By Maria D’Aloiso
To start off with the basics, there are many different types of vegetarianism:
Flexitarian: Mostly plant-based diet, sometimes will have meat.
Pescatarian: No red meat, white meat or fowl. They will have fish, seafood, eggs and dairy.
Pollotarian: No red meat, fish and seafood. They will eat poultry and fowl.
Lacto-ovo vegetarian: No red meat, white meat, fish or fowl. They will eat dairy and eggs.
Ovo vegetarian: No red meat, white meat, fish, fowl or dairy. They will eat eggs.
Lacto vegetarian: No red meat, white meat, fish, fowl, or eggs. They will eat dairy.
Vegan: No animal products or by-products. No meat, fish, fowl, eggs, dairy, honey, beeswax and gelatin. Some vegans won’t even wear silk, leather and wool.
Not only do you help the animals and the environment but there are some health benefits by consuming less animal products. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in America. By going vegetarian and/or vegan you can lower your cholesterol levels. Plus, it can decrease your chances of getting any form of cancer and having a stroke. Even if you start to just cut back on meat you can help yourself and the environment. Every little bit counts.
As you are walking around your grocery store look at the other options. For example, instead of regular dairy milk, try non-dairy milk. You have so many options with milk now; almond, soy, cashew, rice, hemp, oat and more. Or many instead of grabbing some ground meat for a taco, try beefless ground crumbles. Who knows maybe you will find a new product that you prefer now over your usual animal product? Get inspired, there are so many recipes out on the internet or in books that are vegetarian or vegan. I guarantee you that there is a vegetarian or vegan version of your favorite dish.
Lately I have found some great alternatives that can be found in a store near you. Instead of your normal beef hamburger, try Lightlife vegan black bean burgers. This burger is the best meatless patty that I’ve had. To start, it is both non-gmo and vegan certified. Then add the fact that one patty has 10 grams of protein! Plus, the taste is so yummy. You can find it in the produce section in Walmart. Next in line, better than a granola bar, Larabars. The original fruit and nut bar. What I find so amazing about these bars is they use only a few ingredients, no more than 9 ingredients. Plus, each bar is minimally processed and non-gmo verified. Not only is it vegan and non-gmo but also gluten free, soy free and kosher. The bars are soft and so delicious. You can find it in the granola bar section in Walmart or Giant Eagle. Recently I wanted to find a new creamer for my coffee and found, Silk almond caramel creamer. This coffee creamer comes in 2 sizes, pint and quart. It surprised me how I don’t find myself dumping in a ton of it my coffee. Plus, the taste is just so good and creamy. Of course it is also non-gmo verified which is a bonus.  You can find it in the dairy section in Walmart. Lastly but certainly not least, a better version with no dairy involved, Silk yogurt. Now listen, it’s been awhile since I had regular yogurt. But Silk’s non-dairy yogurt is way better than your dairy yogurt. It comes in 6 different flavors and I love 5 of them (it comes in black cherry but I just don’t like black cherry). You still get your calcium and vitamin D even if it has no dairy in it. Plus, once again it’s non-gmo verified. You can find it in the dairy section in Giant Eagle.
Vegan Cuts Snack Box Subscription is my newest love. Every month you will receive a box full of 7-10 snacks. They won’t all be sample sizes by the way, it will be a mixture of full and sample size. Another thing is that they try to have mostly non-gmo snacks which is fantastic to me. Can’t have gluten? They will also have mostly gluten-free snacks. It will be a mixture of drinks and snacks, a mixture of junk and healthy snacks. All for just $22.95 a month! You will be amazed how much you will get for that price. Oh and did I mention free shipping?!
Check it: https://vegancuts.com/snackbox
The topic of my next blog article will be about non-gmos.
I am not forcing anyone to change their diet. I just want to spread the word about vegetarian and/or vegan lifestyle. I am not affiliated with any of the products that I talked about. These are just my opinions.
