Beginning Vegetarianism - a journey

The vegetarian lifestyle is unique and often looked upon with curiosity for those of us who can’t imagine life without a cheeseburger. But eating vegetarian is a great way to stay healthy, and increase your energy and metabolism along the way. It is a terrific way to lose weight, keep your cholesterol under control, and prevent many diseases that we meat eaters are prone to.

In its most basic form, a vegetarian doesn’t eat meat products. There are many different types of vegetarians, however. The main classifications are:

* Lacto-ovo-vegetarian: Eats both dairy products and eggs. This is the most common type of vegetarian diet.
* Lacto-vegetarian: Eats dairy products but not eggs.
* Vegan: Does not eat dairy products, eggs, or any other animal product.
* Fruitarian. A type of vegan diet where very few processed or cooked foods are eaten. Consists mainly of raw fruit, grains and nuts. Fruitarians believe only plant foods that can be harvested without killing the plant should be eaten
* Macrobiotic: A diet followed for spiritual and philosophical reasons. The macrobiotic eating style aims to maintain a balance between foods seen as ying (positive) or yang (negative). The diet progresses through ten levels, becoming increasingly restrictive. Not all levels are vegetarian, though each level gradually eliminates animal products. The highest levels eliminate fruit and vegetables, eventually reaching the level of a brown rice diet.
Some people say that they choose a vegetarian lifestyle because they want to prevent cruelty to animals because of the way they are processed for human consumption. Others decide to go vegetarian because it truly is a healthier lifestyle. Whatever the reason, there is medical proof that vegetarians are much healthier than meat eaters.

They suffer less from ailments such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, and even some form of cancers. Because organic foods are grown without pesticides, the vegetarian isn’t introduced to these harmful chemicals so they don’t have them in their bodies to do the damage that science is starting to prove can be the causes of some serious diseases.

If you are thinking of becoming a vegetarian, you could be making a lifestyle change that will better your way of life and make you feel better in the process. While it can be a difficult transition, you will most likely find that you aren’t missing meat in your diet at all. So go ahead and give it a go. Cut out the meat and start eating the vegetables and see if you are cut out to eat strictly vegetarian..