Vegetarianism. Is it good or bad?

Vegetarianism

Vegetarianism is a diet that excludes meat, poultry, and seafood, focusing on plants, grains, fruits, and nuts, often including dairy and eggs (lacto-ovo vegetarianism), for ethical, health, environmental, or religious reasons. 

Vegetarianism may be adopted for various reasons. Many people object to eating meat out of respect for sentient animal life. Such ethical motivations have been codified under various religious beliefs as well as animal rights advocacy. Other motivations for vegetarianism are health-related, political, environmental, cultural, aesthetic, economic, taste-related, or relate to other personal preferences.

Vegetarian diets pose some difficulties. For vitamin B12, depending on the presence or absence of eggs and dairy products in the diet or other reliable B12 sources, vegetarians may incur a nutritional deficiency. Packaged and processed foods may contain minor quantities of animal ingredients. While some vegetarians scrutinize product labels for such ingredients, others do not object to consuming them, or are unaware of their presence.

There are many variations of the vegetarian diet: a lacto-vegetarian diet includes dairy products, an ovo-vegetarian diet includes eggs, and a lacto-ovo vegetarian diet includes both. All of them include honey. As the strictest of vegetarian diets, a vegan diet excludes all animal products, and can be accompanied by the abstention from animal-derived products, such as leather shoes and silk clothes.

Vegan refers to people who choose not to eat or use any animal products, avoiding meat, fish, eggs, dairy, honey, leather, wool, and products tested on animals, focusing on a plant-based lifestyle for ethical, environmental, or health reasons. Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal products and the consumption of animal source foods, and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. A person who practices veganism is known as a vegan; the word is also used to describe foods and materials that are compatible with veganism. Key Aspects To Be A Vegan. Diet: Excludes all animal products (meat, poultry, fish, dairy, eggs, honey). Lifestyle: Avoids non-food animal products like leather, wool, fur, and cosmetics tested on animals. Philosophy: Often rooted in animal rights, but can also be for environmental or health benefits. Core principle: A vegan diet consists of fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts, and seeds.

Health research. In Western countries, the most common motive for people practicing vegetarianism is health consciousness. The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics has stated that at all stages of life, a properly planned vegetarian diet can be "healthful, nutritionally adequate, and may be beneficial in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases.“Vegetarian diets offer lower levels of saturated fat, cholesterol and animal protein, and higher levels of carbohydrates, fibre, magnesium, potassium, folate, vitamins C and E, and phytochemicals.

Studies have shown that a (non-lacto) vegetarian diet may increase the risk of calcium deficiency and low bone mineral density. Vegetarian diets are under preliminary research for their potential to help people with type 2 diabetes. Meta-analyses have reported a reduced risk of death from ischemic heart disease and from cerebrovascular disease among vegetarians. Reviews of vegan and vegetarian diets showed a possible association with depression and anxiety, particularly among people under 26 years old. Another review found no significant associations between a vegetarian diet and depression or anxiety. The American Dietetic Association discussed that vegetarian diets may be more common among adolescents with eating disorders, indicating that vegetarian diets do not cause eating disorders, but rather "vegetarian diets may be selected to camouflage an existing eating disorder". A 2012 study found a reduced risk in all-cause mortality in vegetarians. A 2017 review found a lower mortality (−25%) from ischemic heart disease.