What Is a Vegan Diet?
A vegan diet is a strict form of vegetarian diet that excludes the consumption or use of any animal products or byproducts like meats, seafood, eggs, fish, dairy, goose-fat shoe polish and leather products. In short, a vegan diet totally dispenses products that are partially or wholly from animals.
This diet type is gaining more popularity these days, especially among younger individuals. It is because people have started considering veganism as a way of living that focuses on practices in which no forms of exploitation or cruelty to animals is carried out, neither for food, clothing or other purposes, for the benefits of animals, humans and the environment.
A vegan diet excludes products like[2]
What Is a Vegetarian Diet?
A vegetarian diet is a restrictive diet type that excludes eating meat products or byproducts of animal slaughter. Unlike a vegan diet that totally excludes animal products/byproducts, a vegetarian diet includes animal byproducts such as eggs, milk and honey as they do not involve animal slaughter.
In vegetarianism, these products are excluded:
Vegan Vs Vegetarian
Both vegan and vegetarian diet types mainly involve the use of plant-based products, the foods have a high amount of nutrients like fibre, plant proteins, folate, vitamins C, A, and E, thiamin, riboflavin, folate, calcium, magnesium, and iron compared to non-vegetarians foods. [4]
However, they have certain differences that include:
1. Glycemic control
Both vegan and vegetarian diets are known to lower glucose levels and control diabetes, however, according to a study, glucose control was found to be better in a vegan diet compared to a conventional diabetic diet. [5]
2. Lowers body weight and risk of heart diseases
A low-carbohydrate vegan diet can help in reducing body weight and risk of heart diseases, compared to a high-carbohydrate lacto-ovo-vegetarian diet (milk and eggs but no meat products). [6]
3. Lower intake of calories
Though both diet types are plant-based, a vegan diet type is associated with lower calorie intake. Therefore, a vegan diet can effectively lower the risk of obesity, diabetes and other chronic diseases.
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4. Low energy
Some studies have mentioned that as a vegan diet is low in calories, it may cause low energy in vegans compared to vegetarians in which foods like dairy are included which are a good source of energy. [1]
5. Bone health
Some plant-based foods like kale and broccoli are rich in calcium, however, not as much as dairy products like milk, yoghurt and tofu. Therefore, veganism may cause certain bone-related diseases due to deprivation of calcium, compared to vegetarianism.
6. Certain toxins
A study has shown that eggs contain food-related carcinogenic toxins like dioxin that may increase the risk of cancer in some. As a vegetarian diet also includes the consumption of eggs, it can be less preferred over a vegan diet. [7]
