Vegan vs Vegetarian

Hey guys! I thought today I would continue from the last post by doing a comparison between veganism and vegetarianism.

First of all, let's do a comparison of what the diet actually means. Today I will do a comparison between veganism, Indian vegetarianism, and Western vegetarianism, and go through them from most restrictive to least restrictive.

1. Veganism = can only eat vegetables, fruits, grains, nuts, seeds, beans and pulses.

2. Indian Vegetarianism = same with Veganism + dairy and honey

3. Western Vegetarianism = same with Indian Vegetarianism + Eggs

So what are the differences in terms of health benefits?

Like I said last time, you can theoretically get all the nutrients necessary through veganism. However, due to the restrictive nature of the diet, it can be quite hard to get protein, iodine and iron. In comparison to this, with vegetarianism you can eat egg and dairy which provide all of these nutrients. Dairy is also a great source of calcium and vitamin D.

But there are still some nutrients that are still hard to get even with vegetarianism. For example, plant based iron and zinc are still hard to absorb in comparison to meat based ones. Furthermore, without fish it is very hard to obtain omega-3 fatty acids. So if you do encounter any issues (or are just extra paranoid), remember you can make up for deficiencies with supplements.

There is also one more thing you should watch out with vegetarianism. While its great that you are given more freedom with being able to eat dairy, if you rely too much on them you can be intaking a lot more saturated fat than you want to. If you don't watch out, this can result in obesity and heart diseases. But do remember, you can turn to low-fat on non-fat dairy! Also remember, lactose intolerence is quite common.

So that's it guys! I hope this was particularly helpful if any of you are thinking to switch to vegan/vegetarian or even switch between the two.