• What is a vegetarian / vegan?

• Why do people become vegetarian / vegan?

• So what do you eat?

• What about calcium?

• Where do you get your protein?

• What about vitamin B12

• Why don’t vegans/vegetarians eat fish?

• Do vegans/vegetarians wear wool, leather, silk,

"Nothing will benefit human health and
 increase the chances of survival of life
 on earth as much as the evolution to a
 vegetarian diet."

 - Albert Einstein.

What is a vegetarian / vegan?

Vegetarians and vegans do not eat any meat, poultry, game, fish, shellfish or crustacea, or slaughter by-products.

Lacto-ovo-vegetarian. Eats both dairy products and eggs. This is the most common type of vegetarian diet.
 
Lacto-vegetarian. Eats dairy products but not eggs

Vegan, does not eat dairy, eggs or honey.

The use and abuse of animals by the food industry is huge
Vegans & vegetarians are proving that humans can live without eating meat.
This is precisely why the vested interests increasingly attack anyone in the animal rights sector. Can you imagine how the Meat Industry might react if vast numbers of people stopped eating meat and decided a vegan / vegetarian diet was more appropriate in the 21st century?

Supporting animal welfare campaigns is important as well – you are drawing attention to the cruelty and exploitation that goes on, especially in factory farming, and your reasons for being vegan/vegetarian.

Why do people become vegetarian / vegan?

There are several reasons why a person may have a vegetarian or vegan diet, for ethical, health, spiritual or environmental reasons. (Or any combination of these);

Ethical - Exploitation of animals especially in factory farms

Health - Meat is implicated in various health issues, especially heart disease

Spiritual - Several religions have animal welfare as an important part of their beliefs

Environment - The meat industry is responsible for environmental destruction, and is an unsustainable means of feeding the world.

So what do you eat?

Vegans and vegetarians enjoy all kinds of foods -plant foods like fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts, seeds, legumes (beans, lentils and split peas) - and fungi (mushrooms, yeasts). Vegetarians eat eggs & milk based foods such as cheese & yoghurt, as well as drinking milk. However for vegans, finding vegan food is easier than it's ever been. You can easily obtain Soya milk, vegan cheese, chocolate, ice-cream, mayonnaise, sausages, yoghurt... there are immense choices. More and more companies now sell vegetarian & vegan food. There are wide choices in every supermarket and health store.

To help you find foods that are vegan, but are not yet labelled as such, the Animal Free Shopper is a useful pocket guide to vegan products.

...cows are large animals that take up a large amount of space. They require land on which to walk, grass on which to graze, and plenty of water to drink. They also eat grain and other crops as food. If cows were removed from our diet, all of the land they use, all of the water they drink, and all of the crops they consume would be available for human consumption. As the population increases, the need for land increases, the need for water increases, and the need for food increases. By putting meat on the menu, less land, less water, and less food is available...
.
Enviroveggie.com

"If a man earnestly seeks a righteous life, his first act of abstinence is from animal food..."

- Leo Tolstoy

      Some Offsite Links

 Jewish vegetarianism

 Islamic vegetarians

 Christian vegetarian association

 Seventh Day Adventists

  Hare Krishna
 

What about calcium?

Calcium is a major mineral essential for healthy bones and teeth

Most people who want to increase their calcium intake would naturally reach for a carton of milk or some cheese. However, this really is not a ‘natural’ response! Whole cow's milk is suited to the nutritional needs of calves who double their weight in 7 weeks and grow to 150 Kg within a year. Human beings are the only species to drink the milk of another species, and we are the only species to drink milk as adults. About 90% of the world's adult population is deficient in the enzyme lactase, needed to digest milk properly. The enzyme lactase is present in infants for digesting their mother's milk, but levels decline after children reach the age of five. Many adults who lack the enzyme suffer from bloating, cramping, wind and diarrhoea if they drink milk.

Vegan sources of calcium include;
tofu, green leafy vegetables, seeds and nuts.. If prepared using calcium sulphate, tofu contains more than four times the calcium of whole cow's milk. The calcium in green vegetables such as kale, is absorbed as well or better than the calcium from cow's milk. Some soya milks e.g. Provamel, Plamil, Granovita are fortified with calcium. Other calcium rich foods include black molasses, edible seaweeds, watercress, parsley and dried figs.

The UK Department of Health recommended Reference Nutrient Intake (RNI) for calcium is as follows. The RNI is similar to the Recommended Daily Amount used previously in the UK.

A high protein diet, especially derived from animal foods, causes calcium loss in the body. The higher sulphur-to-calcium ratio of meat increases calcium excretion, and a diet rich in meat can cause bone demineralisation. Scientific reports show that an animal-protein diet causes greater loss of bone calcium in the urine than the all-vegetable protein diet. These findings suggest that diets providing vegetable rather than animal protein may actually protect against bone loss and hence osteoporosis.

Only 20-30% of calcium in the average diet is actually absorbed. However, the body does adapt to lower levels of available calcium and there have been no reports of calcium deficiency in adult vegans, despite the fact that the average calcium intake of adult vegans tends to be lower than the recommended optimum.

"It is very significant that some of the most thoughtful and cultured men are partisans of a pure vegetable diet."

-Mahatma Ghandi.

What about vitamin B12

Vegans and vegetarians who don't eat dairy products or eggs need to ensure that they get adequate vitamin B12 for their body's needs. Very low B12 intakes can cause anaemia and nervous system damage. Most vegans consume enough B12 to avoid these problems, but many do not get enough to minimise the risk of heart disease or pregnancy complications.

Vitamin B12 is readily available in a lacto-ovo vegetarian diet through the consumption of eggs and dairy products. However, it is not readily available in vegan diets and alternatives are needed.

The only reliable vegan sources of B12 are foods fortified with B12 such as some plant milks, soy products and breakfast cereals. B12 supplements are another valid option. The source of Vitamin B12, whether in supplements, fortified foods, or animal products, comes from micro-organisms. Humans, as plant eaters, would naturally ingest B12-producing micro-organisms by eating unwashed and naturally grown fruits and vegetables. However, as vegetables are sprayed, washed, before consumption, the micro-organisms have been eliminated by the time we eat it. Therefore the lack of B12 is not caused by the plant-based diet, but rather, by modern food production methods.
 

Some plant foods are considered as possible sources of B12. These include spirulina, sea vegetables, fermented products like miso and tempeh, and mushrooms. However, it has been shown that they either do not contain enough B12, or do not contain the right kind of B12 to meet the body's requirements.

If relying on fortified foods check the labels carefully to make sure you are getting enough B12. For example, if a fortified plant milk contains 1 microgram of B12 per serving then consuming three servings a day will provide adequate vitamin B12. Others may find the use of B12 supplements more convenient and economical.

Why don’t vegans/vegetarians eat fish?

A fish is not a vegetable - well that’s my opinion!

A lot of people believe you need to eat fish to stay healthy - it contains Essential Fatty Acids, particularly Alpha-Linoleic Acid.
However, fish is not the only source of omega 3 acids.
Flaxseed oil contains twice as much as is found in fish oil!

The following foodstuffs are good sources of Omega 3

• · Flaxseeds (linseeds)
• · Mustard seeds
• · Pumpkin seeds
• · Soya bean
• · Walnut oil
• · Green leafy vegetables
• · Grains
• · Spirulina

Do vegans/vegetarians wear wool, leather, silk?

Generally no. Most of these products are seen not just as a by-product from the meat industry, but as a profitable part of it. In fact sheep are reared for their wool, and the mutton is a by-product.

Lots of alternatives are available

Even if you ride a motorbike, you don't you have to wear leather for safety, because there are plenty of synthetic alternatives, such as Cordura jackets & trousers, boots made from ‘Lorica’ and even including race approved Kevlar and body armour.

"The time will come when men such as I
will look upon the murder of animals
as they now look upon the murder of men."

- Leonardo Da Vinci