Vegetarians, Vegans, Raw Foodists, Macrobiotics & more
What do Mahatma Gandhi & Steve Jobs have in common?
By DAVID SCHMEICHEL
March 19, 2006
http://winnipegsun.com/News/FoodFright/2006/03/19/pf-1495094.html
There are almost as many different kinds of vegetarians out there as
there are vegetables themselves. There’s even a name (”flexitarian”)
for those sliders who claim to be vegetarians, but surrender every
once in awhile to their cravings for a meat loaf or filet mignon. For
the uninitiated, here’s a primer:
- Pollo- or pesco-vegetarians: Pescetarians adhere to a vegetarian
diet but also consume fish and seafood, while pollo-vegetarians round
out their diets with chicken and other fowl. Many practitioners avoid
red meat and/or poultry because they don’t want to support factory
farming or other inhumane methods, but will eat meat products from
free-range or cruelty-free farms.
- Lacto- or ovo-Vegetarians: Lacto-vegetarians include dairy products
in their diets, while ovo-vegetarians eat eggs in addition to their
greens. Lacto-ovo-vegetarians (the most common variety in the Western
world) are cool with eating both milk and eggs.
- Vegans: The “truest” vegetarians, dietary vegans omit all animal
products from their diet, including eggs, milk, cheese and honey. The
strictest types also won’t wear leather, wool or silk, and avoid
cosmetics with bees wax or lanolin. Most choose to go vegan because
of ethical concerns or a love of animals, although some are allergic
to dairy products or eggs. Moby, Bryan Adams and Alicia Silverstone
(right) are some famous examples.
- Macrobiotics: Loosely based on Chinese medicine, macrobiotic diets
eschew all processed foods — including flours and sweeteners — in
favour of unrefined foods like beans, whole grains, seaweed, certain
vegetables and fermented foods (pickles, miso, soy sauce). Though
primarily vegan, those who adhere to macrobiotic principles are
sometimes allowed to eat fish. Think Madonna, Gwyneth Paltrow (left)
and John Travolta, to name a few.
- Raw foodists: Usually vegan, these folks won’t eat food with a
temperature above 46.7 C, claiming the cooking process destroys
essential enzymes and/or portions of each nutrient. Some warm their
food slightly, thus negating such destruction, while others (living
foodists) activate enzymes by soaking their food in water before
eating. Demi Moore and Woody Harrelson are practitioners.
- Fruitarians: Taking things even further, fruitarians only eat foods
that can be gathered without harming the plant (an attitude that
typically arises from a holistic approach) and some only eat food
that’s already fallen off the plant itself. Diets include fruits,
nuts and seeds, although some believe fruitarians are more
susceptible to malnutrition than other vegetarians. Apple co-founder
Steve Jobs was a fruitarian in the 1970s (that’s reportedly where the
company got its name), as was Mahatma Gandhi (right) in his later
years.
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