Lacto-Ovo Vegetarian
All about Being a Lacto-ovo Vegetarian
The lacto-ovo vegetarian makes up the largest group of vegetarians and is the person most people think of when they hear the word vegetarian. A lacto-ovo vegetarian does not eat meat but they do consume dairy products, which are referred to as lacto, and eggs, which are referred to as ovo. Many of the people in this group oppose the suffering or death of animals for human food.
Although vegetarianism has been around practically since human beginnings, it wasn’t until the mid-1800s that the vegetarian diet started to make its way into the public eye. That was the first time that the word “vegetarian” was used to describe a diet free of meat. The word was used by the first vegetarian group, the Vegetarian Society of Great Britain. Vegetarianism in America got its start at about the same time.
All of these first vegetarians were lacto-ovo-vegetarians who ate eggs and dairy products. While many religious people and philosophers have been vegetarian in practice for hundreds of years, it wasn’t until the 1970s and 1980s that the vegetarian diet as a way of living healthy made its way into the lifestyle of Americans. As people have become more and more health conscious, there has been a huge growth in the numbers of vegetarians, which in America alone is now approaching almost eight million.
Until the mid-to-late seventies, many nutritionists believed that a diet without meat could not be complete--that not enough protein for healthy cells could be obtained from plants alone. That theory has now long been forgotten, as study after study has proven that not only can adequate amounts of protein be consumed, but being a vegetarian greatly reduces the risk of heart disease, cancer, and diabetes, among other illnesses.
A lacto-ovo vegetarian is no longer the only type of vegetarian, and the numbers of vegetarians who do not eat eggs or dairy products gets larger every year. This group of people are known as vegans. If you think a vegan diet might be for you but you’re are still eating meat, a transition to being a lacto-ovo vegetarian can be the first step for you to make.
Becoming a lacto-ovo vegetarian does not mean that you will suddenly see huge health improvements. It still means you have to be careful to eat a balanced diet and divide your foods between many food groups. If you are not careful or don’t do appropriate research into a lacto-ovo vegetarian diet, you could still be getting too much fat, cholesterol, and calories from eating milk products, such as cheeses or yogurt with whole milk.
The best choice for a lacto-ovo vegetarian, as for meat-eaters, is to embrace a diet that is low-fat, includes a lot of complex carbohydrates instead of simple sugars, and a lot of green, leafy vegetables. The other key to good health is to exercise for at least thirty minutes, three times a week.