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The Pros And Cons Of Vegetarianism

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A vegetarian diet does not consist of meat, poultry, or fish instead fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, and whole grains. Depending on the person, a vegetarian diet may consist of eggs and dairy products. There are also different classifications of vegetarians. For example, lactovegetarians will consume dairy, and lacto-ovovegetarians will consume both dairy and eggs. Lastly, semivegetarians will consume fish but no meat or poultry. It is not known when vegetarianism started, but oldest record dates to the 6th century BC in Europe. A group of religious followers of the Orphic mysteries banned sacrificing animals and the consumption of any animal product. In Greece, Pythagoras was developing ideas that linked meat consumption and reincarnation, and this ultimately caused some to avoid consuming meat. This lead to a phenomenon called that Pythagorean way of life which was practiced by other philosophers and writers until the 19th century. The reasons for switching to a vegetarian diet was similar to some mentioned today. The ancient Greeks believed that like humans, animals could communicate and think, and humans were responsible to care for the animals. In addition, the Greeks believed that consuming meat was impacted the mind and health. This lead them to think that a plant-based diet cleansed the soul and aligned them closer to god. There are no data recorded about vegetarianism after the 6th century BC. The next known period dates to 1847 when the first vegetarian society

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