Most of my non vegetarian readers might have skipped this article by now. We live in a country where people love to gorge on meat and sea food. People usually look forward to weekends when something special is cooked at home and that special is a preparation made of meat or fish, which explains why there is a long queue in front of meat shops on Sunday. 

We try to please our guests by treating them to a non vegetarian fare as it is considered special. Now that there are many incidences of meat being injected with hormones and fish being preserved in chemicals, many people are becoming wary of non vegetarian food and are switching over to a vegetarian diet. Many animal friendly organizations like PETA are roping in celebrities to propagate vegetarianism.   

Some choose to be a vegetarian just for its health benefits. Some are bound by their culture and abstain from non vegetarian food. Vegetarians are of different types. They are as follows-

Pescetarian - Pescetarians are people who are vegetarians, but includes fish in their diet. Their diet includes  vegetables, nuts, fruits, grains, beans, dairy products, eggs, shellfish, and fish; it just won't include meat. Many meat eating people are adopting this diet with the hope of turning vegetarians.

Lacto Vegetarian -  'Lacto ' means milk in Latin. Lacto vegetarians are people who consume dairy products like milk, cheese, butter, cream, and yogurt along with their diet of vegetables. They don't eat eggs, beef, pork, poultry, fish, shellfish, and other animal flesh products.

Ovo Vegetarian - "Ovo" means egg in Latin; hence people who follow ovo vegetarian diet includes eggs along with vegetables in their diet while abstaining from meat and dairy products. The eggs are mostly preferred from free-range animals and not the caged ones.

Ovo-lacto Vegetarian - This is a combination of lacto and ovo vegetarian diets, so people can include  milk, butter, cheese, eggs, and other dairy products in their diet. Meat products and fish are excluded.

Flexitarian or Semi-Vegetarian - Semi vegetarian is a quite popular term used to denote ' almost ' vegetarians. They are under a mostly vegetarian diet, but sometimes eat fish and meat as well. The boundaries to this diet is flexible.

These were some of the types of vegetarian diet, but Veganism is something different. A vegan is strictly prohibited to use animals for food, clothes or any other function. They won't consume any food that is related to animals like milk and even honey. The most common influences for becoming a vegan are health, ethical, moral, environmental, spiritual and religious values, along with animal rights and welfare issues.

There are some things to be kept in mind before becoming a vegetarian or vegan. Our body needs vitamin B12 , iron , protein which are found in plenty and naturally in animal foods. So, vegetarians need to consume  food which are a good source of such nutrients like natural soy, lentils, flax seeds, walnuts, sunflower seeds, dried raisins, red peppers and citrus fruits.

From Prince Harry to our very own Amitabh Bachchan, there are many who have adopted vegetarianism and are happy about it. Apart from being animal friendly, a vegetarian diet also keeps us light and happy, unlike the omnivorous one which contains more arachidonic acid which spurs neurological changes and drags down one's mood. No wonder, vegetarianism is a growing trend, nowadays.