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The Nordic diet, also called the Baltic Sea diet, has been recently developed as a healthy dietary pattern.

Compared to the Mediterranean and the DASH diets, the Nordic diet emphasizes the use of different types of oil and vegetables and fruit choices based on products indigenous to the Scandinavian region. In the Nordic diet the added culinary fat is the canola oil, a variety of rapeseed, instead of the olive oil that is used in the Mediterranean diet. Canola oil is rich in MUFAs and alpha‐linolenic acid, a plant‐based n‐3 PUFA. Moreover, in the Nordic diet, berries constitute a common fruit choice with various potential health benefits. This group of fruits is rich in a class of polyphenols called anthocyanins, whose health effects on hypertension and CVD are well established.

FIGURE 6.2 The Baltic Sea diet pyramid.

Source: Kanerva et al. (2012).

Adherence to the Nordic diet could significantly decrease insulin levels and HOMA‐IR and is associated with a significant reduction in systolic and diastolic BP. Total and LDL‐cholesterol levels are also lower compared with a Western‐type diet. In a model‐based simulation study to find the number of deaths attributable to CVDs that could be prevented or delayed in the Nordic countries, it was found that the most lives could be saved by changes attributable to an increase in fruit and vegetable intakes.

In contrast, the Nordic diet is less effective in reducing inflammation, compared with other healthy dietary patterns such as the Mediterranean diet. The type of oil (canola oil vs. olive oil) consumed in the Nordic and the Mediterranean diets, respectively, may explain the different effects on inflammation. Overall, studies show that a higher degree of adherence to the Nordic diet is associated with a healthy lifestyle.

The Diet, Cancer, and Health cohort study, conducted in Danish people of both sexes, found that greater compliance with the Nordic dietary pattern was related to lower risk of developing colorectal cancer by 35% among women. It was further indicated that conformity to each component of this dietary pattern was associated with 9% lower risk of colorectal cancer occurrence in female participants. Furthermore, evidence derived from the Swedish Women's Lifestyle and Health cohort revealed that, after approximately two decades of follow‐up, high compliance with the Nordic diet model decreased overall mortality by 18% compared to poor compliance. The studies demonstrated that lower overall mortality rates could be attributed solely to high intake of whole grains, apples, and pears.

Apart from the favorable health effects of the Nordic diet, this dietary pattern encompasses features of eco‐friendliness. Like all plant‐based diets, the Nordic diet employs a small number of natural resources in contrast to meat‐based diets, which have been accused of increasing carbon dioxide production and, thus, carbon footprint. In order for a food to be characterized as “typical” of the Nordic diet, it has to fulfill a list of criteria, such as being produced within the Nordic countries without employing external energy sources, being related to Nordic dietary tradition (such as dark bread, root vegetables, and fish), being superior in terms of health effects compared to other foods of the same food group, and being consumed as food and not only in small amounts as dietary supplement, such as spices.

A detailed description of the Nordic dietary model and a sample menu plan can be found in Appendix B.9.