It’s not enough to say you don’t eat meat or that you are vegetarian. When it comes to vegetarianism, there are a garden variety of types. No time in history has what you eat played such an important role when it comes to planning dinners or choosing a restaurant when dining out with family and friends. It was only a few decades ago that people generally ate the traditional foods of their heritage.
Vegetarianism can sway from the very restrictive to the flexible, and everything in between. Here is a list to help you when trying to accommodate the different dietary habits of family and friends.
Fruitarian Diet
A fruitarian diet is the strictest of all vegetarian-based diets. It consists of eating fresh fruit along with nuts and seeds only. Even grains are excluded in the fruitarian diet. There are also specific guidelines on when to eat the fruit: One fruit group is consumed at a time with a wait time of between 45 and 90 minutes to eat fruit from a different group. If hunger lingers, you eat from the same group you started with until you are satisfied. There are seven fruit groups in the diet:
- Acidic fruit – Examples are tomatoes, oranges, pineapples, cranberries, tart apples, strawberries, etc.
- Sub acid fruit – Examples are raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, peaches, figs, mangos, etc.
- Sweet fruit – Examples are bananas, grapes, melon, persimmons
- Nuts – All nuts, such as almonds, walnuts, pecans, macadamias, pistachio, etc.
- Seeds – Examples are sesame, pumpkin, sunflower, chia, etc.
- Dried fruit – All dried fruits are allowed, including dates and figs. However, sugar-coated dried fruit is not allowed.
- Oily fruit – Examples are avocados, olives, and coconut.
Vegan Diet
A vegan diet has no food from animals, poultry, or fish. Foods derived from animals, such as dairy products are not part of a vegan diet. Vegans consume only plant-based foods and products. They do eat nuts, seeds, plant oils, and grains. Strict vegans do not eat honey, and they also don’t eat any animal by-products foods like gelatin. Vegans typically embrace a no animal policy in the other aspects of their lives. For example, they don’t wear or use anything made from leather, silk, or wool.
Lacto-Vegetarian Diet
The lactovegetarian diet is plant based with no eating of meat, fish, poultry, or eggs. It differs from a vegan diet because it does include dairy foods like milk, cheese, and yogurt. Some people on a lacto-vegetarian diet wear or use products from animals and others do not.
Ovo-Vegetarian Diet
Eggs and egg products are included in the ovo-vegetarian diet. While eggs are eaten, poultry is not eaten along with meat and fish. Ovo-vegetarians also do not eat any dairy products.
Lacto-Ovo Vegetarian Diet
The lacto-ovo vegetarian diet is the most popular vegetarian diet. Meat, poultry, and fish are excluded from this diet. It does include the eating of eggs, dairy, and any products made from them.
Pescatarian Diet
Fish is eaten on this subset vegetarian diet. Meat and poultry are not on the menu for someone eating a pescatarian diet. They will generally eat dairy and eggs along with grains, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and grains.
Flexitarian Diet
As the name indicates, this diet is flexible regarding the eating of animal types of food. However, meat, poultry or fish is only eaten occasionally. Most of the person’s diet is plant-based. Not strictly vegetarian, the flexitarian leans more to vegetarianism than to being an omnivore (someone who eats both animal and plant foods).
The different types of vegetarian diets have in common the basic premise of eating vegetables, fruits, grains, nuts, seeds, and other plant-based foods. They differ in the degree of strictness depending on what types on non-plant foods are included, mainly dairy, eggs, and fish. While it may seem difficult to plan a meal for vegetarians not knowing what type they are, you can’t go wrong with vegan dishes. Vegan dishes cover the basis of all vegetarian type diets.
References:
- Berkley Wellness. What Type of Vegetarian Are You? Retrieved from http://www.berkeleywellness.com/healthy-eating/food/article/what-type-vegetarian-are-you.
- Fruitarian Diet. Retrieved from https://www.diet.com/g/fruitarian-diet.
- Types of Vegetarian Diets. Retrieved from https://vegetarian-nation.com/resources/common-questions/types-levels-vegetarian/.