Oy. Just this morning I sent a work email to a big chef with the word 'pescarian' (hey, Google didn't tell me I was wrong!) - so now I feel like a complete idiot. Not to mention I'd CC the email to other people. :/

I'm a vegetarian, but I guess maybe I'm a "part-time vegan"--how was that defined, Fit? I cheat sometimes (with food & shoes), but I eat a vegan diet at home and try to be when I eat out, but I'm more flexible with that. I still just call myself a vegetarian though. I don't think I could use the phrase "part-time vegan". Besides, being vegan is kind of a lifestyle--more than just a diet.

How come nothing for SEMI-VEGETARIAN???
I eat chicken and fish ONLY. No reds whatsoever.

well missy, if you eat chicken, that's a meat so you are an omnivore...nothing wrong with it. It was we all are until we choose a different eating style anyway...the way our teeth our built, and our digestive track. I am an omnivore. While I lean more towards white meat, I do occassionally love me a big juicy medium rare steak (like the ribeye I had at Ruth's Chris this past Saturday) so, there ya go!

Frugivore, Raw leafy greens and fresh fruits.

Frugivore, Raw leafy greens and fresh fruits.

I'm an omnivore who doesn't eat red meat. I can definitely see cutting down my meat consumption in the future or becoming a pescatarian, but being 17 and still living with my parents, I don't always have much of a say in planning meals. My family does make an effort to eat meatless every so often.

Missyd - I would put you under Flexitarian if you insist on it but what is wrong with being an omnivore? I seldom eat red meat but when I do I like it a lot.

I don't have any restrictions, I only don't eat what I don't like. Too many rules!

"cravinsugar"

It's curious that you should say we are "built" to consume meats because of our digestive tracks and teeth. If you had actually done study into this through the fields of nutrition, biology and evolutionary progression sciences you would know this to be a false statement.

Animals that are "built" to consume meat have SHORT intestinal tracks, ours are very long. We are not "built" or even readily able to digest meats correctly or healthily. When meat sits in the intestine for too long a period it putrefies and seeps toxic substances into the blood stream, causing various health issues such as cancers and digestive diseases.

The hominid species is not designed to consume meat but rather built to function and thrive on a diet mainly consisting of sweet fruits and leafy greens. Humans are apart of this species and have the same dietary necessities as our primate counterparts.

Say what you wish about ethics both from an animal rights position or environmental, but stating that we are "built" for meat is wholly incorrect and shows a poor education of nutritional and biological education.

Finn,

Thank you for your snotty and "above everyone" attitude in explaining things to me. You still didn't mention anything about our teeth...which aren't razor sharp, but are made for being able to tear apart and chew everything I eat atleast (and know, I didnt' read that in a book, but I am just basing that off of my experience in real life)...I certainly have no problems digesting meats, or chewing them, so maybe there is more to it than just biolgy? I mean, there is a lot more to things than what you read in books. But what do I know...I OBVIOUSLY am unintelligent and beneath YOU when it comes to these things. So, thanks for ruining a bit of my day. And, let me be the first to bend over and say, "Eat This". Since you aren't made to eat meat perhaps you will end up in hospital...if you don't end up in hospital I would find that "curious" since you have such a short intestinal tract...although it could be said that your stretches all the way up to your brain.

It's not snotty, it's just an explanation, and it's actually true, but I'm not saying that because I'm a vegetarian even though obviously it would assumed to be the case. Even though actually I stopped eating meat specifically because I simply don't like eating it. Anyway, about being a semi-vegetarian, I would just call it being an omnivore who doesn't eat red meat because it's not really semi-vegetarian since meat is consumed. I don't really think what we label ourselves is really all that important though. I don't even know if I should bother labeling myself a vegetarian because it implies specific reasons for why I am one which don't necessarily apply.

Omnivore. I'm sorry but humans need meat. And they have for thousands of years. I know several former vegetarians that had to resume eating meat because their health was deteriorating and they felt nauseous all the time.

fleur - human's don't NEED meat. Humans are omnivores and therefore can exist both with and without meat. True carnivores would die without meat. Millions of vegetarians survive on meatless diets and I wouldn't assume everyone needs meat based on the several former vegetarians that you know that felt sick. First of all, do you know their eating habits? Were they eating processed foods and mostly cheese and bread? That can make ANYONE feel sick. EVERYONE needs a proper balanced diet - vegetarian or not.

Cravin, I did not mean to come across as high and mighty or whatever I came across as. I apologize if I've upset you at all, I was simply trying to relay information that may or may not be readily available to you or others.

I am really very sorry if I sounded patronizing, this was truly not my intent.

Since this seems to be a subject you are very emotional about I'll refrain from addressing the topic in too much detail, too factually or too scientifically.

I don't want to press, as I know you're sensitive, but can I ask... How do you know that you are digesting these things well? Have you monitored the process? Have you done experiments based on mood and energy levels as well as taken blood and urine samples? Have you studied the reaction of your blood to these foods or seen the progression of your health after years of consumption? This is what my reply was leaning on, extensive scientific studies as well as well monitored statistics of our relative health in nutrition and diet.

"Fluerfairy"

I appreciate your opinion on the subject but am again, curious, as to where your very definitive statements have originated from. As you might recall from secondary school, if you've reached that level of education yet, settling the blame on one factor (lack of meat, in this instance) does not a diagnosis make. Do you know, for instance, that "most" vegetarians rely on a diet heavy in over processed soy and nutritionally devoid pasta products? Their symptoms of nausea and deteriorating health is very likely due to a lack of minerals and vitamins, not a lack of meat.

Finn, thanks, and i usually am not emotional about this subject, i dont care if people do or don't eat meat unless they are telling me how I should live, which you weren't doing either.

I learned what I learned about the subject in highscool and undergrad school, but didn't major in science. I did learn that humans are classified omnivore's meaning they can eat both meat and veggies (not that they have to), i assumed that meant because their bodies can handle it and there are nutrients they need from both. I studied business and am a financial analyst/consultant, so as you can see I might be able to tell you a thing or two about finances, running a business, internal controls in the government and private sectors, but indepth studies as to how the blood is effected by certain things...no, certainly not.

I try to eat a lot of veggies with occasional meat like chicken and beef and fish.

I'm a pescatarian and I feel like I sometimes get snide remarks when I admit that. Multiple times, people have asked me why I don't consider fish meat since they have feelings too and so on. Nowadays, when I am with people I don't really know, I just say that I am vegetarian to avoid any sort of conversation on it.

Humans are indeed classified as omnivores, and they can theoretically "handle" these animal products but do not do well to rely on them. I don't make it a practice to criticize anyone's diet and try to offer only what I have researched to be fact in the eyes of many prominent scientists. I've always hated it when people brought up dieting from a layman's, "general opinion" point of view. Americans as a society have an unfortunately biased and under researched area of nutritional knowledge; In that same respect though, my head spins when I try to conquer the evil force that is my taxes! I usually end up making my sister-in-law do them >_>

I am a geek for science and nutrition though, and I often assume people feel the same geeky obsession/interest in these types of facts. Did you know, for instance, that our white blood cell count raises by 300% when we consume cooked food but remains stable when we eat uncooked foods? It's called leukocytosis, our bodies recognize cooked foods as a harmful substance and attack it, straining and overworking our immune systems and compromising our bodies making us more vulnerable to disease and infection. Rereading that, I can see it as some people might; A tirade against cooked foods and the attack of anyone who eats the Standard American Diet (S.A.D.) But really, I'm just a science nerd who revels in this type of stuff and thinks everyone else will be just as interested to read about it

I grew up in a German household- meat 'n potatoes every day. As soon as I went away to University, I discovered the beauty of salads and sushi and anything chicken-related! (I actually went the opposite of the "freshman five" for this reason!) Now, I still enjoy a nice steak every once in a while, but I'm absolutely CRAZY about poultry! I try to only eat the bio stuff because I will eat a chicken or turkey breast almost every day. I don't think I could be happy as a vegetarian simply because there is something so primal to me about eating red meat. The few times I do indulge, I feel like I'm satisfying some kind of ancient, built-in need for it! Silly!

I am tryuly an Omnivore. I eat whatever, whenever, however I like. Sorry I was about to start singing a Massive Attack song.

WTF "Tryuly"? Truly. Derr...

I could be a vegetarian if I didn't love bbq so much...

Flexitarian - i really dont like to eat much meat nor do i enjoy cooking it. But this weekend i went to the shore and my friends parents had a big cook out and had burgers that he said were to die for so i couldn't say no - i felt it was impolite and they were delicious! I'm not against eating meat but i choose to consume it rarely.

I've been a vegetarian for over ten years and it has never adversily affected my health. I've never felt naseous. As long as you are getting things you would normally get from meat (protein, fat etc.) it's not going to do that to you, so human's don't NEED meat. I have no problem with people that choose to eat meat, but I do have a problem with someone making a blanket statement about humans needing meat just because they've had friends that didn't eat the right kinds of vegetarian food. That's like me saying, meat kills humans because my friend ate 3 cheeseburgers a day for 10 years and it clogged his arteries.

I was a vegan and a strict vegetarian but these days I have added fish back to my diet... it's so good!

I eat some type of fish, scallop, shrimp, ect. everyday. I also eat tons of tofu and the occasional veggie burger. I feel healthier this way.

I like chicken and the way it tastes but I can't mentally eat it after the 3-4 years of being a vegan and vegetarian.

I've been a vegetarian for 20 years and I've never had low iron levels or felt sick as a result. Its all about making sure you have a wide variety of food sources and types from all the food groups. I have plenty of family members who eat meat who have major health problems, but I've always been fine!

i'm a vegetarian. it's funny - i have been going ot the hospital to get Iron IVs lately cause i'm severely anemic and the nurse came in and was talking to me and asked me what my diet was. i told her that i was a veggie but that i wasn't a vegan and she started asking me if i ate eggs and cheese...which i said yes to cause i'm not a vegan. she then tells me that i'm an 'OVA-LACTO VEGETARIAN' which is yet another classification that i don't necessarily need, but ok.

i always have to laugh at the term pescaterian. my mom says that she's a vegetarian yet she eats fish which makes her a pesca...but she won't agree to that. oh well...i'll pick my battles i guess.

Finn - No, people are designed as omnivores. Our digestive tracks aren't the same as carnivores because we aren't carnivores - they are longer so we can digest both meat and plant matter (Bears also have elongated digestive tracks and are also omnivores). Our teeth are also designed to handle both meat and plants - compare them to a true herbivore such as a horse if you don't believe me. If people were designed to eat only plants, please explain our need for vitamin B-12. And don't tell me the few vegetarian sources you can get it from because humans for the most part have not evolved to eat those foods.

The only reason people can be vegetarian and thrive today is because we are able to supplement our food supply with proteins such as soy and other more modern products. Throughout most of history man has not had that kind of luxury and had to get their protein from animal sources, so it makes no sense to claim that people are ill-adapted to these foods. There are no traditional societies that consumed no animal products whatsoever (there are plenty who ate mostly plants though, just as there are some who ate almost exclusively animals like the Inuit). If you know of one please let me know!

I don't care if people are vegetarian or vegan, but to say that meat is unnatural or harmful for people to consume is just misinformed. The truth of the matter is that people have been thriving with all sorts of ratios of plant and animal matter for hundreds of years now without most of our modern illnesses, so people are very adaptable to all sorts of diets. I also do extensive research on nutrition; clearly we have been looking at different sources.

well, I wasn't sure what to choose. I eat mostly chicken and fish as far as meat goes, but I do have the "once in awhile" nice juicy steak. But red meat on a daily or even weekly basis...nope. I eat lots of fruits and veggies and I also comsume dairy (skim milk, some cheeses). I could actually never eat meat again and I wouldn't miss it, but I am not sure my body would like that.

i eat a little bit of everything - fruit, veggies, meat, fish, nuts, beans.

Omnivore but thinking of going vegetarian for convinience and because looking at raw meat or touching it makes me sick.

Ok, well I will continue to enjoy nice juicy hamburgers yummmmm (while staying at a size 0) and you people can enjoy your dandelion shoots.

Pescatarian - but I frequently say vegetarian because I would probably fall under the "part-time vegan" category. I am vegan at least 3 days a week. But I haven't cut dairy or fish out completely and probably never will. I just try to make substitutes or omissions where I can.

The only reason I think labels are very handy is so people can readily identify what food a person can serve others. Its always uncomfortable when you serve or are served food at a friends house that you wont eat (let alone wasteful).

I was a vegetarian, but then I added fish back into my diet since I'm about to leave for South Korea and I'll be there for a year. I figure eating at least fish will make my life waaaay easier over there. If I'm out with a bunch of people, I may eat other meats, especially if I'm in the home of Koreans. I don't want to offend anyone/generally make things difficult for anyone, or for myself, while I'm there.

Oh, and also, I haven't really been calling myself a pescatarian, although I guess that's what I am. I haven't been calling myself anything, really, cause I somehow do feel guilty for going back...

I eat fish and chicken, but never any red meat. I love veggies most though and I can do without any meat at all. I loathe red meat....

I guess I'd say I'm a pescatarian. I rarely eat seafood or dairy. I cook all vegan! Yum!

I'm with Rose Cullen! hah its so gross - once i make it i dont want to eat it. blah.

I picked Flexitarian because I go through phases where I eat a vegetarian diet and I sometimes eat chicken or fish. I think the beauty of the human body is that it is very flexible as far as nutrition needs go...humans can survive on a huge variety of foods that will give them proper nutrition. Humans are true omnivores, as they don't have the short digestive tracts and razor sharp incisors that true carnivores have and we don't have the specially developed digestive systems to digest cellulose that herbivores have. However, we have to get certain (essential) amino acids from food sources, meaning that we need certain proteins in our diet. Those proteins are generally found in meats/eggs/dairy, but if you choose the correct plant combinations, you can get all the amino acids you need.

"

Finn - No, people are designed as omnivores. Our digestive tracks aren't the same as carnivores because we aren't carnivores - they are longer so we can digest both meat and plant matter (Bears also have elongated digestive tracks and are also omnivores). Our teeth are also designed to handle both meat and plants - compare them to a true herbivore such as a horse if you don't believe me. If people were designed to eat only plants, please explain our need for vitamin B-12. And don't tell me the few vegetarian sources you can get it from because humans for the most part have not evolved to eat those foods.

The only reason people can be vegetarian and thrive today is because we are able to supplement our food supply with proteins such as soy and other more modern products. Throughout most of history man has not had that kind of luxury and had to get their protein from animal sources, so it makes no sense to claim that people are ill-adapted to these foods. There are no traditional societies that consumed no animal products whatsoever (there are plenty who ate mostly plants though, just as there are some who ate almost exclusively animals like the Inuit). If you know of one please let me know!

I don't care if people are vegetarian or vegan, but to say that meat is unnatural or harmful for people to consume is just misinformed. The truth of the matter is that people have been thriving with all sorts of ratios of plant and animal matter for hundreds of years now without most of our modern illnesses, so people are very adaptable to all sorts of diets. I also do extensive research on nutrition; clearly we have been looking at different sources.
"

We clearly have conflicting evidence on these points. If speaking from an experience point of view I can tell you that after 5 years of living exclusively on fruit and leafy greens I have had regular blood analysis and have no deficiencies. I take no supplements and am a fully capable both mentally and physically. Based on the opinion you've presented, this isn't possible?

Take B-12. What do you actually know about this bacteria? From your post, not much of anything other than that it exists. B-12 is found in soil and is on plant matter when you eat it providing it is unwashed and raw. It is more readily digestible in this state. You also might be interested to know that humans naturally produce their own b-12 when healthy, and also that vitamin b 12 deficiencies are found more commonly in those following a Standard American Diet (S.A.D.) than those following vegan or vegetarian diets.

I'm curious as to where you think herbivores and frugivores get their b-12, seeing as though they eat grasses and leafy greens and other plant based matter. I'm thinking you must assume that it just appears magically? Otherwise one might come to the conclusion that they're either obtaining it in their foods or producing it themselves. And as if by magic science actually knows the answer! You see, just like humans, they obtain it both from food as well as producing it themselves. Wonderful, isn't it, research.

Your definition of thriving is apparently much different from my own. You see, in my world, a thriving society doesn't suffer from an inevitable disease. In my world, I've seen many people reverse "irreversible" diseases not with pills and FDA propaganda but with dietary changes. Cancers, fibromyalgia, and diabetes being the most frequent.

I know from these experience and research on the subject that proves that consuming meats and various other cooked foods are the source of our modern illnesses. I know already that you will disagree with me on that but I'm curious as to your opinion on this; The only species that develop disease are those that consume cooked foods, humans and domesticated animals. Is this coincidence? Is your excuse stress, pollution... Chocolate?

It's funny you should mention the Inuits, as this is a better example for my argument than yours. Inuits, traditionally, have suffered from extreme forms of disease, obesity, osteoporosis, depression and had a very short lifespans (something around 25-35 years on average)

So it does actually make perfect sense to claim we are ill-adapted to these foods. Especially given the knowledge that humans have only been regularly consuming cooked foods for around... 10k years? It takes a bit over 50 thousand years to make an evolutionary step necessary for the proper digestion of the foods we're eating - And by that rate, society will have imploded on itself anyway so I think we can rest assured EZ Cheeze will never be a health food.

Hee hee at the dandelion shoots comment. Somebody said something similar to me the other day, as I was sitting down with a plate of chickpea, sweet potato and pumpkin curry, baked falafel and sweet and spicy couscous - and they were sitting down with a greasy piece of fried mackerel and four hot chips. Ovo-lacto vegetarian, happy to be one, and of the firm belief that people's individual diets are their own business!

I guess I'd be considered a Flexitarian...I eat chicken and fish, but no red meat. I stopped it eating it over 10 years ago for the simple fact that I just don't like it. The health benefits are a pleasant side effect!

wow, you're an @ss.

though that's probably, harsh and inappropriate language, so I'll apologize before it pre-flag.

i don't eat red meat but i eat fish and occasionally chicken. but i don't drink cow`s milk, only soy.

I'm an omnivore, I eat everything that I like. I eat meat about three nights a week, I want to limit my intake to a healthy level.

i've been vegan (obviously) for almost 7 years, but i'm not "militant" about it. my husband is omni, and so is my family. this is a personal choice that works for me. i'm always happy to share when someone asks, but it's not a matter of judging others. if it were, i'm sure others could find plenty of things to judge me for!

I'm vegan but I'm not militant about it either. Some vegans are opposed to eating honey and such, which I don't think would be right for me.

Vegan, and darn proud of it!