Lacto vegetarianism

thumb|Lacto-vegetarians consume dairy products and honey, but not eggs or meat.

A lacto-vegetarian (sometimes referred to as a lactarian; from the Latin root lact-, meaning milk) diet abstains from the consumption of eggs as well as meat, while still consuming dairy products such as milk, cheese (without animal rennet, i.e., from microbial sources), yogurt, butter, ghee, cream, and kefir, as well as honey.

History

The concept and practice of lacto-vegetarianism among a significant number of people comes from ancient India.

An early western advocate of lacto-vegetarianism was the Scottish physician George Cheyne who promoted a milk and vegetable-based diet to treat obesity and other health problems in the early 18th century.

During the 19th century, the diet became associated with naturopathy. German naturopaths Heinrich Lahmann and Theodor Hahn promoted lacto-vegetarian diets of raw vegetables, whole wheat bread, and dairy products such as milk.

In the 20th century, lacto-vegetarianism was promoted by the American biochemist Elmer McCollum and the Danish physician and nutritionist Mikkel Hindhede. In 1918, McCollum commented that "lacto-vegetarianism should not be confused with strict vegetarianism. The former is, when the diet is properly planned, the most highly satisfactory plan which can be adopted in the nutrition of man."

Hindhede became a food advisor to the Danish government during World War I and was influential in introducing a lacto-vegetarian diet to the public. The system of rationing restricted meat and alcohol so the Danish population were mostly living on a diet of milk and vegetables.

Mahatma Gandhi was a notable lacto-vegetarian, who drank milk daily. In 1931, Gandhi commented that:

In 1936, Narasinh Narayan Godbole authored Milk: The Most Perfect Food, a book defending lacto-vegetarianism and promoting the consumption of dairy products in opposition to meat.

Rennet

Historically most commercial cheese was made with calf rennet, making this an issue for lacto-vegetarians. Fig and thistle rennet were used in ancient times but such plant-based rennets were not suitable for the manufacture of long-ripened cheese varieties so calf rennet became the standard until there was a shortage of supply.

John Smith in his book The Principles and Practice of Vegetarian Cookery in 1860 wrote about a "vegetable rennet" made from the flowers of Galium verum. In 1898, W. A. Macdonald in The Vegetarian magazine commented that fig and thistle rennet had been successful in experiment but only calf rennet had commercial significance. In India in the late 19th-century, the berries from Withania coagulans were used as a vegetarian rennet and sold in powdered capsules.

Most commercial cheese in the United States is currently made using chymosin. Some vegetarians consider this an acceptable alternative, whilst others do not as the gene used to make microbial chymosin originated from calves.

Religion

Lacto-vegetarian diets are popular with certain followers of the Dharmic religious traditions such as Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, and Sikhism. The core of their beliefs behind a lacto-vegetarian diet is the law of ahimsa, or non-violence.

Hinduism

According to the Vedas (Hindu holy scriptures), all living beings are equally valued. Hindus believe that vegetarianism is vital for spiritual progress. It takes many more vegetables or plants to produce an equal amount of meat, many more lives are destroyed, and in this way more suffering is caused when meat is consumed. Although some suffering and pain is inevitably caused to other living beings to satisfy the human need for food, according to ahimsa, every effort should be made to minimize suffering. However, in other parts of the world, vegetarianism generally refers to ovo–lacto vegetarianism instead, allowing eggs into the diet.

Many Hindu wrestlers are strict lacto-vegetarians and follow a Sattvic diet. A large part of their diet is milk, ghee, almonds and chickpeas.

Jainism

In the case of Jainism, the vegetarian standard is strict. It allows the consumption of only fruit and leaves that can be taken from plants without causing their death. This further excludes from the diet root vegetables like carrots, potatoes, onions, garlic, radish, turnips, turmeric, etc since uprooting plants is considered as bad karma in Jainism. Jains also do not consume honey since it is considered as stealing food and also because honey collecting destroys bee hives and bee eggs and bee larvae inside it.

Sikhism

The Namdharis, a Sikh sect, follow a strict lacto-vegetarian diet and have quoted verses from the Guru Granth Sahib endorsing vegetarianism; they also advocate for cow protection. The Damdami Taksal also cite the Guru Granth Sahib and advocate a strict lacto-vegetarian diet. Eating meat is not allowed in any form including eggs, fish and gelatine. or otherwise abridges animal rights.

Lacto vegetarianism

History

Rennet

Religion

Hinduism

Jainism

Sikhism

Comparison

See also

References

External links