Have you considered the Nordic diet?

The wholesome and delicious Nordic Diet

Scientists at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark have launched an expensive programme to identify and test products from northern climes that could be part of a new healthy, Nordic diet.

Research by Elling Bere of Agder University in Norway, has indicated that native berries, such as blueberries, cowberries and cloudberries contain as much unsaturated healthy fat as fish per unit of energy.

He also determined that they were rich in antioxidants, which reduce the levels of harmful free-radicals in cells. Free radicals are known to cause heart disease, stroke and cancer.

It’s believed foods from the north could soon be replacing the Mediterranean diet currently top of nutritionists’ list for a long, vigorous life.

Instead of olive oil, citrus fruit, tomatoes and pasta, we could soon be shopping for elk, rapeseed oil, cowberries and cloudberries.

It has to be said, though, that the Danish authorities are not exactly neutral in promoting their own products. Whether European and American consumers will abandon their pizzas and Nicoise salads for soused herring remains to be seen.

However, it has been said that although foods of the south are low in saturated fats, the Med diet produces a lot of plump and overweight people.

Traditional Nordic diets are high in in fish like, salmon, trout, cod and herring, all rich in unsaturated omega-3 fatty acids. The leaner qualities of northern foods, such as elk and reindeer, promote leaner people over time.

Another pointer in favour of Nordic foods is that they are more convenient to produce in colder climates, like Britain, than alternatives from the Mediterranean.

Things are looking up for the northern lifestyle.