The Various Vegetarian Diets (with simple definitions and explanations!)

I've noticed for a while that people seem to be confused about vegan and vegetarian diets. Of course, they don't know that they're confused. They just seem to think that vegan and vegetarian diets are the same. But I'm here to say that, although they are similar, as are other diets that involve eating less meat, they are different from each other. I hope that the following list of definitions and explanations for various vegetarian diets clear things up and I also hope that it will give people insight into diets that may not be as commonly known such as vegetarian diets that still involve the consumption of fish and seafood or poultry and fowl. I will then follow up by talking about how some people follow the various vegetarian diets a bit differently. I have written about my pescetarian diet in the past and I have also written about my proctitis, which is the reason why I follow a pescetarian diet. So go check out both of those posts to get a bit of insight on pescetarian diets, how I follow the pescetarian diet a bit differently, and my experience with proctitis and how my pescetarian diet fits into it.

Vegan: Does not eat anything that comes from an animal. This means no meat, no dairy, and no eggs.

Vegetarian: Does not eat any meat. This means no poultry, no pork, no beef, no fish or seafood, etc. They may still consume dairy and eggs. Some people might therefore call this a lacto-ovo vegetarian diet ("lacto" meaning dairy and "ovo" meaning eggs). Some vegetarians might choose to follow a lacto-vegetarian diet, therefore excluding eggs and meat from their meals, or some might choose to follow an ovo-vegetarian diet, therefore excluding dairy products and meat from their meals. Some vegetarians may choose not to consume dairy or eggs, however, if they do this, I would consider them to be vegan.

***Big Difference Between Veganism And Vegetarianism***: Vegans do not consume anything that comes from an animal. Vegetarians do not eat any meat but they still consume dairy and eggs or they may only choose to consume dairy but no eggs or eggs but no dairy. Therefore, if a vegetarian does not consume meat, dairy, and eggs, they would technically be vegan. This is my opinion based on definitions. People may still say that they are vegetarian even though they follow a vegan diet, however, most people who follow a vegan diet say that they are vegan since vegans are a strict form of vegetarianism and people who understand the differences between vegans and normal vegetarians will understand that vegans do not consume anything that comes from an animal.

The following diets are technically not vegetarian but the people following these diets may follow a vegetarian diet most of the time and eat fish, seafood, poultry, or fowl once in a while or a few times a week. They are options for people who do not want to cut meat entirely out of their diets.

Pescetarian (or Pescatarian): The only meat that they eat is fish and seafood. This means no poultry, no pork, no beef, etc. but still eats fish, shellfish, and crustaceans. They still consume dairy and eggs. An easy way to think of this is thinking that pescetarians are basically vegetarians who still eat fish and seafood but they are technically not considered to be vegetarians since fish and seafood are meats. They may, however, follow a mostly vegetarian diet and only eat a few meals each week that actually contain fish and seafood.

Pollotarian: The only meat that they eat is poultry and fowl. This means no pork, no beef, no fish or seafood, etc. but still eats chicken, turkey, and other types of poultry and fowl. They still consume dairy and eggs. An easy way to think of this is thinking that pollotarians are basically vegetarians who still eat poultry and fowl but they are technically not considered to be vegetarians since poultry and fowl are meats. They may, however, follow a mostly vegetarian diet and only eat a few meals each week that actually contain poultry and fowl.

Pesce-Pollotarian: The only meat that they eat is fish, seafood, poultry, and fowl. This means no pork, no beef,, etc. but still eats fish, shellfish, crustaceans, chicken, turkey, etc.. They still consume dairy and eggs. An easy way to think of this is thinking that pesce-pollotarians are basically vegetarians who still eat fish, seafood, poultry, and fowl but they are technically not considered to be vegetarians since fish, seafood, poultry, and fowl are meats. They may, however, follow a mostly vegetarian diet and only eat a few meals each week that actually contain fish, seafood, poultry, and fowl.

Different Approaches To Various Vegetarian Diets:

• Some people choose to cheat and eat some meat on holidays or while on big vacations or only so many times a year. The people who choose to do this most likely follow vegetarian, pescetarian, pollotarian, or pesce-pollotarian diets. Vegans are so strict with their diets and they make that choice so they most likely wouldn't cheat.

• Some people follow more flexitarian diets where they still eat poultry, pork, beef, fish and seafood, etc. but they choose to eat a lot less than people normally do and they limit their meat intake for health reasons or just to help a bit when it comes to not harming animals. However, this is not considered to be vegetarian.

• People follow the various types of vegetarian diets for different reasons. The big reason for following vegetarian diets is so as not to harm animals. Another common reason is for health; either the person wants to eat a healthier diet or they have a health problem which leads them to switching to a healthier diet. Some people follow different diets for religious reasons. So, it's important not to judge a person if they are following a diet where they still eat certain types of meat or they sometimes eat meat. 

I hope this clears things up and that this post helps people to better understand the various vegetarian diets.

Cheers,

Kay