Vegan Vs Vegetarian- How Does It Differ?

Food awareness is a topic which has caught the eye of many people over the recent years. What food you consume to how much food you consume, everything is taken into account for greater health benefits. With the advent of food science, different diets have also emerged in the process. This has given rise to the concept of vegan food which has caught all the health conscious people by storm. But the concept of vegetarian food already existed which leads us to the argument between the two types of diet. In this article we will look at the difference between vegan food and vegetarian food and what is best suited.

So what exactly are the definitions of vegans and vegetarians. A vegetarian is a person who consumes vegetables and does not include any kind of meat in their diet. They consume dairy products like milk, cheese and butter and some people even include eggs in their meal. On the other hand, a vegan person is pretty similar to a vegetarian person, with the only difference lying in the fact that vegans do not include any kind of dairy items in their diet. They even avoid taking honey, eggs, meat or any other animal based products.

Vegetarians are further divided into Lacto, Ovo, Demi and Semi Vegetarians which depends on what kind of exemptions they are having to certain foods. Similarly vegan diet is also divided into Ethical, Plant Based and Raw vegans which are categorized based on the variety and procedure of food intake.

The nutrition levels between the vegan and vegetarian diets also vary. Though both the diets have a low level of saturated fatty acids and cholesterol, they do have differences in the rest of the components. In the vegetarian diet the protein intake is higher due to the consumption of dairy products like milk, cheese and butter. The vegan diet will have a lesser level of protein which can be fulfilled by consuming soya based items.