Facts on Pollotarian Diet

1. What is a Pollotarian?

A pollotarian diet includes eating chicken, fish, dairy products and eggs, but not eating red meat or meat from any land mammals. The "pollo" prefix in pollotarian literally refers to the word chicken, although pollotarians eat other poultry. Some people transition to a pollotarian diet temporarily before becoming a vegetarian. Others simply want to give up red meat to reduce their risk of heart disease and lower their cholesterol. Some individuals mistakenly believe that a pollotarian diet is a vegetarian diet because they don't consider poultry to be meat, as they do beef. Regardless of this error, eliminating red meat from the diet does have several health advantages.

2. Benefits of a Pollotarian Diet

A pollotarian diet has several benefits over a diet that includes red meat. Pollotarians don't have to worry about E. coli scares and beef recalls. They do, however, have to worry about salmonella, which can be avoided by proper food handling and cooking. Pollotarians also enjoy a reduced risk of colon cancer, which is linked to red meat consumption.

3. Health and Ethical Considerations

Some pollotarians choose their diet for health concerns. Perhaps they found out they have high cholesterol or want to reduce their risk of colon cancer after a family member has been diagnosed. Some individuals don't have easy access to organic red meat, so they give it up completely. Other individuals have ethical concerns about other animals, but don't apply those same concerns to birds. Still some individuals are motivated by the social desire to have a label for their type of diet and eat a pollotarian diet partly to be "fashion conscious."

4. Recipe Ideas

Pollotarians can still enjoy "bacon" for breakfast; they simply have to buy turkey bacon rather than traditional bacon. Pollotarians can also enjoy their favorite chili, meatloaf or hamburger recipes. They simply can substitute ground chicken or turkey for the beef in their favorite recipes. Eliminating red meat from the diet is not that difficult, particularly when there are so many options for substitutions.

5. Ethical Differences Between Vegetarians and Pollotarians

The term pollotarian can cause a debate among vegetarians and pollotarians. Essentially, a pollotarian is someone who doesn't eat red meat, but a pollotarian is not a vegetarian in the true sense of the word. A vegetarian is someone who doesn't eat any meat, including fish. However, most vegetarians were pollotarians at one point, since many vegetarians gradually transition to a vegetable-based diet by eliminating red meat first, followed by poultry and fish.