# Is a Kosher diet better? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 16, 2015, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-kosher-diet-better/722643 "2015-06-16T02:46:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2015, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-kosher-diet-better/722643/21 "2015-06-16T23:55:06Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > Muslims can also mix meat & dairy, and I think they’re allowed to eat shellfish. According to this [source](http://www.questionsonislam.com/question/seafood-haram-or-halal), shellfish isn’t allowed. Another distinction is rabbits and camels. They’re allowed under halal but prohibited under kosher. One other thing worth remembering is that one item of meat cannot be both halal and kosher by most standards. Halal meat must be slaughtered by a Muslim and kosher meat must be slaughtered by a Jew. Obviously no animal can be killed by both a Muslim and a Jew so the meat is always going to be off limits to somebody. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2015, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-kosher-diet-better/722643/22 "2015-06-17T13:26:29Z")
My Boss is a Chassidic, very Orthodox Jew. He was massively overweight, so bad he qualified for weight loss surgery and lost 150 pounds. So obviously earing kosher doesn’t necessarily equal thinness. He now follows a mostly low-carb diet. No easy to do, avoiding meat and shellfish. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2015, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-kosher-diet-better/722643/23 "2015-06-17T13:29:57Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > My Boss is a Chassidic, very Orthodox Jew. He was massively overweight, so bad he qualified for weight loss surgery and lost 150 pounds. So obviously earing kosher doesn’t necessarily equal thinness. > > He now follows a mostly low-carb diet. No easy to do, avoiding meat and shellfish. Why does he have to avoid meat? ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2015, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-kosher-diet-better/722643/24 "2015-06-17T21:09:28Z")
We always envied my cousins who got to drink soda with all their meat meals while we drank milk. Of course that is far from healthy. Also I had the impression that kosher meats were not only saltier, but also fattier. That is obviously not a necessity, but that was my impression. Think corned beef. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2015, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-kosher-diet-better/722643/25 "2015-06-17T21:31:41Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > We always envied my cousins who got to drink soda with all their meat meals while we drank milk. Of course that is far from healthy. Also I had the impression that kosher meats were not only saltier, but also fattier. That is obviously not a necessity, but that was my impression. Think corned beef. I grew up on broiled chicken and veggies (outside of holidays my mom was a pretty mundane cook. Holidays on the other hand were great). Nothing about kosher food makes it fatty anymore than a typical diet does. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2015, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-kosher-diet-better/722643/26 "2015-06-17T21:47:20Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > Why does he have to avoid meat? Crap! I meant avoid pork. Pigs aren’t kosher. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2015, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-kosher-diet-better/722643/27 "2015-06-19T19:44:08Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > One other thing worth remembering is that one item of meat cannot be both halal and kosher by most standards. Halal meat must be slaughtered by a Muslim and kosher meat must be slaughtered by a Jew. Obviously no animal can be killed by both a Muslim and a Jew so the meat is always going to be off limits to somebody. Actually, sorry I don’t have a cite at the moment, some Muslim authorities have ruled that kosher meat is halal. I’m sure somebody else will be along with a cite. If not, I shall have to do some searching. Back To The OP Not necessarily. I can keep kosher by eating nothing but beef fat and drinking nothing but Dr Brown’s cherry soda. Certainly Maimonides thought a kosher diet was healthier. But later scholars have pointed out that Maimonides was a doctor and prone to explaining things in medical terms. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2015, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-kosher-diet-better/722643/28 "2015-06-19T21:40:13Z")
What does "kosher’ mean for mass-produced foods like cheese, coca-cola, etc? Are these products any different from non-Kosher, or just certified to be so? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-kosher-diet-better/722643.md?page=1)