This heart-healthy diet has a Nordic twist

NEW YORK – When Dr Cecilie Kyro spent summers with her grandparents on the Danish islands of Langeland and Oro, a typical breakfast was cold, plain oatmeal. For lunch, she would have an open-faced sandwich, called smorrebrod, on dense rye bread, often topped with pickled herring, a small, fatty fish preserved in vinegar-based brine.

Dinner frequently included root vegetables with fish – or, less frequently and in smaller portions, meat.

Now, as a public health researcher at the Danish Cancer Institute in Copenhagen, Dr Kyro studies how this eating pattern, more recently coined the Nordic diet, influences disease risk.

As with the famously healthy Mediterranean diet, the Nordic diet is rich in fruit and vegetables, whole grains and beneficial fats. While it has not been studied for as long as the Mediterranean diet, preliminary research suggests that the Nordic diet may have big rewards – especially for the heart.

What is the Nordic diet?

Similar to its southern cousin, the Nordic diet prioritises fruit, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds, legumes, lean proteins and fatty fish. The main difference is it highlights food native to the Nordic region, including Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.

Instead of olive oil, the Nordic diet features rapeseed or canola oil – made from the rapeseed plant, which thrives in cooler temperatures.

Root vegetables like turnips, carrots and parsnips and cruciferous vegetables like cabbage and cauliflower are staples of the diet. Blueberries, strawberries, lingonberries – small, tart fruit similar to cranberries – and other berries also play a prominent role, as do fruit like apples and pears.

The Nordic diet prioritises unprocessed foods, and whole grains like oats, barley and rye, which are often used to make crunchy flatbreads called crispbreads.

It is low in saturated fats, with an emphasis on low-fat dairy, especially yogurt, and fish high in healthy, unsaturated fats like salmon, mackerel, sardines and herring. Eggs and poultry are consumed in moderation. And red and processed meats are rarely eaten.

People who follow the diet tend to limit or even avoid alcohol, as well as foods high in added sugars and sodium.

Is the Nordic diet good for you?

Because the diet is rich in fibre and healthy fats, it stands to reason that it is also good for the heart, said Dr Kjetil Bjornevik, an assistant professor of epidemiology and nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Fibre-rich foods can help lower blood cholesterol levels by binding LDL or “bad” cholesterol in the digestive tract and removing it from the body. Dr Kyro’s research has also found that whole grains like oats, wheat and rye are linked to a lower risk of Type 2 diabetes and colorectal cancer.

The diet’s high levels of omega-3 fatty acids – from the fish and rapeseed oil – and low levels of saturated fats may also reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke.

In one small, rigorous clinical trial published in 2010, for instance, researchers in Sweden split 88 adults with slightly elevated cholesterol levels into two groups: one that followed the Nordic diet for six weeks, and another that followed their usual Western diets for the same period of time, serving as a control.

Those in the Nordic group lost more weight and had lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels than those in the control group.

These findings mirror more recent research, including a 2023 review that concluded that the diet could potentially reduce death from cardiovascular disease, and could help to lower cholesterol and blood pressure levels. But more research is needed to determine whether, or to what extent, the diet actually reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease.

A major aspect of the Nordic diet is buying local and seasonal food, which can have big benefits for the environment. Locally sourced food requires less transport, resulting in fewer greenhouse gas emissions. And research suggests that plant-based dietary patterns emit fewer greenhouse gases and require less land, water and fertiliser than those that are animal-based.

How can you follow it?

You do not have to live in the Nordic region to practise the diet’s main tenets.

Try to prioritise whole or minimally processed foods that are high in fibre and unsaturated fats and low in added sugars and sodium. That includes plenty of fruit and vegetables, and healthy sources of protein like fatty fish, nuts and low-fat dairy.

Dr Kyro recommended researching what you can buy locally. Are any fruit or vegetables grown nearby? Do you live near a body of water that is home to fatty fish?

Anyone can incorporate heart-healthy and Nordic-inspired food into their diet, Dr Bjornevik said – even if you live oceans away. NYTIMES