A Look at the Three Major Types of Vegetarianism Essay

Nothing will benefit human health and increase the chances for survival oflife on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet. AlbertEinstein What is Vegetarianism? Vegetarianism is the practice of not eating meator some animal products, depending on the degree of vegetarianism. There arevarious types of vegetarianism, each with its own benefits, but also its owndifficulties. The first of the three main types, and most common, is Ovo-lacto.Ovo-lacto vegetarians eat no meat (red meat, poultry, or seafood), but do eateggs and dairy products. The second type is Lacto. Lacto vegetarians do not eatmeat or eggs, but do eat dairy products. The last, and strictest, of the typesis vegans. Vegans do not eat meat, eggs, dairy products, foods containing animalby-products, or even honey. Vegans oftentimes do not even use products such asleather, angora, wool, silk, or any product tested on animals. Besides the threemain types, there are also people who choose not to eat red meat, but do eatpoultry and seafood. There are also a few offshoots of vegetarianism, such asrawliving foodists and fruitatarians. Why Vegetarianism? There are severalreasons why people choose to become vegetarians. A few of the more commonreasons are the health benefits, the terrible treatment of livestock animals,and harm to the environment. Health benefits of vegetarianism are tremendous. Avegetarian diet will help prevent cancer, prevent heart disease, lower bloodpressure, and prevent or even reverse diabetes. Eating less meat reduces yourrisk of a heart attack by 50, and a vegan diet reduces the risk by 90. Avegetarian diet also reduces the risk of E-coli. Diseases and bacteria oftenslip through meat inspection. Nine thousand US citizens become ill each yearfrom contaminated meat. Livestock are forced to live in terrible conditions, aretreated horribly, and are brutally killed. They are often branded with hotirons, tails cut off, teeth removed, and castrated, all without anesthesia. Theanimals are malnourished so their meat will be the right color andtexture. They are injected with harmful antibiotics, forcing the animal...