Lacto vegetarianism

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A lacto-vegetarian diet is a vegetarian diet which includes dairy products such as milk, cheese, yogurt, butter, cream, and kefir but excludes eggs. The origin of "lacto" is the Latin word for milk, [lac, lactis]. Within Indian cultures this diet is often what is meant by the term "vegetarian."

Lacto-vegetarians choose to consume dairy products, but abstain from specifically eating eggs. Cheeses which include animal rennet and yogurts which contain gelatin are also avoided. This diet may be adopted by vegetarians wishing to lower their cholesterol levels, in view of the high amount of cholesterol contained in egg yolks, or to protest cruelty in the poultry industry. On ethical grounds, some people may oppose the slaughter of unwanted male chicks or risking the consumption of an unhatched animal [1].

Lacto-vegetarian diets are popular with many followers of Eastern religious traditions such as Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism. Such diets have been popularized internationally beginning the 1960s by the Hare Krishna movement.

The greatest proportion of vegetarians such as those in India or those in the classical Mediterranean lands such as the Pythagoreans are or were lacto-vegetarian.

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