[dropcap style=”font-size:100px; color:#992211;”]N[/dropcap]ordic diet lowers cholesterol, study finds.
A healthy Nordic diet lowers cholesterol levels, and therefore the risk of cardiovascular disease, a pan-Nordic study where Lund University participated has found. There was also decreased inflammation associated with pre-diabetes.
– The subjects who ate a Nordic diet had lower levels of harmful LDL cholesterol and higher levels of “good” HDL cholesterol. The amount of harmful fat particles in the blood also declined, says Lieselotte Cloetens, a biomedical nutrition researcher at Lund University.
The ‘healthy Nordic diet’ used in the study contains local produce such as berries, root vegetables, legumes, and cabbage. Nuts, game, poultry and fish are also included, as well as whole grains, rapeseed oil and low-fat dairy products. The rest of the group ate butter instead of rapeseed oil, less berries and vegetables, and had no rules on red meat or white bread intake.
The researchers now want to focus on the diet’s ability to maintain weight loss in a new study, according to Lieselotte Cloetens, who points out that the problem with most diets is maintaining the results.
– Source: Lund University. Eurekalert.
Illustration by Dan Booth
This article is somewhat challenged by the NHS choices site which suggests that there is less evidence that the Nordic diet is any more healthy that a normal diet.
However a sample of the Nordic diet would be as follows [from about.com]
” Although Scandinavian and Scandinavian-American food is often characterized in people’s minds by the concept of “smorgasbord” – a long table loaded with rich and cream-laden dishes, in reality the smorgasbord feast is generally reserved for Christmas (and is called “Julbord”). These days, much research and publicity is being given to the “New Nordic Diet,” a healthful way of eating emphasizing Scandinavia’s wild fish and game, native berries, whole grains, and cold climate vegetables.” – About.com
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