Vegan
The Vegan Diet, excluding all animal products, focuses on fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds. Often motivated by ethical concerns for animal welfare and environmental sustainability, vegans also believe their diet offers health benefits like lower rates of obesity and heart disease. More restrictive than Vegetarian and Pescatarian diets, it's also broader in scope than the Plant-Based Diet, encompassing lifestyle choices beyond just food. While generally nutritionally complete, Vitamin B12 supplementation is commonly recommended.
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Vegan Diet
A Vegan Diet is one that excludes all animal products including meat, dairy, eggs, and honey. Many adherents follow this diet out of a belief in animal rights and a desire to reduce animal suffering. Some vegans also believe that a plant-based diet offers various health benefits, such as lower rates of obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, and type 2 diabetes.
The Vegan Diet emphasizes fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds. It's more restrictive than the Vegetarian Diet, which allows dairy and eggs, and the Pescatarian Diet, which includes fish.
Vegans often see their diet as more than just a choice about what to eat; it's a lifestyle commitment to avoiding harm to animals and often extends beyond diet to avoiding products tested on animals or made from animal-derived materials.
Compared to the Plant-Based Diet, while both prioritize plant foods, the Vegan Diet is typically stricter and includes ethical considerations beyond just food. On the flip side, compared to the Raw Food Diet, the Vegan Diet is more flexible as it doesn't restrict cooking methods and temperatures.
Vegans believe that their diet can provide all necessary nutrients (though Vitamin B12 supplements are commonly recommended), promotes a healthy weight, and is good for the environment due to its lower impact compared to diets that include animal products.