If you are vegetarian would you eat eggs or drink milk? What about vegans? Is there a difference?

Question

In the hindu/indian culture.. it is common to find vegetarians that dont even touch eggs but will drink milk...BUT when fasting (there are many special fasts in our culture) they won't touch either and stay away from other things too... So eggs/milk = meat or not?

Answer 1

Vegans don't eat anything that comes from animals. Period. Vegetarians don't eat things produced from the killing of an animal.

Answer 2

A vegetarian : Does not eat any type of animal flesh (meat). So A vegetarian does not eat beef, chicken, fish, lamb etc etc. E.g. anything that you would consider to be a living animal, a vegetarian will not eat. (Some people eat fish or chicken and say they are a vegetarian, well they are not technically correct. Probably they just don't eat red meat.) A vegetarian may eat milk products, honey etc. A Vegan: Does not eat anything that is produced by an animal. So a vegan will not eat any kind of meat but also a Vegan will not eat anything that an animal had to produce eg a vegan will not eat any dairy products like cheese or milk. Also, a vegan will not eat honey because bees had to make that honey for us to eat. Also a vegan probably won't wear any leather products. If you pay attention to your diet there is no reason that you cannot be very healthy if you eat only a vegetarian or vegan diet.

Answer 3

There is also a class of Vegans(though the precise term doesn't spring to mind at the moment) that not only wont eat any animal product, but also wont eat any plant product that would harm the plant. In explanation they would be ok with an Orange as you can pick it off the tree leaving the tree intact, but something like a Carrot where you are ripping the plant itself up to eat the root would be a no-no.
My wife is an Ovo-lacto vegetarian and I learned quite a bit in the first couple of years we were together. All sorts of thing you and I might think of as vegetarian actually are not. Virtually every soup is built around a chicken stock, for example. Jello contains gelatin which is an animal product. The bulk of Mexican restaurants (though far from all of them) use lard in the beans, so thats out. A true vegetarian with time will lose the enzymes that allow them to break down meat proteins, meaning even if they decided to start eating meat again they couldnt just start right up without problems.

Answer 4

Both explanations sound pretty accurate to me. Then again, in my day "vegetarian" simply meant you didn't eat meat of any kind. The term has been modified, updated and just plain subverted to include any meat other than beef.

I think that people like to wear these terms like a badge of honor, and try to make the definition fit as long as they don't eat red meat. Let's face it, everyone probably knows people who consider themselves Vegans/Vegetarians/etc and seem to take a special delight in informing others at meal times.

Anyway, don't worry about the animals - eat for your health. So when considering a pure vegan diet, be sure you get a balanced intake of protein, carbs and fats.

OK, this doesn't really answer your question, does it? Ah well, hopefully something to think about.

In closing: An interesting book currently out - "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan. If you're serious about what you eat - read this book!

Answer 5

Vegetarian had become an umbrella term. Some people call themselves vegetarian even when they consume fish or poultry. If you look up the term somewhere online, it will break it down for you into the different classes. I know of the ovo-lacto class which I belong to myself. That means I eat eggs and milk, but no meat. And then I think it goes either ovo...you eat eggs, no milk, no meat, and then there is lacto class that eats dairy and no eggs and meat. If you eat NO eggs, NO dairy, and NO meat (including fishies and birdies) you are considered Vegan. This bunch must be the most careful in their dietary selections so to ensure they get ALL the nutrients otherwise---bad things man, bad things. I had a friend who called herself a vegetarian as she bit into a big juicey crispy chicken sandwich. Personally, I see the point in bothering to label yourself vegetarian just because you give up RED meat. But then again, one could argue...why call yourself a vegetarian if you continue to consume animal products in general (eggs and dairy). But...that's why there are Vegans. The friendly people who spare animals in every way...they don't wear their carcasses either, which I think is super cause I have yet mustered the self-discipline to walk past a cute leather handbag or pair of shoes. Hope that big blurby helps ya!

Answer 6

eggs and milk are not meat. Meat is flesh. A lacto-ovo vegetarian will eat eggs and milk. One thing that all vegetarians have in common is that they do not eat any sort of flesh and stay away from products with animal fat, gelatin, animal rennet cheeses etc.

Now I do know a family of Hindus that say they are vegetarian BUT will eat gelatin. In my book..that is not being a vegetarian because gelatin is harvested from a slaughtered calf.

Just to clear up some wrong information someone wrote:

1. Vegans do eat wheat..wheat is a grain and vital.
2. No vegetarian eats fish...ever.

Answer 7

There are different types of vegetarians who eat different things. Here's the breakdown.

vegetarian = doesn't eat meat, fish, or poultry
lacto-vegetarian = veg who drinks milk, but doesn't eat eggs
ovo-vegetarian = veg who eats eggs, but doesn't drink milk
lacto-ovo vegetarian = veg who drinks milk and eats eggs
vegan = doesn't eat meat, fish, poultry, milk, eggs, or anything that comes from an animal

Milk includes milk products such as cheese and yogurt and all that stuff. But eggs and milk are NOT considered meat, and are safe for vegetarians. Not for vegans, though.

Answer 8

A vegan is someone who will not eat any product from an animal. This means eggs, milk etc. A vegetarian will not eat animals that have been killed for food but will eat products that come from an animal such as milk and eggs.

Answer 9

I am confused in this too. I drink milk, eat eggs, and cheese some, but I don't eat much meat

Answer 10

Vegans do not eat eggs, dairy or wheat products. You can be a vegetarian and eat eggs, dairy and wheat. Some vegetarians will sometimes eat fish and still call themselves vegetarian as long as they have not eaten meat.