Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat, and may also include abstention from by-products of animal slaughter.
Vegetarian cuisine is based on food that meets vegetarian standards by not including meat and animal tissue products. Lacto-ovo vegetarianism includes eggs and dairy products. Lacto vegetarianism includes dairy products but not eggs, and ovo vegetarianism encompasses eggs but not dairy products. The strictest form of vegetarianism is veganism, which excludes all animal products, including dairy, honey, and some refined sugars if filtered and whitened with bone char. There are also partial vegetarians, such as pescetarians who eat fish but avoid other types of meat.
Sylvester Graham was an American Presbyterian minister and dietary reformer known for his emphasis on vegetarianism, the temperance movement, and eating whole-grain bread. His preaching inspired the graham flour, graham bread, and graham cracker products. Graham is often referred to as the "Father of Vegetarianism" in the United States of America.
A lacto-vegetarian diet is a diet that abstains from the consumption of meat as well as eggs, while still consuming dairy products such as milk, cheese, yogurt, butter, ghee, cream, and kefir.
A plant-based diet or a plant-rich diet is a diet consisting mostly or entirely of plant-based foods. Plant-based foods are foods derived from plants with no animal-source foods or artificial ingredients. While a plant-based diet avoids or has limited animal products, it is not necessarily vegan. The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics states that well-planned plant-based diets support health and are appropriate throughout all life stages, including pregnancy, lactation, childhood, and adulthood, as well as for athletes.
Diet in Hinduism varies with its diverse traditions. Many Hindus follow a Lacto-vegetarian diet that they believe is in sync with nature, compassionate, respectful of other life forms. Diet of non-vegetarian Hindus can include fish, poultry and red meat in addition to eggs and dairy products. For slaughtering animals and birds for food, meat-eating Hindus often favor jhatka style preparation of meat since Hindus believe that this method minimizes trauma and suffering to the animal. Ancient Hindu texts describe the whole of creation as a vast food chain, and the cosmos as a giant food cycle.
An omnivore is an animal that has the ability to eat and survive on both plant and animal matter. Obtaining energy and nutrients from plant and animal matter, omnivores digest carbohydrates, protein, fat, and fiber, and metabolize the nutrients and energy of the sources absorbed. Often, they have the ability to incorporate food sources such as algae, fungi, and bacteria into their diet.
Lacto-ovo vegetarianism or ovo-lacto vegetarianism is a type of vegetarianism which allows for the consumption of animal products, such as eggs and dairy. Unlike pescetarianism, it does not include fish or other seafood. A typical ovo-lacto vegetarian diet may include fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts, seeds, herbs, roots, fungi, milk, cheese, yogurt, kefir, and eggs.
William Lambe, FRCP was an English physician and early veganism activist. He has been described as a pioneer of vegan nutrition.
Russell Thacher Trall was an American physician and proponent of hydrotherapy, natural hygiene and vegetarianism. Trall authored the first American vegan cookbook in 1874.
Lucius Duncan Bulkley was an American dermatologist and alternative cancer treatment advocate.
Emmet Densmore was an American businessman, physician and natural hygiene advocate who promoted an early version of the Paleolithic diet.
Jacques Louis Buttner was a French American physician and vegetarianism activist.
An Essay on Abstinence from Animal Food, as a Moral Duty is a book on ethical vegetarianism and animal rights written by Joseph Ritson, first published in 1802.
Arnold Lorand (1865–1943) was an Austrian physician and longevity researcher.
Charles Walter Forward was a British animal rights and vegetarianism activist and historian of vegetarianism.
Josiah Oldfield TD, M.A., D.C.L., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P was an English lawyer, physician and promoter of his own variant of fruitarianism which was virtually indistinguishable from lacto-ovo vegetarianism.
Daniel Hartman Kress was a Canadian physician, anti-smoking activist, Seventh-day Adventist missionary and vegetarian.
Reasons for Not Eating Animal Food is an 1814 pamphlet on vegetable diet, which was written by Sir Richard Phillips. It was originally written in 1811, and published multiple times by the author.
Alexander Haig F.R.C.P. was a Scottish physician, dietitian and vegetarianism activist. He was best known for pioneering the uric-acid free diet.
