Nordic Diet What Is It
The Nordic region—which includes Norway, Iceland, Finland, Denmark, and Sweden—is known for progressive wellness-oriented lifestyle movements.(This may be one reason Scandinavians consistently rate as among the happiest people on the planet.) Their “hygge” philosophy is all about fostering a sense of contentment, while the “lagom” way of life refers to doing things in just the right amount—meaning living without excess, but also without limiting yourself too much. The concept of “friluftsliv” meanwhile has to do with spending time in nature.
U.S. News’s expert panel decided to include the Nordic Diet (also known as the New Nordic Diet) in this year’s rankings after it received considerable attention in the last year. There’s no one official Nordic Diet, but the 2017 book The Nordic Way is a good example of the diet’s basic guidelines.
Essentially, the Nordic Diet is based on 10 core concepts: eating more fruits and vegetables every day; eating more whole grains; eating more seafood; choosing high-quality meat, but less meat overall; seeking out food from wild landscapes; using organic produce whenever possible; avoiding food additives; basing more meals on seasonal produce; consuming more home-cooked food; and producing less waste.
In other words, the Nordic Diet focuses on locally sourced ingredients, avoids processed foods, and embraces “a return to relaxed meals with friends and family,” according to U.S. News’s description. These are similarities it shares with the Mediterranean Diet, Dr. Katz points out.
“In all of these places around the world where people derive the greatest benefit from their diets, people aren’t waiting around for anyone to tell them what to eat on January 1,” he says. “Even though we have new diets to evaluate every year, the ones that rank the highest are generally the oldest, most traditional ones.”
The Nordic Diet and Mediterranean Diet actually share quite a few similarities. Both include plenty of vegetables and fruit; an emphasis on whole (rather than refined) grains; nuts, seeds, and pulses; seafood over meat; home cooked meals; and limits on sugary and processed foods.
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Source : The Best Diets of 2019
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