Lacto-ovo vegetarianism or ovo-lacto vegetarianism is a type of

vegetarianism Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the Eating, consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects as food, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slau ...

which forbids animal flesh but allows the consumption of

animal product An animal product is any material derived from the body of a non-human animal or their excretions. Examples are meat, fat, blood, milk, eggs, honey, and lesser known products, such as isinglass, rennet, and cochineal. The word animals inc ...

s such as

dairy A dairy is a place where milk is stored and where butter, cheese, and other dairy products are made, or a place where those products are sold. It may be a room, a building, or a larger establishment. In the United States, the word may also des ...

and eggs. Unlike

pescetarianism Pescetarianism ( ; sometimes spelled pescatarianism) is a dietary practice in which seafood is the only source of meat in an otherwise vegetarian diet. The inclusion of other animal products, such as eggs and dairy, is optional. According to ...

, it does not include

fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...

or other

seafood Seafood is any form of Marine life, sea life regarded as food by humans, prominently including Fish as food, fish and shellfish. Shellfish include various species of Mollusca, molluscs (e.g., bivalve molluscs such as clams, oysters, and mussel ...

. A typical ovo-lacto vegetarian diet may include

fruits In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants (angiosperms) that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which angiosperms disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particular have long propaga ...

, vegetables, grains, legumes, meat substitutes, nuts, seeds,

soy The soybean, soy bean, or soya bean (''Glycine max'') is a species of legume native to East Asia, widely grown for its edible bean. Soy is a staple crop, the world's most grown legume, and an important animal feed. Soy is a key source of f ...

, cheese,

milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of lactating mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfeeding, breastfed human infants) before they are able to digestion, digest solid food. ...

, yogurt and eggs. In most Western English-speaking countries, the word "vegetarian" usually refers to this type of vegetarianism; however this is not universally the case. In India, lacto-ovo vegetarians are known as "eggetarian" (a portmanteau of "egg" and "vegetarian"), as "vegetarianism" usually refers to

lacto vegetarianism A lacto-vegetarian (sometimes referred to as a lactarian; from the Latin root lact-, ''milk'') diet abstains from the consumption of meat as well as Egg as food, eggs, while still consuming dairy products such as milk, cheese (without animal renn ...

Etymology

The terminology stems from the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

'' lac'' meaning "milk" (as in '

lactation Lactation describes the secretion of milk from the mammary glands and the period of time that a mother lactates to feed her young. The process naturally occurs with all sexually mature female mammals, although it may predate mammals. The process ...

'), ''

ovum The egg cell or ovum (: ova) is the female reproductive cell, or gamete, in most anisogamous organisms (organisms that reproduce sexually with a larger, female gamete and a smaller, male one). The term is used when the female gamete is not capa ...

'' meaning "egg", and the English term ''vegetarian'', so as giving the definition of a vegetarian diet containing milk and eggs.

Diet

In the

Western world The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to various nations and state (polity), states in Western Europe, Northern America, and Australasia; with some debate as to whether those in Eastern Europe and Latin America also const ...

, ovo-lacto vegetarians are the most common and most traditional type of vegetarian. Generally speaking, when one uses the term ''vegetarian'', an ovo-lacto vegetarian is assumed.

Religion

Indian religions Indian religions, sometimes also termed Dharmic religions or Indic religions, are the religions that originated in the Indian subcontinent. These religions, which include Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, and Sikhism,Adams, C. J."Classification o ...

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...

and

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

, most individuals are either raised as ovo-lacto vegetarians or lacto vegetarians.Surveys studying food habits of Indians include
"Dairy and poultry sector growth in India"
, Quote: "An analysis of consumption data originating from National Sample Survey (NSS) shows that 42 percent of households are vegetarian, in that they never eat fish, meat or eggs. The remaining 58 percent of households are less strict vegetarians or non-vegetarians.
"Indian consumer patterns"
an

. Results indicate that Indians who eat meat do so infrequently with less than 30% consuming non-vegetarian foods regularly, although the reasons may be economical. However, consumption of egg is not considered a part of vegetarian diet in India, as egg is an animal-product that gives birth to the next generation of that species. Those who consume egg, while not consuming other non-vegetarian products (such as fish and meat), refer to themselves as 'eggetarians'. The Bible Christian Church was a

Christian vegetarian Christian vegetarianism is the practice of keeping to a Vegetarianism, vegetarian lifestyle for reasons connected to or derived from the Christianity, Christian faith. The three primary reasons are Christian spirituality, spiritual, Nutrition, n ...

sect founded by William Cowherd in 1809. Cowherd was one of the philosophical forerunners of the

Vegetarian Society The Vegetarian Society of the United Kingdom (VSUK) is a British Registered charity in England, registered charity. It campaigns for dietary changes, licenses Vegetarian Society Approved trademarks for Vegetarianism, vegetarian and Veganism, v ...

founded in 1847. The Bible Christian Church promoted the use of eggs, dairy and honey as God's given food per "the promised land flowing with milk and honey" (Exodus 3:8). Many

Seventh-day Adventist The Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA) is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sabbat ...

followers are ovo-lacto vegetarians and have recommended a vegetarian diet, which may include milk products and eggs, since late 19th century.

Health effects

Lacto-ovo vegetarian diets have a high overall diet quality compared to non-vegetarian diets. Lacto-ovo vegetarian diets have positive effects on blood lipids such as lowering

low-density lipoprotein Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) is one of the five major groups of lipoprotein that transport all fat molecules around the body in extracellular water. These groups, from least dense to most dense, are chylomicrons (aka ULDL by the overall density ...

and total cholesterol and are associated with a reduced risk of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

and

cardiovascular disease Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is any disease involving the heart or blood vessels. CVDs constitute a class of diseases that includes: coronary artery diseases (e.g. angina, heart attack), heart failure, hypertensive heart disease, rheumati ...

. There is high-quality evidence that lacto-ovo vegetarian diets reduce

blood pressure Blood pressure (BP) is the pressure of Circulatory system, circulating blood against the walls of blood vessels. Most of this pressure results from the heart pumping blood through the circulatory system. When used without qualification, the term ...

References

{{Vegetarianism Vegetarian diets pt:Vegetarianismo#Ovolactovegetarianismo

Etymology

Diet

Religion

Health effects

See also

References