=== Medicinsk brug ===
Inden for [[lægevidenskab]]en rådes patienter nogle gange til at prøve en vegetarisk kostplan.<ref name="diag">{{cite book
| last = L M Tierney, S J McPhee
| first = M A Papadakis
| title = Current medical Diagnosis & Treatment. International edition
| publisher = Lange Medical Books/McGraw-Hill
| year=2002
| location = New York
| isbn = 0-07-137688-7
}}</ref> Visse [[alternativ behandling|alternative behandlinger]], såsom [[Ayurveda]] og [[Siddha]], ordinerer vegetarisk kost som en normal procedure.<ref>Tiwari, Maya. 1995. ''Ayurveda: A Life of Balance.'' Rochester, VT: Healing Arts Press. "Ayurveda recommends small portions of organic meat for the Vata type. The rules of hunting and killing the animal, practiced by the native peoples, were very specific and detailed. Since we are no longer observing these, I do not recommend the use of any animal meat as food, not even for the Vata types."</ref>
Filosofi Ernæring