We live in Denmark, which consistently ranks as one of the world’s healthiest countries. The modern Danish diet, however, may not be quite so world-leading – with many Danes consuming high levels of sugar, salt and convenience food.
Yet, go back a few generations and science is increasingly showing that many of the staple foods of our grandparents’ generation.
Think homemade rye bread, herring, root vegetables and berries – can significantly reduce your risk of chronic disease and help you live longer.
Often described as the Mediterranean diet of the north, the Nordic diet is a predominantly plant-based diet rooted in traditional Nordic foods.
Health Gap / Sundhedskløften is a collaborative series from The Conversation UK and Denmark’s Videnskab.dk exploring what the two countries can learn from each other when it comes to health and wellbeing.
From cycling and alcohol to inequality, healthcare and everyday habits, the series looks beyond hospitals and medical treatment to explore how culture, politics and society shape the way people live – and how healthy they are.
It emphasises whole grains such as rye and oats; fatty fish, like salmon, herring and mackerel, root vegetables and cabbages, Nordic fruits like apples and pears and berries like bilberries – with modest amounts of dairy and rapeseed oil as the main source of fats.
These foods work together to support health.
Rye, oats and vegetables provide a diversity of dietary fibres, which help to regulate cholesterol, blood sugar and digestion. Salmon, herring, mackerel and rapeseed oil supply heart-healthy unsaturated fats. Fruits and berries contribute antioxidants that may reduce inflammation. And the overall diet is typically low in sugar and saturated fat.
A look at the evidence
Much of the evidence for the Nordic diet comes from something researchers call the Healthy Nordic Food Index, a score that ranks people by how closely their everyday eating matches traditional Nordic staples.
One of the earliest studies using this index tracked 57,053 Danes over 12 years. It found that men who ate the most Nordic-style foods ended up with a 36% lower risk of dying than those who ate the least.
Similar studies have linked this pattern of eating to a lower risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and stroke.
But the strongest evidence for the health benefits of a Nordic diet comes from a 12-month study in Sweden, a country with broadly similar eating habits to Denmark.
Participants were asked to swap to porridge and rye bread instead of eating white bread and pasta, rapeseed oil instead of butter and more locally grown produce like apples, berries and cabbage alongside fatty fish like salmon and herring.
In this study, people in the Nordic diet group saw improvements across several risk factors for chronic disease compared to the people who weren’t eating in this way. This included the lowering of high blood sugar and cholesterol, a reduction of liver fat, along with decreased inflammation levels – all of which can raise your chances of developing heart disease, type 2 diabetes, or liver disease over time.
A local diet
The Mediterranean diet and the Nordic diet have a great deal in common. In fact, they share more similarities than differences.
Both are big on plant foods, whole grains, fish and healthy fats. Both diets also treat processed food and red meat as occasional extras rather than staples.
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And for people living in northern Europe, like the UK, this more Nordic way of eating may actually be an easier diet to follow than the Mediterranean diet, given that many of the ingredients are already grown locally and familiar.
Plus, because it leans on foods grown and caught close to home, rather than shipped in from afar, this way of eating tends to do more to support local food production. Thus potentially making it better for the climate.
How to adopt the Nordic diet
It’s clear then that adopting some healthy Nordic habits could bring clear health benefits.
Some simple changes might include:
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swapping refined grains for whole grains like oats and rye bread and aiming for 90g a day
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eating more fatty fish each week
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using unsaturated oils instead of butter
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adding more legumes, root vegetables and seasonal produce to meals
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cutting back on highly processed foods
It’s also important to add that healthy eating does not depend on specific “superfoods” or exotic ingredients. Instead, this diet demonstrates the value of simple, local and minimally processed foods. Think: more whole foods, more plants, better fats and fewer sweets and snacks.
Ultimately, though, the healthiest diets are not about perfection, but about consistent, balanced choices that can fit into your everyday life.
This series was commissioned as part of a partnership between Videnskab.dk and The Conversation, where articles are published in English and Danish.
