National Vegetarian Week, 27th September - 3rd October, will showcase the
benefits of plant-based diets and encourage Australians to Live Longer, Younger,
Better. Find out your true age by completing the Vitality Compass.
This year National Vegetarian Week has teamed up with international best-selling
author of The Blue Zones, Dan Buettner.
Dan Buettner is the New York Times best-selling author of "The Blue Zones:
Lessons for Living Longer from the People Who've Lived the Longest".
He has appeared as a longevity expert on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Good Morning
America, The Today Show, ABC World News, CBS"s The Early Show, Dateline and CNN,
and has been profiled in People, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal,
Sports Illustrated, The Washington Post, and USA Today.
Today, Buettner is an internationally recognised explorer who founded Blue Zones
- a project that researches the world"s best practices in health, happiness and
longevity and shares that information to help people live longer, better.
In the United States, he has recently launched The Healthways Blue Zones Vitality
City, a community-wide initiative aiming to create healthier, happier and more
productive individuals.
Experts use evidence-based, sustainable environmental changes and policy
adjustments to transform everyday communities into 'Vitality Cities', with
measurably lower healthcare costs and a quantifiably higher quality of life.
The article Buettner wrote for National Geographic Magazine in November 2005,
"Secrets of Living Longer", was the third highest selling issue in the
magazine"s history and made Buettner a National Magazine Award finalist.
He is also a member of Cooking Light magazine"s Advisory Board, is an Emmy
Award-winning documentary producer and has three Guinness World Records for
cycling six continents.
What is Vegetarianism?
Simply put, a vegetarian is someone who consumes a diet predominately made up of plant-based foods like breads and cereals, legumes, fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds. A vegetarian does not eat any meat, poultry or fish but may consume some dairy products and eggs.
As described below, there are four main traditional categories of vegetarian.
- The most common category is lacto-ovo-vegetarianism. This type of vegetarian consumes dairy products and eggs. Generally speaking, the term vegetarian is assumed to mean lacto-ovo vegetarian.
- A vegetarian who eats dairy but not eggs is known as a lacto-vegetarian.
- Ovo-vegetarians eat eggs but not meat or dairy products.
- A vegan does not consume or use animal products, notably meat, fish, poultry, eggs and dairy products.
If you're not yet ready to make the move to these lifestyles, think about including one or two more vegetarian or plant-based meals on your weekly menu and do your health and the planet a favour.