So, a vegan diet not only excludes animal flesh, but also dairy, eggs, and other ingredients that come from animals. These include:. Vegetarians and vegans often avoid eating animal products for similar reasons. The largest difference is the degree to which they consider animal products acceptable.
For instance, both vegans and vegetarians may exclude meat from their diets for health or environmental reasons. Vegans also choose to avoid all animal by-products because they believe this has the largest impact on their health and the environment. In terms of ethics, vegetarians are opposed to killing animals for food, but generally consider it acceptable to consume animal by-products such as milk and eggs, as long as the animals are kept in adequate conditions.
As a result, they seek to avoid all animal by-products, regardless of the conditions in which animals are bred or housed. The desire to avoid all forms of animal exploitation is why vegans choose to forgo dairy and eggs — products that many vegetarians have no problem consuming. Vegetarians and vegans differ in their beliefs regarding the use of animals by humans. This is why some vegetarians may consume animal-derived products, whereas vegans do not. Research shows vegetarian and vegan diets tend to be low in saturated fat and cholesterol.
They also tend to contain high amounts of vitamins, minerals, fiber, and healthy plant compounds 3. These may include fruit, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds, and soy products 3. On the other hand, poorly planned vegetarian and vegan diets could result in low intakes of some nutrients, particularly iron, calcium, zinc, and vitamin D 3 , 4. Both diets also tend to contain limited amounts of vitamin B12 and long-chain omega-3 fatty acids, although levels of these nutrients are generally lower in vegans than vegetarians 3.
While vegetarian and vegan diets tend to lean heavily on fruits, legumes , and vegetables, some items might be diary- and meat-free but are still:. Cookies, french fries, candies, and even nut based ice creams may fall into the vegan and vegetarian category yet still contain refined carbohydrates, are highly processed, are high in added sugar, or are deep fried.
Vegetarians and vegans generally consume similar levels of most nutrients. Vegetarians and vegans get enough essential amino acids by eating a variety of plant proteins. The menu offers numerous options for vegetarians and vegans. Vegans may engage in protein combining to obtain a complete mix of amino acids. A study of bone density found the bone density of vegans was 94 percent that of omnivores, but deemed the difference clinically insignificant.
Ethical vegans regard modern beekeeping as cruel and exploitative. Lactose intolerance or a milk allergy can prompt the use of milk substitutes; they are also commonly consumed by vegans. Vegans and many vegetarians choose not to eat foods containing gelatin made from animals. Most commercially manufactured marshmallows instead use gelatin in their manufacture, which vegetarians and vegans avoid, as it is derived from animal hides and bones.
See all examples of vegan. These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors. Translations of vegan in Chinese Traditional.
See more. Need a translator? Translator tool. Or consider coffee or chocolate , two tropical foods often harvested by slaves. Other crops carry hidden but horrific human costs. For instance, workers who process cashews often suffer disfiguring skin damage to their hands. And even the most sustainable small-scale farming often involves killing. The farmer growing your local organic lettuce may poison gophers or shoot deer who threaten the crop.
Pesticides applied to orchards and fruit crops likewise inflict grievous harm on honey bee populations. Unfortunately, gaining consensus on such a redefinition would prove impossible, and the attempt quickly renders the word useless. Revoking the vegan status of crops farmed in particularly unethical ways would require everyone to agree on where to draw the line.
Some people might only want to exclude uncertified palm oil, while others would demand exclusion of dozens more food crops. The word vegan would become meaningless, since nobody could agree on the criteria establishing which foods merit inclusion. Nevertheless, if you want to eat in the least harmful manner, a vegan diet deserves strong consideration.
You can always go beyond the vegan concept when warranted. For instance, vegan chocolate protects cows, whereas fair-trade vegan chocolate protects cows and people. Practically all vegans oppose exploitative methods of food production, even when the item in question happens to be vegan. For the most problematic vegan foods, superior alternatives nearly always exist.
Your food may end up costing more, since fair-trade certified foods and the like invariably carry a premium. But overall, it takes minimal effort and expense to better align your food purchases with your values. Crops grown or harvested in odious ways are best regarded as vegan yet utterly objectionable. Although food production operates under enormously complex ethical realities, we can keep the definition of vegan clear and straight-forward.
Veganism gives us a solid foundation while we work individually and collectively to rid our food system of its remaining injustices. Could any debate reflect greater narcissism than who gets to call themselves a vegan?
Whenever possible, I prefer to sidestep the topic. Or, better yet, sprint in the opposite direction. Focusing on personal identification often draws attention to how you differ from others. This inevitably complicates the task of finding common ground on important points. I try to keep my own choices out of discussions that relate to veganism. The less the conversation focuses on me the better. I think we all have better things to worry about. Expecting decency and integrity from someone just because they follow a vegan diet can leave you bitterly disappointed.
Instead, think of veganism as just one more avenue toward becoming a better person, like telling the truth, keeping your speech kind, and refusing to steal. They therefore commonly define veganism in the most rigid possible terms. But imposing onerous standards, especially upon newcomers, can needlessly repel people. Animal byproducts will automatically disappear as we transition toward a vegan world, as one slaughterhouse after another shuts down.
For that to happen, we must talk about veganism in ways that motivate the majority of people to shift their diets towards plants. To push vegan lifestyles into the mainstream, we must strive to avoid saying things that scare people off. That means discussing the topic in ways that entice and encourage. I often use the foot-in-the-door technique, which seeks to convince people to make a small but immediate change in a vegan direction.
Even the tiniest concession today often leads to much bigger changes tomorrow. What could be more counterproductive than imposing aggressive demands on brand new vegans? Newcomers need to focus on the big picture: ridding their diets of meat, eggs, and dairy products.
Those commitments can feel overwhelming at first. Must we require new vegans to immediately purge their closets of leather shoes, or to worry about the fourteenth ingredient of their shampoo?
I avoid making veganism a big part of my identity. Measure ad performance. Select basic ads. Create a personalised ads profile. Select personalised ads. Apply market research to generate audience insights. Measure content performance. Develop and improve products. List of Partners vendors. What Types of Vegetarian Are There? Featured Video. Read More.
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