Introduction
A rise in awareness regarding meat consumption’s effects on the environment has led to numerous people adopting alternative dieting styles. Among the core options that do not involve the inclusion of meat in one’s diet, the vegan and pescatarian lifestyles should be mentioned (Kim et al., 2021). Though the specified approaches seem similar, the pescatarian one is more lenient since it implies eating seafood.
Differences in Diets
The differences between the vegan and the pescatarian diets might seem minimal, with seafood being the only disparity in the menus. However, on closer assessment of the specified diets, one will realize that the pescatarian style provides a broader range of options that may include unhealthy meals. For instance, since being a pescatarian suggests eating any seafood, one may consider including the ones that are rich in fats and are likely to contain mercury (Selinger et al., 2022). Therefore, it is only by choosing options that include Omega-3, which can be characterized as lean, that one can remain healthy while being on a pescatarian diet (Wozniak et al., 2020).
In turn, the vegan diet, which includes solely fruit and vegetables, does not involve just as harmful options for one’s health, even though some fruits may contain excessive amounts of sugar (Kim et al., 2021). Therefore, the vegan diet can be viewed as superior to the pescatarian one in terms of its effects on health.
Conclusion
Despite having a broad array of similarities, the vegan lifestyle and the pescatarian one cannot be considered identical since the latter allows eating fish and other types of seafood. Therefore, one could argue that a pescatarian diet represents a more sparing approach toward restricting one’s menu. Thus, since pescatarian dieting options may include seafood rich in fats and cholesterol, the specified approach to dieting cannot be considered just as healthy as the vegan one.
References
Kim, H., Rebholz, C. M., Hegde, S., LaFiura, C., Raghavan, M., Lloyd, J. F., Cheng, S., & Seidelmann, S. B. (2021). Plant-based diets, pescatarian diets and COVID-19 severity: A population-based case–control study in six countries. BMJ Nutrition, Prevention & Health, 4(1), 257–266. Web.
Selinger, E., Neuenschwander, M., Koller, A., Gojda, J., Kühn, T., Schwingshackl, L., Barbaresko, J., & Schlesinger, S. (2022). Evidence of a vegan diet for health benefits and risks – an umbrella review of meta-analyses of observational and clinical studies. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, 1–11. Web.
Wozniak, H., Larpin, C., de Mestral, C., Guessous, I., Reny, J.-L., & Stringhini, S. (2020). Vegetarian, pescatarian and flexitarian diets: Sociodemographic determinants and association with cardiovascular risk factors in a Swiss urban population. British Journal of Nutrition, 124(8), 844–852. Web.