Vegetarian

What is a vegetarian?

In general, a vegetarian is someone whose diet does not include certain animal products. 

Why do people become vegetarian?
People choose to be vegetarians for several reasons: 

• Parental preferences.
• Religious or other beliefs.
• Health issues are among the most common reasons for choosing to be a vegetarian. 
• Concern over animal rights or the environment. 
• And lots of people have more than one reason for choosing vegetarianism.

There are five main types of vegetarians:

1.	Semi-Vegetarians aka Flexitarians
	Semi-vegetarians limit their intake of either certain types of meat or the amount of meat. For example, they might eat no red or white meat (beef, pork, venison, etc), but eat fowl and fish. Or they might only eat meat once or twice a week. Someone who only eats fish can also be called a pescatarian. (Purists would say that semi-vegetarians are not vegetarians at all, but I have included them in order to show the complete hierarchy.)
2.	Ovo-Lacto Vegetarians
	The most common type, ovo-lacto vegetarians do not eat any animals, but do eat eggs and dairy products. Subcategories:  * Ovo vegetarians (eat eggs but not dairy)  * Lacto vegetarians (eat dairy but not eggs)
3.	Vegans
	Vegans eat no animal products - no eggs, no dairy, no honey, etc. Some macrobiotic diets fall into vegan, macrobiotic diet restrict not only animal products but also refined and processed foods, foods with preservatives, and foods that contains caffein or other stimulants
4.	Raw/Living Foodists
	Raw or Living Foodists eat only raw food, because enzymes are destroyed by normal cooking processes.
5.	Fruitarians
	Fruitarians eat only fruit, fruit-like vegetables (e.g., tomatoes, cucumbers), and sometimes seeds and nuts. Are vegetarian diets healthful? Most vegetarian diets are low in or devoid of animal products. They’re also usually lower than nonvegetarian diets in total fat, saturated fat and cholesterol. Many studies have shown that vegetarians seem to have a lower risk of obesity, coronary heart disease (which causes heart attack), high blood pressure, diabetes mellitus and some forms of cancer.