There are a lot of terms and phrases used to describe people’s eating habits, especially those that avoid certain animal products in their diet. Vegan, plant-based, vegetarian, flexitarian, and pescetarian among others are commonly used, but what exactly do all of these terms mean ?

What is the difference between vegetarian and vegan?

A vegan is someone who avoids consuming all animal products. This means they do not eat any animal products and generally do not purchase goods that use animal products in their making (e.g. leather goods, down coats, etc.). Vegans avoid consumption of meat, poultry, fish, dairy, eggs, honey, and any items that contain those ingredients.

There are many different types of vegetarian eating. A vegetarian is generally someone that avoids consumption of meat and poultry and may or may not avoid consumption of fish, dairy, egg, and/or honey. You may hear vegetarians referred to as pescetarians or lacto-ovo vegetarians. These are different types or subcategories of vegetarians, classified by what type of animal products they consume.

Pescetarians: still consumes fish products
Lacto-ovo vegetarians: still consume dairy and egg products
- Lacto-ovo vegetarian is the most common “type” of vegetarian and is often what people mean when they say they are vegetarian

What does it mean to eat a plant-based diet?

The term plant-based can vary depending on who is using it. Generally, plant-based or plant-forward eating can be used interchangeably and describes those that put a heavy emphasis on consuming plant foods: fruits, vegetables, grains, seeds, nuts, legumes, beans, and oils.

Eating plant-based does not necessarily mean that you are vegetarian or vegan but you do heavily focus on eating plant foods.

It’s easy to understand this term if you replace the word meat with plant. A meat-based eater likely would not only consume meat but would put a heavy focus on meat or animal products in their diet. Similarly, a plant-based eater may not only consume plant foods and may include animal products on a more moderate basis.

A vegetarian or vegan likely follows a plant-based diet whereas a plant-based eater may or may not be a vegetarian or vegan.

What about flexitarians?

You may have heard the word flexitarian used in the past few years. A flexitarian, a combination of the words flexible and vegetarian, is a term used to describe someone who generally consumes a vegan or vegetarian diet but may occasionally consume meat, poultry, fish, dairy, eggs, or honey. It’s essentially a term used for those that consume a vegetarian or vegan diet a majority of the time and may include animal products in their diet on a more infrequent basis.

This term is very similar to plant-based. Plant-based tends to describe the person’s diet itself whereas flexitarian describes the person; you may refer to yourself as a flexitarian whereas you would eat or follow a plant-based diet.

Why do some people choose to avoid animal products in their diet?

There are many reasons to follow a plant-based diet. Reasons for choosing to do so vary from person to person. You may choose to incorporate more plant foods into your diet for health, environment, and/or animal welfare purposes.

Health

Plant foods have a lot of health benefits! There’s a reason our parents were always trying to get us to eat our fruits and veggies as a kid.

Plant foods are loaded with healthy nutrients including fiber, vitamins, minerals, and healthy fats. All of which are important for our overall health and well being.

Plant-based diets are good for heart health, showing in many studies to reduce risk for cardiovascular disease and improve cardiovascular profiles [1].

As a note, though, not all plant-based diets are created equal in terms of health benefits.

A study in 2017 looked at intake of healthful plant-based diets (those that focused on fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, legumes, oils, tea/coffee) as well as unhealthful or less-healthful plant-based diets (those that had a higher proportion of highly processed and refined foods, fruit juices/sweetened beverages, fried foods, sweets) and the impact on coronary heart disease (CHD) risk. The study found that those with a more healthful plant-based diet compared to the unhealthful plant-based diet had a significantly lower risk of CHD. Adding to the understanding that not all plant-choices are created equal and choosing more healthful options (those that are less processed/refined) more often than you choose unhealthful options is important for your overall health and cardiovascular risk [2].

A plant-based diet may also be beneficial for the prevention of type 2 diabetes. A 2019 meta-analysis published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Internal Medicine looked at 9 studies in their review and concluded that plant-based dietary patterns, especially those with a focus on healthful plant-based options, may be beneficial in the prevention of type 2 diabetes [3].

Environment

Plant foods require a lot less environmental input (water and carbon, specifically) than that required in the production of animal products. This article from UCLA does an excellent job of explaining this in an easy, broken-down way. Click here to check it out!

Animal Welfare

Many people who choose to become vegetarian, vegan, or those who just eat more plant foods do so to be more compassionate to animals. By avoiding or reducing consumption of animal products, you are reducing animal deaths (meat, poultry, fish) as well as potentially harmful or unpleasant living conditions for animals during their life (eggs, dairy). Many find that they do not need animal-based foods to have a healthy diet and do not wish to harm or cause suffering of another animal to benefit themselves. This is a very personal decision and not the reason all of those who follow a plant-based diet choose to avoid animal products.

Resources:

[1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6089671/

[2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5555375/

[3] https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/article-abstract/2738784

[4] https://www.sustain.ucla.edu/our-initiatives/food-systems/the-case-for-plant-based/