Vegetarian Lifestyle

7 Pages 1804 Words

Fad diets are the latest rage in Hollywood right now. Every month, there seems to be a new fad diet in the news. One month people are avoiding carbs, then the next month people say low carb diets are bad for you. The Adkin's Diet is good for you, the Adkin's Diet is bad for you. When it comes to health, people can never make up their minds. One diet that comes to mind that seems to come and go in the news is Vegetarianism. Its popular for a while then it dies down and becomes popular again.
Vegetarians avoid meat, fish, fowl, and in some cases, any animal by-product. There are several types of vegetarians including Ovo-Lacto vegetarians, Vegans, Macrobiotic vegetarians, and Lacto-vegetarians. Ovo-Lacto vegetarians avoid meat but will consume dairy and egg products. Vegans are strict vegetarians who avoid the consumption of eggs, dairy, honey, and other animal products including leather, silk or wool. Macrobiotic vegetarians exclude all meat, poultry, dairy, eggs but may include fish. Lacto-vegetarians refrain from meat and eggs but not dairy. ("Vegetarianism")
Vegetarianism was based on philosophical and religious beliefs. Followers of Hinduism and Buddhism believed in the sacredness of all life and reincarnation of souls. As a result, consumption of animal flesh was prohibited. To this day, Roman Catholic monks still follow the vegetarian lifestyle to fulfill their vows of austerity and self-sacrafice.

There are many reasons why people decide to live the vegetarian lifestyle. Some choose to become vegetarians for ethical reasons, such as the abuse of chickens. Most are bred in factories for eggs or flesh. Most chickens are debeaked to keep from killing each other which in turn prevents them from eating or drinking, leading to their untimely death. Another reason for becoming vegetarian is for ecological reasons such as waste of food, top soil erosion, deforestation, and the energy reality. Many religions encourage a meatles...