A Detailed Beginner's Guide of The Nordic Diet
What is Nordic Diet?
The Nordic Diet was specifically designed to revolutionize Nordic cuisine and promote public health. Nutrition scientists based at the Danish University of Copenhagen teamed up with the co-founder of the world-famous restaurant Noma for this multi-year project. Known as the Nordic diet or the New Nordic Diet, this diet incorporates aspects of Scandinavian tradition and culture.
The Nordic Diet plan calls for a lifestyle that embraces a return to casual eating with family and friends centered on locally sourced seasonal foods, combined with a concern for protecting the environment. These concepts underlie the Nordic diet: Eat more fruit and vegetables each day. Eat more seeds. Include more foods from the ocean and lakes. Choose high quality meats – but eat less meat overall. Seek more food from the wild landscape. Use organic produce when possible. Avoid additives. More food base on seasonal produce. Increase the consumption of home food. Generate less waste.
The 2017 book "The Nordic Way," combines carbohydrate to protein ratios based on a combination of low glycemic index and moderate protein foods, including dairy products. Low GI foods cause a slower, lower rise in blood sugar than high GI foods. Foods rich in protein can prevent you from feeling hungry. By properly balancing nutrient-dense foods, the book says, you can prevent weight gain, reduce inflammation in the body, and lower the risk of diseases such as diabetes.
When choosing what to eat on the Nordic diet, you can go all-out Scandinavian: Venison, rapeseed oil, Icelandic yogurt, lingonberry, rutabaga and herring are just a few examples of common foods in Denmark, where the diet originated. But anyone can adapt the Nordic diet, as the real focus is on eating healthy foods that are local to you.
The Nordic whole food diet, i.e. a return to nature approach is an attractive option for many people trying to eat in a healthier way. Regardless of the type of diet that still prevails in the US, most people want to go back to basics – eat like their ancestors before processing took over the food industry.
Nordic Diet Does It Work?
Several studies have assessed the weight-loss effect of the Nordic diet. In one study in 147 obese people who were instructed not to restrict calories, those on the Nordic diet lost 10.4 pounds (4.7 kg), whereas people who ate a typical Danish diet lost only 3.3 lbs/1.5 kg.
However, in a follow-up study a year later, participants on the Nordic diet had regained most of the weight.
These results are particularly typical of long-term research on weight loss. People lose weight initially but then gradually gain it back after 1-2 years. Another 6-week study supported the weight-reducing effect of the Nordic diet, as the Nordic diet group lost 4% of their body weight – significantly more than those on the standard diet. The Nordic diet appears to be effective for short-term weight loss - even without calorie restriction. Still — as with many weight loss diets — you may gain back the weight you lost over time.
How Nordic Diet: Works
The Nordic diet emphasizes whole, fresh, seasonal local foods, and strongly discourages processed foods. So you should cut back on added sugars, packaged foods, and fatty red meats in favor of locally caught fish, locally produced dairy products, and seasonal produce. Opting for local and seasonal foods means this diet has less of an impact on the environment than other meal plans.
What to eat
- Appropriate Food
- Fruits and vegetables, particularly berries
- Dairy products
- Whole grains (webmd)
- Fish
- Healthy fat
- Poultry and games
Unsuitable Food
- Red meat
- Whole Grain
- Processed foods
- Additional sugar and sweet drinks
At least 25% of the calories of the Nordic diet come from whole grain products such as rye, barley and oats. Her diet also includes brown rice, whole grain pasta, and lots of whole grain bread. Whole wheat and rye cereals are also allowed in the Nordic diet, as long as they don't contain added sugar or honey.
Fruits, Veggies and Berries
The Nordic diet includes at least one cup of fruit and one cup of vegetables every day, preferably organic, in season, and locally grown. Recommended products include pears, apples, potatoes, root vegetables and cruciferous vegetables like cabbage. This diet is very rich in berries: Plan to eat at least two cups per day of blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, or traditional lingonberries. The berries are low in calories and rich in vitamins and minerals. They also contain beneficial phytochemicals due to their iridescent blue and red pigments.
Dairy Products
Yogurt, low-fat milk, and cheese are included in the diet, but sugar-sweetened milk drinks and sugar-sweetened yogurt products are not. Eat at least two portions daily.
Fish
Eat fatty seafood such as salmon, herring, or mackerel twice a week (or more), plus eat one meal made with low-fat fish, such as cod or haddock.
meat
Poultry and game are allowed, as long as you choose cuts of meat that are low in fat. Choose lean chicken, turkey, and lamb and venison cuts; Avoid other red meats including beef.
fat
The Nordic diet is fairly low in saturated fat and focuses on sources of healthy fats, including rapeseed oil (canola oil in North America), nuts, seeds, and fatty fish like salmon.
Processed food
Avoid it as much as possible contains added sugar, salt, and fat, and is neither local nor environmentally friendly.
Added sugar
Avoid foods made with added sugar and sweetened drinks. A daily serving of fruit or berry juice is fine, but otherwise, stick with water, coffee, tea, and low-fat milk.
Nordic Diet Benefits: Is The Nordic Diet Healthy?
Eating healthy goes beyond losing weight. It can also lead to significant improvements in metabolic health and a lower risk of many chronic diseases.
Research has studied the effect of the Nordic diet on health markers.
Cholesterol and Triglyceride
Although the Nordic diet contains many heart-healthy foods, their effects on cholesterol and triglycerides have been inconsistent.
Some - but not all - studies have found a decrease in triglycerides, but the effect on LDL (bad) and HDL (good) cholesterol was not statistically significant.
However, one study observed mild reductions in non-HDL cholesterol, as well as LDL-c/HDL-c and Apo B/Apo A1 ratios – all of which are strong risk factors for heart disease.
Blood pressure
In a 6-month study of obese people, the Nordic diet reduced systolic and diastolic blood pressure by 5.1 and 3.2 mmHg, respectively – compared with a control diet.
Another 12-week study found a significant decrease in diastolic blood pressure (the bottom number of a reading) in participants with metabolic syndrome.
Inflammation
Chronic inflammation is the main driver of many serious illnesses.
Nordic studies of diet and inflammation provide mixed results. One study found a reduction in the inflammatory marker CRP, while the other observed no statistically significant effect.
Another study shows that the Nordic diet reduces the expression of genes associated with inflammation in your body's fat tissue
Control Blood Sugar
The Nordic diet doesn't appear to be particularly effective at lowering blood sugar levels, although one study noted a slight decrease in fasting blood sugar.
Summary
The Nordic diet good for you, it is certainly healthy because it replaces processed foods with whole foods that consist of single ingredients.
This can lead to short-term weight loss and some decrease in blood pressure and inflammatory markers. However, evidence is weak and inconsistent.
Generally, any diet that emphasizes whole foods rather than standard Western junk food is likely to lead to weight loss and improved health.
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