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In recent years, more and more people claim that they practice a vegan or plant-based diet. This type of nutrition excludes all foods of animal origin and their derivatives or parts.
Plant-based nutrition is a diet where all of the calories from all three macronutrients (carbohydrates, fat, and protein) come from whole plant products. All healthy nutritional protocols should be based on a high intake of whole vegetables. Be caloric enough, neither exceed nor fall short, also ensuring a correct distribution of macronutrients and reaching the RDA (recommended daily allowance) of micronutrients.
In a vegan or plant-based diet , red and white meat, white and blue fish, eggs, dairy products, honey, additives of animal origin, etc... are excluded.
Differences between vegetarianism and veganism
Although putting on labels is not the most important thing when it comes to respecting the life of an animal, or leading a correct diet and lifestyle, they serve as a guide to quickly and indicatively define a person's lifestyle. Your moral values and your nutrition are included in terms of what you exclude and include in your shopping cart.
We can often see how people define themselves as vegan or vegetarian, but many times the determining aspects are not taken into account to make a correct distinction. In this section I explain what each of them consists of and their differences.
What is vegetarianism as a diet?
The International Vegetarian Union defines vegetarianism as: “A diet consisting of plant-based foods with or without dairy, eggs, and/or honey.”
In fact, the prefixes -ovo, -lacto,-api are commonly used to determine what a vegetarian diet includes. Example: ovoapivegetarian, or lactovegetarian or ovolactovegetarian.
However, I often see that most people are pretty much at a loss as to what does and does not include being a vegetarian. A nutritional plan without meat is not a vegetarian diet, it is simply that, a diet that does not contemplate meat, and here would be the flexitarians.
For example, no vegetarian eats fish, preserves (including tuna in salads), crab sticks, or shellfish. Obviously, neither meat product , such as sausages or other ingredients that derive from animals.
Types of vegetarian diet
Food consumption according to the vegetarian prefix:
vegan philosophy
Currently, the official meaning that we find about veganism is the following:
"A way of life that seeks to exclude, to the extent possible and practicable, all forms of exploitation and cruelty to animals for food, clothing, or any other purpose."
In October 2014, the Royal Spanish Academy decided to add the terms vegan and veganism to the dictionary, defining them as follows:
"Attitude consisting of refusing food or consumption items of animal origin."
We can think that this definition is given in this way because the majority of the Spanish-speaking population is omnivorous.
The main reasons that lead you to be vegan
1. Ethical
I reject the consumption of all products of animal origin out of respect for other animals as sentient beings. It seeks to exclude 'as far as possible and practicable' all forms of exploitation and cruelty to animals for food, clothing or any other purpose. And by extension, it promotes the development and use of animal-free alternatives, regardless of whether they are more comfortable for humans or not.
2.Environmental
Avoid the use of products of animal origin on the grounds that the capture or industrial breeding of animals is harmful to the environment. Plant-based diets are more sustainable than animal-based diets, use fewer natural resources, and have less impact on the environment. Globally, livestock farming is one of the main causes of biodiversity loss, greenhouse gas emissions and the main source of water pollution in developed and developing countries.
3. Health
Unlike the strict vegetarian, it is not fundamental to vegan ethics. Lots of people take it into account, and that's how it should be. Taking care of the environment and protecting animals mainly, but always taking care of our own health. In terms of health, the scientific evidence that we have available to date makes it very clear that the more whole vegetables the diet contains, the longer and better humans live. A true vegan for animals, he is a practicing person of this lifestyle that prioritizes the well-being of all animals on the planet above all else.
I hope that I have clarified the most common doubts with these terms and that you have integrated what a plant-based lifestyle really means for a current person .
