Did you know that several celebrities are vegetarians or vegans? Some of the famous vegans are Alicia Silverstone, Brian Adams, Eric Roberts the actor, Fiona Apple the singer, Nick Rhodes of Duran Duran and Natalie Portman the famous actor.
Some of most famous vegetarians include:
- Albert Einstein
- Aristotle the famous Greek philosopher
- Billie Jean King and Chris Evert the famous tennis stars of the yesteryears
- Dr. Dean Ornish and many others
One the most articulate advocates of vegetarianism is Tobey Maguire and he said that, “I don’t like eating dead carcasses pumped full of chemicals and hormones. It’s not a moral thing. It’s logical to me not to eat that shit, since I would get nauseated.” Tobey Maguire doesn’t mince words when it comes to his food and lifestyle choices.
With more and more studies coming out in recent times supporting a vegetarian way of life, the eternal debate rages on whether vegetarianism is indeed superior to a non-vegetarian diet.
Types of Vegetarians
There are three types of vegetarian:
- The Vegans are the strictest type of vegetarians and they will not eat animal food or produce. They live entirely on plant foods. They take pulses, nuts, grains, fruits and vegetables.
- Vegetarian who drink milk and eggs. These are called, as Lacto-Vegetarians will not eat animal flesh. They will, however, eat animal produce such as milk, cheese, eggs and four main groups.
- Vegetarians who take eggs only. These are called as Lacto-ovo-vegetarians will not eat animal flesh but will eat eggs in their diet.
Advantages of a vegetarian diet:
- Vegetarian diets are high in: vitamin C, fiber and folate.
- It is possible to obtain all essential nutrients by eating a completely plant-based diet; however proper dietary planning is critical to the health.
- Vegetarian diets are typically higher in fiber, lower in fat, saturated fat and cholesterol.
- Vegetarians typically have less risk of CHD, cancer, obesity, high cholesterol and hypertension.
- Vegetarian lifestyles are usually healthier because of lesser smoking, more exercise and less alcohol ingestion.
Disadvantages of a vegetarian diet:
Some nutritional authorities feel that Vegetarians (vegans) find it difficult to get certain nutrients like:
- Vitamin B-12. (These are found more in fortified cereals and soy products)
- Vitamin D ( Soymilk and cereals are rich sources)
- Iron & zinc (These are found in whole grain, soy foods, beans, dried foods, nuts and seeds)
- Calcium (Good sources are cereals, juices, beans, tofu, soy foods, figs and other dried fruits)
Slowly the wheel is turning in favor of vegetarianism. According to a statistics from the recent — Consumer Attitudes to Food Standards Survey, 4% of households reportedly contained at least one vegetarian member. 5% contained at least one person who ate no meat, but did eat fish.
Some authorities on nutrition do not recommend a vegan diet for very young children because it is very difficult for them consume pulses, cereals nuts etc and achieve optimal growth without consuming animal products.
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What the hell? Lacto-ovo means milk-eggs. Lactose intollerant=allergic to milk,
You guys are confused. Lacto-Ovo Vegetarians eat milk products and eggs. Lacto = Milk, Ovo = eggs.
Ovo Vegetarians do not drink milk or eat milk products.
Lacto Vegetarians do not eat eggs.
Vegans do not eat anything that has any animal byproducts.
This is why we get the stupid questions such as “but you eat fish, right?” MISINFORMATION
wow.. who ever posted this did not do their research…
This statement throws me off: “Vegetarian lifestyles are usually healthier because of lesser smoking, more exercise and less alcohol ingestion.” Not all vegetarians are this healthy…. this is a very broad statement. I would love to see a statistic on how many vegetarians are really that healthy… And since when does being a vegetarian mean you drink less alcohol. BAH!
Please correct your information, as it could lead to confusion among those new to vegetarianism.
An Ovo-Lacto vegetarian consumes eggs and milk
A Lacto-vegetarian only consumes milk.
And what exactly do you mean by four groups in your definition of a Lacto-vegetarian? Four groups of what?
While I do applaud your decision to inform people about the benefits of a vegetarian diet, it is important for you to be clear on the topic and you really should proof read before hand and there are several glaring grammatical errors on the page.
Your information is not correct. Albert Einstien should not be considered a famous “vegetarian” as he was only vegetarian for the last year of his life.
Avoiding meat is NOT healthier. A balanced diet is.
Don’t just take my word for it, ask a PhD Nutritionist.
People are usually vegetarian / vegan because of their views on the eithical treatment of animals and rarely because of a misguided nutritional information.
Check out Einstien yourself:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Einstien
Actually, avoiding meat IS healthy! Since when is condoning MURDER considered healthy? Meat holds NO nutritional value, we are made of meat just like animals but it’s considered wrong to eat people, why not animals too? The only people who think it’s not healthy to not eat meat are those who don’t care about the pain and terror their “food” goes through before it ends up on their plate! Meat eaters should be ashamed of themselves.