Vegetarianism

For plant-eating animals, see Herbivore.

Vegetarianism is the practice of not consuming the flesh of any animal (including sea animals) with or without also eschewing other animal derivatives, such as dairy products or eggs. Some vegetarians choose to also refrain from wearing clothing that has involved the death of animals, such as leather, silk and fur. Veganism excludes all animal products from diet and attire, whether or not their production has involved the actual death of an animal (dairy, eggs, honey, wool, silk, down feathers, etc.). Vegetarians have varied motivations including religious, cultural, ethical, environmental, social, economic, and health concerns.

File:Gnocchi 2 by salsachica.jpg

Gnocchi with mushrooms and tomatoes, a vegetarian dish.

Terminology and varieties of vegetarianism

Main varieties

There are many different practices of vegetarianism. The following table summarizes the practices of various different types of vegetarian diet:

Foods allowed in the main vegetarian diets

Diet Name	Meat	Fish	Eggs	Dairy	Honey
Lacto-ovo-pesco vegetarianism	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Lacto-ovo vegetarianism	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Lacto vegetarianism	No	No	No	Yes	Yes
Ovo vegetarianism	No	No	Yes	No	Yes
Veganism	No	No	No	No	Sometimes

Other dietary practices commonly associated with vegetarianism

• Fruitarianism is a diet of only fruit, nuts, seeds, and other plant matter that can be gathered without harming the plant.
• Macrobiotic diet is a diet of mostly whole grains and beans. Not all macrobiotics are vegetarians as some consume fish.
• Natural hygiene in its classic form recommends a diet principally of raw vegan foods.
• Raw veganism is a diet of fresh and uncooked fruit, nuts, seeds, and vegetables.
• Freeganism — argues all commodities produced under capitalism, not only those from animal sources, contribute to exploitation and avoid buying anything, including food. Freegans thus focus on acquiring foods and other commodities by means other than purchasing, including foraging for wild plants and gardening with intent to cause as little violence and ecological destruction as possible through their consumption. While many freegans are vegans or vegetarians, others will eat animal products that would otherwise go to waste on the belief that doing this does not encourage further animal exploitation.
• Dietary veganism - where vegans don't use animal products of any kind, dietary vegans restrict their veganism to their diet

Roadside restaurant, Kullu, India

Some terms for non-vegetarian diets are neologisms derived from word "vegetarianism", used to describe a diet that accepts some subset of meat in addition to vegetarian diet:

• Pollotarianism (sometimes called pollo-vegetarianism) — A diet in which the only animals consumed are fowl.
• Flexitarianism (sometimes called semi-vegetarianism) — A diet that consists primarily of vegetarian food, but that allows occasional exceptions.

Vegetarian cuisine

Main article: Vegetarian cuisine

For lacto-ovo vegetarians, this generally means food that excludes ingredients derived directly from the death of animals, such as meat (including fish), meat broth, cheeses that use animal rennet, gelatin (from animal skin, bones, and connective tissue), and for the strictest, even some sugars that are whitened with bone char (e.g. cane sugar, but not beet sugar) and alcohol clarified with gelatin or crushed shellfish and sturgeon.

History

Etymology

It is often claimed that the word "vegetarian" was invented with the formation of the first Vegetarian Society in 1847. In fact, their website claims "[they] created the word vegetarian from the Latin 'vegetus' meaning 'lively' (which is how these early vegetarians claimed their diet made them feel) in 1847..." [3] and "[the] term vegetarian has nothing to do with vegetables, but is taken from the Latin word for lively - vegetus." [4].

However, the Oxford English Dictionary cites two quotations pre-dating the 1847 foundation of the Vegetarian Society:

1839 F. A. KEMBLE Jrnl. Residence on Georgian Plantation (1863) 251 If I had had to be my own cook, I should inevitably become a vegetarian.

and

1842 Healthian Apr. 34 To tell a healthy vegetarian that his diet is very uncongenial with the wants of his nature.

Though, the OED also notes that "The general use of the word appears to have been largely due to the formation of the Vegetarian Society at Ramsgate in 1847."

Miscellaneous

• Vegetarianism may have been common in the Indian subcontinent as early as the 2nd millennium BCE. Hinduism preaches that it is the ideal diet for spiritual progress and Jainism enjoins all its followers to be vegetarian.

• Vegetarians in Europe used to be called "Pythagoreans", after the philosopher Pythagoras and his followers, who abstained from meat in the 6th century BCE. They followed a vegetarian diet for nutritional and ethical reasons. According to the Roman poet Ovid, Pythagoras said: "As long as Man continues to be the ruthless destroyer of lower living beings he will never know health or peace. For as long as men massacre animals, they will kill each other. Indeed, he who sows the seed of murder and pain cannot reap joy and love."

• In looking for parallels in Jewish and Christian antiquity for these practices, some vegetarians feel a kinship with Nazarite, Essene, and Ebionite practices.

• Gnostics were also primarily vegetarians for spiritual reasons. They believed by eating animals a person would be grounding themselves to this world and their body, which they believed was an evil created by the Demiurge, because they would be consuming divine sparks and thus sinning.

• Buddhist monks of the Mahayana school (100 CE) have also historically practiced vegetarianism.

• Many Hindu scriptures advocate vegetarian diet. The Tamil Hindu literature of Tirukural (circa. 100—300 CE) advocates vegetarianism.

• Baptised or Confirmed Sikhs practice vegetarianism in keeping with their discipline.

• Vegetarianism in the 19th century was associated with many cultural reform movements, such as temperance and anti-vivisection. Many "new women" feminists at the end of the century were vegetarians.

• Seventh-day Adventists and Rastafarians, denominations founded in the 19th and 20th centuries, are also frequently vegetarian.

• The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has a dietary law called the Word of Wisdom that promotes a non-strict form of near vegetarianism. It states that meat from domestic animals and wild beasts is to be eaten sparingly, but also states that things were placed on this earth for man's use.

• Vegetarian societies (apart from India) were first formed in majority meat-eating European countries both as a means to promote the diet and to gather for mutual support. By 2000, most Western and developing nations had functioning vegetarian societies. The countries that were first to establish societies are still the ones most likely to have the greatest proportion of vegetarians within their populations.

• The International Vegetarian Union, a union of all the national societies, was founded in 1908.

• In the Western world, the popularity of vegetarianism steadily grew over the 20th century as a result of nutritional, ethical, and more recently, environmental and economic concerns.

• Today, Indian vegetarians, primarily lacto vegetarians, are estimated to make up more than 70% of the world's vegetarians. They make up 20–42% of the population in India, while less than 30% are regular meat-eaters.

• Surveys in the U.S. have found that roughly 1–2.8% of adults eat no meat, poultry, or fish.

Motivations and benefits

People choose vegetarianism for various reasons:

Religious and spiritual

Main article: Vegetarianism and religion

The majority of the world's vegetarians are Hindu. Hinduism and Jainism teach vegetarianism as moral conduct while Christianity and Islam generally do not. Buddhism in general does not prohibit meat eating while Chinese Mahayana Buddhism encourages vegetarianism. Minor denominations that advocate a fully vegetarian diet include the Seventh-day Adventists, the Rastafari movement and the Hare Krishnas.

Hinduism

Most major paths of Hinduism hold vegetarianism as the ideal, this is for a variety of reasons based on different beliefs. For many Hindus, it is a textually-advocated belief in ahimsa (nonviolence), to avoid indulgences (as meat was considered an indulgence), and to reduce bad karmic influences. For others (especially within Vaishnavism and the bhakti movements), it is because their chosen deity does not accept offerings of non-vegetarian foods, which the follower then accepts as prasad.

Judaism

In the Jewish religion people are permitted to consume meat, with some restrictions. Jewish law, or halakha, forbids the eating of meat and dairy products together. It also restricts which animals can be eaten to mammals with split hooves and that chew their cud, fish with fins and scales, and certain bird species. Animals are also required to be slaughtered in a manner that minimizes their suffering. There are also a large number of Jews who are vegetarians by choice with no relation to their religious beliefs.

Jainism

Main article: Jain vegetarianism

Followers of Jainism hold vegetarianism as the ideal diet in a similar fashion to the Hindu traditions but with a greater emphasis on the principle of all-round non-violence (ahimsa). Some particularly dedicated individuals go to the extent of straining insects from drinking water (which is often first boiled), wearing masks to avoid inhaling small, airborne creatures, and eating only fruits that have fallen naturally from trees. A strict Jain is not supposed to consume honey or rooted plants such as onions, potatoes, or garlic as well as abstaining from any meat or animal products. It is believed that the people who want to sublimate their spiritual life should abstain from use of forbidden food.

Buddhism

Japanese temple vegetarian dinner

Main article: Vegetarianism in Buddhism

Chinese Mahayana Buddhists oppose meat eating for their followers but not necessarily for those who do not practice Chinese Buddhism. The Mahayana schools of Tibetan and Japanese Buddhism do not consider a vegetarian diet to be essential, nor do Theravadin Buddhists, although Theravadin Buddhists will refuse meat if the animal has been killed specifically for them.

Christianity

Main article: Christian vegetarianism

While vegetarianism is not common in Christian thought, the concept appears periodically. According to the Bible, in the beginning, men and animals were vegetarian. After the flood, God permitted the eating of meat. Some Christians believe that the Bible explains that, in the future, men and animals will return to vegetarianism.

Some Christian leaders, such as the Reverend Andrew Linzey, have supported the view that Jesus was a vegetarian. Some people believe that the Book of Daniel specifically promotes vegetarianism as beneficial. However, common theology argues that in this instance Daniel is rejecting food that is considered to be unholy by his faith (eating food that had been sacrificed to pagan gods), not strictly meat. Specifically, some believe that the New Testament of the Bible says that a person's dietary choice is of small consequence and should not be a point of confrontation.. Therefore, some modern Christians consider vegetarianism as a perfectly acceptable personal choice that has many of the same implications as fasting.

Islam

Main article: Islam and vegetarianism

Islam allows consumption of meat, if the meat is "halal," which is meat slaughtered by the Islamic standards, and disallowed meat is haram, which is non-permitted meat or meat not slaughtered according to Islamic standards.

Muslim vegetarians are very rare as the consumption of meat is intertwined with religious sacrificing of animals (namely caprids, bovines and camels) in Eid ul-Adha. Moreover, according to Islamic jurisprudence it is wrong to forbid that which is not forbidden. When travelling to locations where it is difficult to get halal meat, Muslims might eat fish or vegetables but they must be sure that the vegetarian food does not contain wine or other alcoholic taste enhancers. However, meat-eating is not compulsory and one may abstain from it if they do not like the taste or need to abstain for health reasons.

Sikhism

Followers of the Sikh religion are divided in their opinion on whether their religion opposes meat consumption for Sikhs. Although many Sikhs eat meat, some Sikhs abstain from the consumption of meat and eggs.

In the case of meat, the Sikh Gurus have indicated their preference for a simple diet and depending on what one sees as a simple diet could be meat or vegetarian. Passages from the Guru Granth Sahib (the holy book of Sikhs, also known as the Adi Granth) says that fools argue over this issue. The tenth guru, Guru Gobind Singh, prohibited the Sikhs from the consumption of halal or Kutha (any ritually slaughtered meat) meat because of the Sikh belief that sacrificing an animal in the name of God is mere ritualism (something to be avoided).

Neopaganism

Many who practice a faith that falls under the Neopagan umbrella also practice vegetarianism. Since Neopaganism generally emphasizes the sanctity of Earth and Nature, a vegetarian diet is sometimes adopted out of concern for the environment and/or animal welfare. Conversely, many Neopagans view the consumption of meat as natural and a part of the cycles of life. The only qualms they may have is with the way in which animals are treated prior to being killed and the method in which they are killed.

Health

Many people who choose a vegetarian diet do so as a way of improving their health. The possible benefits include improved health for nutrition reasons and improved food safety.

Nutritional

Main article: Vegetarian nutrition

A fruit stall in Barcelona

The American Dietetic Association and Dietitians of Canada have stated: "Vegetarian diets offer a number of nutritional benefits, including lower levels of saturated fat, cholesterol, and animal protein as well as higher levels of carbohydrates, fiber, magnesium, potassium, folate, and antioxidants such as vitamins C and E and phytochemicals."

Some studies suggest that vegetarian food helps keep body weight under control and reduces risk of Heart diseases . American vegetarians tend to have lower body mass indices, lower levels of cholesterol, lower blood pressure, and less incidence of heart disease, hypertension, some forms of cancer, type 2 diabetes, renal disease, osteoporosis, dementias such as Alzheimer’s Disease and other disorders that may be diet-related. The health of a group of 27,000 vegetarians is currently being followed at a UK centre of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC), the largest study of the long-term effects of vegetarian diet.

Although potentially diet related, most studies do not control for other lifestyle variables that typically coexist with vegetarianism, for example increased exercise as part of a general concern for physical wellbeing that often accompanies the adoption of a vegetarian lifestyle.

Food safety

E. coli

Vegetarianism is believed to reduce E. coli infections, and proponents point to the link between E.coli contaminations in food and industrial scale meat and dairy farms. The most recent E. coli outbreak in North America has once again demonstrated this link because the source of this E. coli was traced back to "a large ranch in the Salinas Valley that has a beef cattle operation" about a half-mile from the spinach fields where spinach became contaminated.

There are several variants of E. coli and they can be found in a healthy human gut, but the deadly strain, O157:H7 was virtually unheard of until the 1980s. It is believed that this strain evolved in the digestive system of grain fed cattle on large industrial farms. On these farms, grain is used as cattle feed because it is nutrient-packed and increases efficiency. A side effect of feeding grain to cattle is that it increases the acidity of their stomach — and it is in this acidic gut that the deadly O157:H7 thrives.

In 2003, an article in the Journal of Dairy Science found that between 30 and 80 percent of cattle carry E. coli O157:H7. In that same journal article, a quick fix was pointed out: Cows that are switched from a grain diet to a forage diet saw, within 5 days, a 1,000 fold decrease in the abundance of strain O157. But until changes like this are made, the source of many E. coli outbreaks will continue to be high-yield meat and dairy farms.

More likely, rather than change the way cattle are fed or raised on industrial farms there will instead be pressure to find technological solutions like food irradiation, plans for HACCP, or simply cooking burgers longer. Suggestions like this have led some experts, like Professor of Science and Environmental Journalism at UC Berkeley, Michael Pollan, to suggest that "All of these solutions treat E. coli O157:H7 as an unavoidable fact of life rather than what it is: a fact of industrial agriculture."

Advocates such as Howard Lyman and groups such as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals have promoted vegetarianism in response to cases of E. Coli infection.

E. Coli can be still acquired from any excrement-contaminated food or human commensal bacteria. The recent case of spinach and onions with E. Coli contamination in the U.S. shows that vegetarian foods are also susceptible to food safety concerns. In 2005, some people who had consumed branded triple-washed, pre-packaged lettuce were infected with E. Coli. In fact E. coli outbreaks have also involved unpasteurized apple and orange juice, milk, alfalfa sprouts, and even water, though most are from ground meat.

Other food scares

Various animal food safety scares over recent years have led to increased numbers of people choosing a semi-vegetarian or vegetarian diet. These scares have included Avian flu in poultry, foot-and-mouth in sheep, PCBs in farmed salmon, generally high dioxin concentrations in animal products, and artificial growth hormones, antibiotics or BSE in cows. According to various organisations, vCJD in humans is strongly linked with exposure to the BSE agent that has been found in beef. However, it must be noted that vegetables and fruits have a risk of being contaminated by pesticide residue, or due to banned chemicals being used to ripen fruits, because they are consumed directly.

Medical

Sometimes patients of alternative medicine are advised to adhere to a vegetarian diet. These patients are either asked to continue such a diet either for the course of the treatment or for longer durations. Ayurveda and Siddha medicine are examples of medical treatments that prescribe such a vegetarian diet. In such cases, the patient either follows vegetarianism for the defined period or sometimes continues long after the treatment is over.

Physiological

There is considerable debate over whether humans are physiologically better suited to a herbivore, omnivore, or carnivore diet. The Vegetarian Resource Group and others however, have concluded that humans are naturally omnivores.[5][6][7]

The intestines of carnivorous predators are relatively short compared with those of plant-eating animals and human beings. Since meat is more easily digested than plant matter, the elaborate digestive system found in plant-eaters is unnecessary. Herbivores need a much longer intestine to allow sufficient time for the digestion of vegetable fibers. However humans, like most omnivorous and carnivorous mammals, produce the enzyme pepsin in their stomachs, which is mainly of value in digesting animal, not plant, proteins.

Others study statistical information, such as comparing life expectancy with regional areas and local diets. Examples include looking within countries themselves. For instance, life expectancy is considerably greater in southern France, where a semi-vegetarian Mediterranean diet is common (fresh fruit, vegetables, olive oil, goat cheese and fish), than northern France, where an omnivorous diet is more common (also including pork, beef, butter, cows cheese and cream). It must be noted that national life expectancy is affected by many factors, which include access to adequate healthcare and medicine. This makes it difficult to conclusively prove any correlation between regional diets and life expectancy.

Ethical

Main article: Ethics of vegetarianism

Many vegetarians consider the production, subsequent slaughtering, and consumption of meat or animal products as unethical. Reasons for these beliefs are varied and may include a belief in animal rights, an aversion to inflicting pain or harm on other living creatures, or a belief that the unnecessary killing of other animals is inherently wrong. The book "Animal Liberation" by Peter Singer has been very influential on the animal rights movement and specifically ethical vegetarianism and veganism. In developed countries, ethical vegetarianism has become popular particularly after the spread of factory farming, which has reduced the sense of husbandry that used to exist in farming and which has led to animals being treated as commodities. Many believe that the treatment that animals undergo in the production of meat and animal products obliges them to never eat meat or use animal products.

In the West, numerous social justice leaders, such as Cesar Chavez, have adopted a vegan/vegetarian diet in order to communicate an agenda of social harmony and fellowship.

Environmental

Main article: Environmental vegetarianism

Environmental vegetarianism is the belief that the production of meat and animal products at current and likely future levels, especially through factory farming is environmentally unsustainable. Industrialization has led to intensive farming practices and diets high in animal protein, primarily in developed nations and mainly the United States. According to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) "Most of the world's population today subsists on vegetarian or near-vegetarian diets for reasons that are economic, philosophical, religious, cultural, or ecological." Thus, the main protest of environmental vegetarians is primarily of intensive farming in developed nations.

According to the United Nations Population Fund "Each U.S. citizen consumes an average of 260 lb. of meat per year, the world's highest rate. That is about 1.5 times the industrial world average, three times the East Asian average, and 40 times the average in Bangladesh."

All modern, intensive farming practices consume large amounts of fossil fuel and water resources and lead to emissions of harmful gases and chemicals. Animal agriculture is one of the largest sources of greenhouse gases — responsible for 18% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions as measured in CO₂ equivalents. By comparison, all transportation emits 13.5% of the CO₂. It produces 65% of human-related nitrous oxide (which has 296 times the global warming potential of CO₂) and 37% of all human-induced methane (which is 23 times as warming as CO₂). It also generates 64% of the ammonia, which contributes to acid rain and acidification of ecosystems [8]. The habitat for wildlife provided by large industrial monoculture farms is very poor, and modern industrial agriculture is a threat to biodiversity compared with farming practices such as organic farming, permaculture, arable, pastoral, and rainfed agriculture.

Animals fed on grain, and those that rely on grazing need far more water than grain crops. According to the USDA, growing the crops necessary to feed farmed animals requires nearly half of the United States' water supply and 80% of its agricultural land. Additionally, animals raised for food in the U.S. consume 90% of the soy crop, 80% of the corn crop, and a total of 70% of its grain. In tracking food animal production from the feed trough to the dinner table, the inefficiencies of meat, milk and egg production range from 4:1 energy input to protein output ratio up to 54:1. The result is that producing animal based food is typically much less efficient than the harvesting of grains, vegetables, legumes, seeds and fruits. This criticism could not be applied to animals that are grazed rather than fed, especially those grazed on land that could not be used for other purposes.

Labor Conditions

Some groups promote vegetarianism as a way to offset poor treatment and working conditions of workers in the contemporary meat industry. These groups cite studies showing the psychological damage caused by working in the meat industry, especially in factory and industrialized settings, and argue that the meat industry violates its laborers human rights by delegating difficult and distressing tasks without adequate counselling, training and debriefing.

Economical

Similar to environmental vegetarianism is the concept of economic vegetarianism. An economic vegetarian is someone who practises vegetarianism from either the philosophical viewpoint concerning issues such as public health and curbing world starvation, the belief that the consumption of meat is economically unsound, part of a conscious simple living strategy or just out of necessity. According to the WorldWatch Institute, "Massive reductions in meat consumption in industrial nations will ease the health care burden while improving public health; declining livestock herds will take pressure off of rangelands and grainlands, allowing the agricultural resource base to rejuvenate. As populations grow, lowering meat consumption worldwide will allow more efficient use of declining per capita land and water resources, while at the same time making grain more affordable to the world's chronically hungry." Economic vegetarians also may include people from third world countries who follow a de facto vegetarian diet due to the high price of meat

Psychological

Many vegetarians choose to be so in part because they find meat and meat products aesthetically unappetizing. Some cite a hypothetical example, that the carcass of a cow lying in a forest would attract a real carnivore like a wolf or leopard, but would disgust most human beings. However, it must be noted that since early humans were scavengers as much as hunters according to several anthropologists, this may not hold true in a natural setting. The metaphor by Douglas Dunn is that if one gives a young child an apple and a live chicken, the child would instinctively play with the chicken and eat the apple, whereas if a cat were presented with the same choices, its natural impulse would be the opposite. In a similar assertion, Scott Adams, who is also a vegetarian, once wrote humorously that a human presented with a live cow would be more likely to try to moo at it than to attempt to eat its backside.

Moreover, research on the psychology of meat consumption suggests that consumers of meat may need to use defense mechanisms such as psychological numbing to distance themselves from the notion that they are eating animals.

Cultural

Some people are vegetarian because they were raised in a vegetarian household. Others may have become vegetarians because of a vegetarian partner, family member, or friend. Some people live in a predominantly vegetarian society (such as India), and so adopt this practice to be social, to avoid ostracism, or because of the difficulty of buying meat in such a society .

Health effects

Scientific study of mortality and health on diet found that both vegetarian and non vegetarian with optimal life style choice in regard to exercise, smoking, and good nutrients intake live equally long and healthy life. Vegetarian diet seems to reduce heart problem though its overall effect on longevity was no difference once other life style variables are factored in.

It is clear that many people live healthy lives as vegetarians (vegetarian Olympic athletes are often cited) and though it is commonly thought that vegetarians have higher rates of deficiencies in iron or calcium, studies endorsed by the ADA found that this was not true. These nutrients can be found in green leafy vegetables, grains, nuts, and fortified juices or soymilk.. Studies suggest that a vegetarian diet may help keep body weight under control and reduce the risk of heart disease .

Longevity

A 1999 metastudy compared six major studies from western countries. The study found that the mortality ratio was the lowest in fish eaters (0.82) followed by vegetarians (0.84) and occasional meat eaters (0.84) and which was then followed by regular meat eaters (1.0) and vegan (1.0) [9]. In "Mortality in British vegetarians", it was concluded that "British vegetarians have low mortality compared with the general population. Their death rates are similar to those of comparable non-vegetarians, suggesting that much of this benefit may be attributed to non-dietary lifestyle factors such as a low prevalence of smoking and a generally high socio-economic status, or to aspects of the diet other than the avoidance of meat and fish."

Among these meta studies, the Adventist Health Study is an ongoing study of life expectancy in Seventh-day Adventists following different behaviour patterns. The researchers found that a combination of different lifestyle choices could influence life expectancy by as much as 10 years. Among the lifestyle choices investigated, a vegetarian diet was estimated to confer an extra 1-1/2 to 2 years of life. The researchers concluded that "the life expectancies of California Adventist men and women are higher than those of any other well-described natural population" at 78.5 years for men and 82.3 years for women. The life expectancy of California Adventists surviving to age 30 was 83.3 years for men and 85.7 years for women. However, this study of Adventist health study is again incorporated into meta studies titled "Does low meat consumption increase life expectancy in humans?" published in American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, which again made the similar conclusion that occasional/low meat eating and other life style choices significantly increase the life expectancy. The study also concluded that "Some of the variation in the survival advantage in vegetarians may have been due to marked differences between studies in adjustment for confounders, the definition of vegetarian, measurement error, age distribution, the healthy volunteer effect, and intake of specific plant foods by the vegetarians." It further states that "This raises the possibility that a low-meat, high plant-food dietary pattern may be the true causal protective factor rather than simply elimination of meat from the diet." In a recent review of studies relating low-meat diet patterns to all-cause mortality, Singh noted that "5 out of 5 studies indicated that adults who followed a low meat, high plant-food diet pattern experienced significant or marginally significant decreases in mortality risk relative to other patterns of intake."

Health concerns

There is some speculation that feeding infants soy-based formula can disrupt normal development and cause early puberty.

Nutrition

Main article: Vegetarian nutrition

Western vegetarian diets are typically high in carotenoids, but relatively low in long-chain n-3 fatty acids, and vitamin B₁₂. Vegans can have particularly low intake of vitamin B₁₂ and calcium. High levels of dietary fiber, folic acid, vitamins C and E, and magnesium, and low consumption of saturated fat could all be beneficial aspects of a vegetarian diet. The health impact of high carbohydrate and n-6 fatty acid intake, and relatively low consumption of protein, retinol and zinc, is unclear as vegetarians probably have levels close to those recommended.

Vegetarian diets typically contain similar levels of iron to non-vegetarian diets but this has lower bioavailability than iron from meat sources, and its absorption can be inhibited by other dietary constituents. Vegan diets are usually higher in iron than vegetarian diets because dairy products are low in iron. Iron stores are lower in vegetarians than non-vegetarians and iron deficiency is thus more common in vegetarian and vegan women and children (adult males are rarely iron deficient), but iron deficiency anaemia is rare.

Food plants do not contain vitamin B₁₂ so the main sources for vegetarians are dairy products and eggs, fortified foods and dietary supplements. Vitamin B₁₂ deficiency can be detected in vegetarians, and particularly vegans, but clinical evidence of deficiency is uncommon. This is due to the fact that the human body preserves B₁₂, using it without destroying the substance.

A vegetarian diet does not include fish — a major source of Omega 3; although some plant-based sources exist such as soy, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, canola oil and, especially, hempseed and flaxseed. Plant foods can provide alpha-linolenic acid but not the long-chain n-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA. Eggs and dairy products contain low levels of EPA and DHA. Vegetarians, and particularly vegans, have lower levels of EPA and DHA than meat-eaters. The health effects of low levels of EPA and DHA are unknown but it is unlikely that supplementation with alpha-linolenic acid will significantly increase their levels.

Vegetarians and vegans have low intakes of vitamin D, which is involved in calcium metabolism. Calcium intake in vegetarians is similar to non-vegetarians but vegans typically have a substantially lower intake. Consequently vegans have an increased risk of fractures but the evidence for impaired bone mineralisation in vegetarians is less clear.

Supplementation of vitamin D creates a challenge for vegans because of the sources of the vitamin D available in dietary supplements. Vitamin D₂ comes from plants, but in order for the body to convert it to usable vitamin D, sunlight is required. If an individual has adequate sunlight exposure (and a nutritionally balanced diet) the body can manufacture its own vitamin D given, meaning that D₂ as a supplement is rather questionable. The preferred form of supplemental vitamin D, because it is more easily used by the body, is D₃, which comes from two sources: fish liver and sheep's wool, both problematic for vegans, although vegetarians would be able to use the latter.

Vegetarian diets typically have sufficient protein intake as long as a variety of plants sources are available and consumed -- it is rare for vegetarians in developed countries to have insufficient protein intake. Proteins are composed of amino acids, and a common concern with protein acquired from vegetable sources is an adequate intake of the "essential amino acids", which cannot be synthesized by the human body. While dairy and egg products provide complete sources for lacto-ovo vegetarians, the only vegetable sources with all eight types of essential amino acids are soy, hempseed, amaranth, buckwheat and quinoa. It is not necessary, however, to obtain protein from these sources -- the essential amino acids can also be obtained by eating a variety of complementary plant sources that, in combination, provide all eight essential amino acids (eg. rice and beans, or hummus and pita). While it is a common myth that complementary protein sources must be combined within a single meal to maximize nutritional benefit, a varied intake of complementary sources over the course of a day (or a number of days) is generally sufficient, especially when protein consumption is substantially above minimum physiological requirements.

Demographics

One observational study in British Medical Journal found that high childhood IQ was associated with vegetarianism in later life. According to the study, "Higher IQ at age 10 years was associated with an increased likelihood of being vegetarian at age 30 [...] IQ remained a statistically significant predictor of being vegetarian as an adult after adjustment for social class (both in childhood and currently), academic or vocational qualifications, and sex".

Country-specific information

Main article: Vegetarianism in specific countries

Labeling used in India to distinguish vegetarian products from non-vegetarian ones.

Around the world vegetarianism is viewed in different lights. In some areas there is cultural and even legal support, but in others the diet is poorly understood or even frowned upon. In many countries food labeling is in place that makes it easier for vegetarians to identify foods compatible with their diets.

In India, not only is there food labeling, but many restaurants are marketed and signed as being either "Vegetarian" or "Non-Vegetarian". People who are vegetarian in India are usually Lacto vegetarians, and therefore to cater for this market, the majority of restaurants in India that say they are vegetarian do not serve food made from eggs, while most Western vegetarian restaurants do.

Vegetarian Textiles

Leather

Vegetarian Chelsea boots

Some vegetarians will choose not to wear leather. Because leather footwear and other accessories are expected in some workplaces, there are many specialist suppliers that sell belts, shoes, safety boots, jackets and briefcases that share the appearance of leather but are in fact made of synthetic materials generically known as Vegan leather. High-end fashion designer Stella McCartney is famed for her refusal to use leather, fur or other animal products in her range of clothes and accessories and is thus popular with wealthier vegetarians.

Silk

Many vegetarians refuse to wear silk because of the large number of silkworms that are killed in the harvest. Alternatives have begun appearing lately, such as silk that is harvested from abandoned cocoons, called "Peace Silk"[10], and plant based sources, such as finely woven bamboo cloth, or soy ("Azalon") cloth.

Wool

Although shearing sheep for wool does not usually involve the death of the animal, many vegetarians, especially vegans, do not wear or use wool. A common alternative for cold-weather wear is polar fleece, which has the added benefit of being a recycled product.

External links

• The Vegetarian Society Educational Charity in the UK
• ChooseVeg.com A Guide To Vegetarian Living
• The Veggie Hub Central Vegetarian Resource on the Web
• GoVeg.com A Beginner's Guide
• Killing-Free Nutrition
• Ekopedia (English version), a wiki on alternative lifestyles
• The Vegetarian Times
• Cornucopia Wholefood - Vegetarian Information
• The Spoon Revolution
• Vegetarian Restaurant Directory Free Worldwide Listings & Reviews

Further reading

• Tristram, Stuart (2006). Bloodless Revolution: A Cultural History of Vegetarianism from 1600 to Modern Times W W Norton & Co Ltd. ISBN 0-393-05220-6
• Tristram, Stuart (2006). The Bloodless Revolution: Radical Vegetarians and the Discovery of India HarperCollins. ISBN 0-00-712892-4 Reviewed
• Spencer, Colin (1993) The Heretic's Feast: History of Vegetarianism Fourth Estate. ISBN 1-85702-078-2