A diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and rapeseed oil that is commonly eaten in Nordic nations can lower the risk of mortality, according to a long-term study of the Swedish population.
The study, published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, found “meaningful risk reductions” in mortality from the Nordic diet, similar to the sustainable effects offered by a Mediterranean diet.
While the Mediterranean diet includes leafy greens, tomatoes and citrus fruits for fibre, and quinoa, brown rice and wheat as grains, the Nordic diet supplies fibre from beets, carrots, turnips, and berries, and includes grains in the form of rye, barley and oats.
In the Mediterranean diet, the main source of healthy fat is olive oil. In the Nordic diet, it is rapeseed oil, also known as canola oil in the US.
Rapeseed oil has one of the lowest amounts of saturated fat among culinary oils. Studies have shown that it can help lower “bad” cholesterol levels and reduce the risk of heart disease.
The Nordic diet includes less meat and added sugar, instead using more whole grains, legumes, some fish, and low-fat dairy products.
In the new study, researchers estimated the effects of adhering to a healthy Nordic diet on all-cause mortality on a cohort of middle-aged and elderly Swedes followed for an average of 24 years.
Compared to a normal diet, they found that there was a meaningful reduction in the risk of all-cause mortality from following a Nordic diet.
“Our findings on all-cause mortality are promising,” they said, adding that the effects might partly be due to the increased use of rapeseed oil.
However, since their study focussed on a Swedish population, researchers cautioned that the ability to extend the results for all-cause mortality to populations with different backgrounds “may be hampered”.
The findings are in line with previous research published last September which found that mortality was 23 per cent lower in Swedish men and women who followed the Nordic diet compared with the populations that did not.
The diet is known to prioritise locally sourced, seasonal and mostly plant-based foods from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden that lower carbon emissions, reduce energy consumption, and decrease pollution.
By cutting back on red and processed meats, which are key drivers of greenhouse gas emissions and deforestation, researchers say the Nordic diet benefits public health and the climate and serves as a model for sustainable diets worldwide.
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