Vegetarians Vs. Omnivores

Omnivore Diet: This is the diet where you can eat everything. It offers flexibility and variety, allowing individuals to enjoy both plant-based and animal-based foods. This approach leads to a colorful plate filled with essential nutrients. It promotes a balanced intake of macronutrients—carbohydrates, proteins, and fats—ensuring optimal body function. This diet can be customized to meet health goals, whether building muscle, losing weight, or maintaining wellness. By focusing on whole, minimally processed foods, omnivores can maximize health benefits. However the majority of Americans are on a version of this diet called the "Standard American Diet" or appropriately nicknamed S.A.D. This diet consists of lots of ultra processed, fried, salty and overly sweet foods. Not great. As you can see, omnivores can either be very healthy or very unhealthy.

Vegetarianism

Vegetarianism encompasses a variety of dietary practices, each with its own specific guidelines regarding the consumption of animal products. Here are the main types:

Lacto-Ovo Vegetarianism

This is the most common form of vegetarianism, where individuals avoid all meat, fish, and poultry but include dairy products and eggs in their diet. This allows for a wide range of food options, including:

Cheesy omelets
Yogurt parfaits with fruits and granola
Milk-based smoothies

Lacto Vegetarianism

Lacto vegetarians exclude meat, fish, poultry, and eggs but do consume dairy products. This diet emphasizes the intake of:

Cheese
Milk
Yogurt

Ovo Vegetarianism

Ovo vegetarians avoid all meat, fish, and dairy products but do consume eggs. This allows for meals such as:

Egg-based dishes like frittatas
Egg salads
Baking with eggs

Veganism

Veganism is a stricter form of vegetarianism that excludes ALL animal products, including meat, fish, poultry, dairy, and eggs. Vegans focus on plant-based foods, such as:

Fruits and vegetables
Legumes and grains
Nuts and seeds

Flexitarianism

Flexitarians primarily follow a vegetarian diet but occasionally include meat or fish. This semi-vegetarian approach allows for flexibility and can include:

Plant-based meals with occasional meat additions
Fish dishes on special occasions

Raw Vegetarianism

Raw vegetarians consume only raw or minimally processed plant foods. This includes:

Raw fruits and vegetables
Nuts and seeds
Sprouted grains and legumes

Fast Facts

Vegetarians live longer.
Vegans tend to weigh around 30 pounds less than the average meat-eater.
Vegetarians and vegans are less insulin resistant.
Vegetarians have lower rates of cancer and diabetes.
Vegetarians tend to have smaller waist sizes and less heart disease.

Now, before you trade in your grill for a kale chip dehydrator, I strongly urge you to take these findings with a grain of salt (or maybe a pinch of Himalayan pink sea salt, if you’re fancy).

Turns out, vegetarians and vegans typically work out more, smoke less, drink less, eat more vegetables and fruit, drink fewer sodas, and are generally more health-conscious. They also tend to have higher fiber intake. These factors are notoriously tough to wrangle into neat categories when you’re looking at epidemiological research—so it’s always the million-dollar question: Is it their diet or their lifestyle, or a sweet combination of the two? Data suggests it’s may be a little bit of both. Although transitioning from the Standard American Diet (SAD) to a vegetarian diet typically means drastically cutting back on processed meats and boosting your intake of fruits and veggies, any associated health benefits likely stem from the dietary shift

No matter which camp you’re in (plant or animal), it’s pretty clear we could all use more veggies, fruits, and fiber in our lives. We could also benefit from smoking cessation, drinking less, and moving more. In short: you can’t hack health with just one neat trick—you need the whole lifestyle package

It should be noted that despite a plant-based diet’s broad health benefits, a lack of appropriate balance may be associated with adverse health outcomes. The sudden transition from a non-vegetarian diet to a vegetarian diet can be related to, among others, noticeable skin changes [12]. In addition, a vegetarian diet can lead to nutritional deficiencies, including vitamins and minerals. The most common deficiencies are protein, omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin D, B12, iron, calcium, and zinc [13].

My Experience

Round 1: Vegan Right after college, I tried going fully vegan. That experiment lasted about two months, which—if we’re being honest—felt like two years. I lost weight because I honestly didn’t know how to fill the gap of animal proteins in a balanced way (I did not aspire to become a “carbotarian,” devouring pasta and bread for every meal). Don't get me wrong there is a way to do it and be healthy. I just found it was way too much work.

Round 2: Vegetarian A few years later, I took another shot—this time cutting out meat but keeping other animal products. That was much easier; however, after a few months, the mighty craving for steak and burgers came roaring back. I’ve never in my life drooled over salad the way I do when I catch a whiff of steak sizzling on a grill. Smelling that BBQ can practically flip my “I’m hungry NOW” switch from zero to hangry in seconds. This diet was fine but I missed meat.

Round 3: Carnivore Just kidding. This is a fad diet that involves consuming only meat. It lacks scientific evidence, and data strongly indicates it is unhealthy. I have never tried it.

As Americans, we eat way too much meat—According to the USDA, the average U.S. resident consumes 224.6 pounds of meat — beef, pork, broilers and turkey — every year.. And let’s face it: a big chunk of that comes from deli meats and fast-food burgers—neither of which is winning any “Most Nutritious Meal” awards. So even though I do eat meat, I also aim not to overdo it.

My Meat-Eating Game Plan

When I do indulge in meaty goodness, here’s what I think about:

Was this animal raised cruelty-free?
Did it eat its natural diet? (Grass for cows, grass and bugs for chickens, smaller fish for salmon… not corn.)
Is my butcher/market trustworthy?
Did the animal get to roam around freely?
Does it taste good?

But Is “Organic” or “Cruelty-Free” Healthier for Us?

No. However this is where things get tricky. While I genuinely care about whether the animal lived its best life, there’s not a ton of conclusive evidence that eating animals raised organically, cruelty-free, or without pesticides in their feed has a significant impact on our health outcomes. In other words, it’s not guaranteed to make you thinner, stronger, or better at pull-ups. A 2012 systematic review in the Annals of Internal Medicine (Smith-Spangler et al.) found that organic foods don’t necessarily hold a nutritional advantage over conventional foods across the board—though they can reduce your exposure to certain pesticides and antibiotic-resistant bacteria. So, if your reason for buying organic or ethically raised meat is purely for your own health, the science is pretty lukewarm at best. That said, the moral argument for better animal welfare is powerful. Knowing that the animal I’m about to eat lived happily—free from torture and questionable feed—helps me sleep at night, and that’s reason enough for me.

Final Thoughts

The best diet? It is one that you can live with and keeps you energized, happy and healthy. This is specific to each individual.
No matter where you land, it’s hard to argue against more vegetables, more fruit, more fiber, and fewer processed foods.
For the love of your arteries (and your mental sanity), consider cutting back on smoking, heavy drinking, and other not-so-stellar habits.

At the end of the day, if you choose to buy organic, cruelty-free, or free-roaming meats because it aligns with your values, awesome. Even without irrefutable proof, you can be assured that you contributed to a better life for the animals, and that certainly matters in my opinion. But is it healthier than a traditional omnivore diet? The data indicates it is not.

What if we directly compare vegetarians and omnivores? The nuances in the data indicate that they are be similar. So don't worry.

According to current scientific knowledge, omnivorous, vegetarian, and vegan diets can all be effective choices when they are properly varied. With careful planning, individuals can thrive both physically and cognitively on any of these three diets.

Now, go forth and load up on colorful veggies—whether you top them with tofu or a free-range chicken breast is entirely up to you. Bon appétit, my friends!