Remember when Beyoncé and Jay-Z went vegan for 22 days? Read on to see 16 famous vegans and vegetarians.

Being a vegetarian is pretty awesome! It's not about what you're missing out on, but what you're choosing to focus on instead — whole-food, plant-based meals that leave you smiling and satisfied.

There’s a popular perception that you can’t kick butt in the weight room if you’re a vegetarian. “You’ll never build muscle mass,” detractors say. “You won’t get enough protein!” Well, allow me to disabuse you of that notion.

It's a veggie burger so it's healthy, right? Not so fast. Unfortunately, some packaged veggie burgers contain less-than-healthy, overly-processed ingredients. All of which you can avoid if you make your own.

Giving up meat and going vegetarian means you'll be healthy AND lose weight, right? Not necessarily.

Rice balls, or onigiri, are multipurpose, portable snacks. Thought to have originated in Japan, the balls, squares or molded patties of cooked rice often appear in lunch boxes and Asian fast-food outlets. Once the rice is cooked, you can stuff the rice balls with condiments or other fillings.

When you consider what it takes to transform soybeans into a meat analogue -- protein isolation, fiber removal and curd formation -- you can appreciate the versatility and convenience it offers. You have to treat soya meat like a starch when you cook it.

White blood cells, or leukocytes, represent a major protective barrier between you and invading microorganisms and other potentially harmful agents. Five kinds of white blood cells exist in your body, each with a distinct function.

Albert Einstein once wrote, "Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet."

A balanced vegetarian diet can easily meets all your nutritional needs, as well as reduce your risk of heart disease, certain cancers and other illnesses, according to Erik Lindbloom, M.D., of the University of Missouri School of Medicine.

A lacto-ovo vegetarian follows a diet that excludes all meat, fish and poultry, but includes dairy products and eggs. The dietary requirements of a lacto-ovo vegetarian are the same as those of people who choose to consume meat.

Despite its name, a vegetarian diet doesn't have to center around vegetables. From legumes to soy to whole grains, there are a number of healthful foods that a vegetarian can eat.