protein is so abundant in the food supply. The foods that form the found ation of a vegetarian diet - beans, grains, vegetables, nuts and seeds - are all rich in protein.

Amino acids, the building blocks of protein, are found in all plant foods, including the nine essential amino acids humans must obtain from food. Concentrated sources of plant protein include peas, beans, lentils, soy products (tofu, tempeh, and meat analogs), and nuts. Contrary to what many people believe, vegetarians do not need to carefully combine foods to meet their protein needs, and no particular meal planning approach is required. Just consume enough calories to maintain your ideal weight and include a variety of plant foods in your diet.

If the prospect of witnessing or funding animal slaughter makes you uncomfortable, you should know that free-range hens and pasture-raised dairy cows are typically sent to slaughter before midlife. Just like their factory farmed counterparts, these animals are replaced by younger ones as their yields decline to unprofitable levels.

It’s also difficult and inconvenient to verify that a given producer indeed complies with claimed standards of animal welfare.

It’s hard to make a definitive comparison since there is enormous variation in the cost and quality of the foods we eat. But generally, a cheap vegan diet will be less expensive (and much healthier) than a cheap omnivorous diet. and even an extravagant vegan diet will never be as expensive as a diet based on high-priced meats and cheeses produced with the best animal welfare.