Vegetarian Pyramid

Types of Vegetarianism

• Pescatarian - An individual that exclude meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy products from their diet, but include fish.

• Lacto-Ovo Vegetarian - A person that excludes meat, poultry, and fish, but include eggs and dairy in their diet. (The pyramid shown above is an example of a lacto-ovo diet)

• Lacto-Vegetarian - A person that excludes all meat, poultry, fish, and eggs, but includes dairy.

• Ovo-Vegetarian - An individual that includes eggs but does not include meat, poultry, fish, or dairy in their diet.

• Vegan - A person that excludes all animal products or byproducts from their diet.  This includes meat, poultry, fish, eggs and dairy. 

Health Benefits

Vegetarians often consume lower amounts of total fat, saturated fat and cholesterol than meat eaters.  Many studies have shown that vegetarians have a lower risk for obesity, coronary heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes millitus, and several forms of cancer.  A vegetarian diet can be very beneficial for health if special attention is placed on eating a variety of foods to prevent deficiency of essential nutrients.

Risks

A vegetarian diet can be dangerous if special attention is not placed on preventing deficiency of essential nutrients. Some vitamins and minerals are only present in animal products, but careful planning can ensure that you are getting everything your body needs.  Click here to learn what nutrients you must consider when planning your vegetarian diet.

sources:

http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4777

http://fnic.nal.usda.gov/nal_display/index.php?info_center=4&tax_level=2&tax_subject=257&topic_id=1359

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/vegetarian-diet/HQ01596