Health, cost and ethical concerns are driving more people around the globe to give up eating meat. Approximately three percent of Americans now consider themselves vegetarian. By embracing a plant-based diet, these consumers are driving sales of vegetarian and vegan products, including meat substitutes (such as veggie burgers, hot dogs); dairy alternatives; and vegetarian- and vegan-specific supplements, apparel, and other lifestyle items.
Vegetarians do not eat any meat, including beef, pork, lamb, chicken, and fish and other seafood. They also eschew foods made from such ingredients, including broth or flavorings. Animal-derived gelatin (in some yogurts and supplement capsules) and rennet (in cheeses) are typically avoided as well. Lacto vegetarians include milk and dairy products in their diets, and lacto-ovo vegetarians eat both dairy and eggs. Vegans eliminate all animal-based foods, including dairy, bee products (honey, beeswax), and less common ingredients such as carmine (a colorant derived from beetle shells) or coral (in supplements).
A growing number of omnivores consider themselves at least part vegetarian, or flexitarian, meaning they seek to drastically reduce the amount of meat they consume—for health and environmental purposes. Reasons for following a vegetarian diet include ethical concerns, such as treatment of animals; health goals, such as weight loss or heart health; and a desire to avoid the synthetic hormones, antibiotics, pesticides, and other environmental toxins present in conventional meats.
The vegetarian diet has been linked to a lower risk for heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. Although most dietary experts agree that it is not difficult to obtain essential nutrients from a wholesome plant-based diet, vegetarians and vegans may need iron, calcium, vitamin B12, and/or zinc supplements, if dietary sources of these nutrients are lacking.
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