Every January for last few years people from around the world get involved in the Veganuary challenge and try to eat vegan for the month. But Veganism is actually just one of a few plant based diets available. This week we cover the basics incase you want to try any of them out for health, environmental or curiosity reasons.
VEGETARIAN
Simply put vegetarians don’t eat meat. But actually it’s not that simple
- Lacto-ovo vegetarians do not eat meat , which means no beef, pork, poultry, fish, shellfish, insects, or animal flesh of any kind. However, they do eat eggs and dairy products.
- Lacto-vegetarian is a type of vegetarian who does not eat meat and eggs, but eats dairy products. Lacto = milk (get it, get it)
- Ovo-vegetarians do not eat meat or dairy products, but eats eggs. Think of “ovo” which is the Latin word for eggs.
VEGAN
This is what the Veganaury challenge is all about.
Some would say that vegan’s are hard core vegetarians, and they are not far off. Vegans avoid meat, chicken, fish, shellfish, eggs, dairy, and honey, as well as any other products containing animal-derived additives. So nothing that needed animals to be produced.
PESCATARIAN
A pescatarian is someone who adds fish and seafood to a vegetarian diet and may or may not include other animal products such as eggs and dairy products. However, a pescatarian is not considered a vegetarian—the diets are separate from each other. A vegetarian diet excludes all animals.
FLEXITARIAN
Flexitarians are people who eat mostly vegetarian but occasionally eat meat which includes red meat, poultry, seafood and fish. Also referred to as a semi-vegetarian, when they do choose to meat, it’s sometimes free-range or organic animal products. There is no firm definition as to how much meat you should eat during the week, whether it’s once a day, once a week or occasionally, this diet is up to the individual.
According to Hey Vegetarian, there is a link to places to get your plant based fix in Nelson Mandela Bay.
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