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.

In a counter-intuitive article in the New York Times, which quotes researchers in Germany and Boston, exercise and antioxidants don’t mix. “If you exercise to improve your metabolism and prevent diabetes, you may want to avoid antioxidants like vitamins C and E.”

Dr. Michael Ristow, a nutritionist at the University of Jena in Germany, said, “If you exercise to promote health, you shouldn’t take large amounts of antioxidants. … antioxidants in general cause certain effects that inhibit otherwise positive effects of exercise, dieting and other interventions.”

It seems that exercise encourages muscle cells to metabolize glucose by combining carbon atoms with oxygen. In the process, highly reactive oxygen molecules are released which then attack various parts of the body damaging the tissues.

The Jena team found that in the group taking antioxidant vitamins, like vitamins C and E, there was no improvement in insulin sensitivity and almost no activation of the body’s natural defence mechanism against oxidative damage.

Once again, what we thought was done and dusted has been called into question by more research.

However, the advice does not apply to fruits and vegetables, Ristow said, even though they are high in antioxidants, it may be that other substances they contain outweigh any negative effect.

Andrew Shao of the Council for Responsible Nutrition, a trade association of dietary supplement makers, said, “I wouldn’t change recommendations for anyone based on one study. This is one small piece of the puzzle.”

The amount of oxidative damage increases with age, and according to one theory of aging it is a major cause of the body’s decline.

The findings appear in this week’s issue of The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

John Evans

The latest health panacea and longevity aid is a very unlikely one — “heavy” water.

Heavy water (HW) occurs when the hydrogen atom — the “H” in H2O — is an isotope of normal hydrogen called deuterium. Deuterium weighs twice as much, hence the “heavy” tag.

Apart from the odd chemistry lesson at school, most people will know about heavy water from the film Heroes of Telemark, a wartime adventure in which Richard Widmark leads a British raid on Telemark in Denmark. The aim is to destroy a heavy water plant which threatens London with an atom bomb attack.

According to scientists the consumption of HW adds 10 percent to the lifespan of earthworms and 30 percent to other species. Humans are thought to be in for an extra 10 years of life if fed HW products, which can include bread, cakes or even pork from pigs fed with the water.

However, a close reading of the reports indicates that HW works by strengthening cells against free radical damage. Regular readers of Sideways Health will know that we are already well armed with a great many antioxidants in highly coloured fruit and vegetables that perform the same task.

It’s not clear whether heavy water adds to that effect or, to use a pun, will be swallowed up in it. In other words, will HW be wasted on folk who already consume 6000 ORAC of antioxidants a day?

We will keep an eye on this story to see how it develops.

Whether you’re a diabetic or not, it pays to balance your blood sugar.

Image from Syntagma Photographic

A high sugar/refined carbohydrate diet will almost certainly ensure you suffer from mood swings at inconvenient times. You may also endure memory lapses, mental fuzziness, acute fatigue and weight issues.

In modern times it’s not so easy simply to restrict sugary foods. Sugar is often disguised in packaged foods with other names like, glucose, dextrose and flour (white flour acts like sugar in the blood stream). It’s hard to avoid the sweet stuff without adopting a very limited diet.

It is, however, possible to balance your blood sugar naturally. A two step strategy is best. You can cut out overt sugar in your meals, and also assist the body in coping with what’s left.

Chromium is said to have an effect in regulating blood sugar and can be bought as a mineral supplement. But two natural products you can add to your food will make a difference.

Camomile may be bought as a tea, or tisane, in tea bags. Apart from its relaxing effect, it gently balances your blood sugar.

Cinnamon has a similar function. It can be taken in many ways. Sprinkling a quarter teaspoon over breakfast cereal is probably the easiest.