I used to think that vegetarianism is about not eating animal meat and just eat only vegetables, but actually it was wrong.
Vegetarianism is about not to eat animal meat like beef or pork or chicken and something like that. The person who does vegetarianism is called vegetarian. Some vegetarians simply just don't eat meat and have fish meat instead, some don't have fish, dairy, and honey at all.
If the dietary habit isn't too biased, for example, eating not only cabbage, cucumbers, and carrots but some soybeans, sesames, and fruits, it is able to live as long as people who are not vegetarians. In fact, some vegetarians live longer than them.
It sounds like you had a misunderstanding that, since "vegetarian" has the beginning of the word "vegetable" in it, vegetarians must eat only vegetables. That would be nutritionally unsound and people couldn't be healthy on such a diet. But, even pure vegetarians like me (so-called vegans) can be perfectly healthy because they can eat a wide variety of grains, fruits, vegetables, beans (legumes), and seeds.
返信削除People who eat fish may call themselves vegetarians, but, according to any accepted definition of the word "vegetarian" they are not. Fishes are animals.
To get reliable information, I urge you to use the website of the Vegetarian Resource Group: http://www.vrg.org/nutshell/nutshell.htm .
Their information is prepared by members who also happen to be nutritionists and other food scientists. They help people who are new to vegetarianism or veganism to eat a tasty and healthy diet. They produce a magazine and conduct regular polls to see how many Americans are _actually_ vegetarians or vegans (not just people who say they are).
Since some people think it's chic and trendy to be vegetarian, they may self-identify as vegetarian even though they regularly eat fish or chicken. This makes it extremely difficult for non-vegetarians to understand what on earth it means to be a vegetarian and causes confusion.
In my opinion, the term should only be used by people who completely and consistently abstain from meat and fish. In the case of "vegans," it means completely abstaining from any animal product whatsoever, including eggs, dairy products, and gelatin.