Are you Jewish, or do you know somebody who is Jewish? Do you keep kosher when cooking? If the answer to both of these questions is no, you may simply think of keeping and eating kosher as something that other people do and you don't see any reason why you should consider buying kosher products or going to kosher restaurants. But the reality is that kosher can be for more than strictly Jewish people. Some of the biggest reasons why you might want to consider eating kosher food at least some of the time are as follows:

Stricter guidelines: As an adult, you're probably aware of the various food recalls that have happened over the years with respect to popular food brands. This can sometimes happen because the manufacturer decides that profits outweigh food safety concerns and that certain steps are good enough even though they are what ultimately led to contamination and recall. On the other hand, kosher food must follow much stricter guidelines in order to be certified as kosher. While it may not be a perfect guarantee of food safety and purity, these stricter standards make it less likely that there will be issues with the food itself.

Allergies: At its most basic, kosher food is categorized into meat, dairy, and pareve (everything that is not meat or dairy). Meat and dairy must be kept separate and must not be served together. Pareve food items can be served with either meat or dairy because they contain neither of these ingredients. If you have an allergy to dairy, eating food that has been certified as kosher meat or pareve is a good way to ensure that you're not accidentally consuming your allergen. If you are allergic to shellfish but not regular fish, you can safely eat seafood at a kosher restaurant because shellfish are not kosher at all and would not be allowed in the kitchen.

Voluntary diets: If you're trying to keep to a vegetarian or a vegan lifestyle, kosher food may be a good choice for you. Because kosher food is separated into the previously-mentioned categories of meat, dairy, and pareve, vegetarians and vegans can consume pareve food without having to worry about whether it contains animal products. When there are no vegan or vegetarian restaurants to choose from, a kosher restaurant can be a good alternative for eating out. If you are a vegetarian who is okay with eating dairy and/or eggs, you can eat kosher dairy products without needing to double and triple check food labels to ensure that they contain no meat.