Study on the health impacts of the Nordic diet

How do the healthy foods included in the Nordic diet provide health benefits, and what risk factors for major diseases can be affected through diet? These issues will be investigated as part of the upcoming NORRDIET study. The healthy foods in today's Nordic diet include berries, vegetables, fish, rapeseed oil, rye and oats.

This project is part of the research programme entitled Responding to Public Health Challenges (SALVE). The research is being funded by the Academy of Finland and the Research Council of Norway. It will be implemented through co-operation between the National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) and the University of Oslo.

The topic will be studied through intervention research lasting several months and a population-level survey, which will enable for a look at the connections between nutritional factors and the risk factors for major diseases over an extended time period.

Two nutritional intervention studies will examine the effects of berries and fish, both together and separately. The third intervention study and the population study will examine the benefits of a diet resembling Nordic dietary recommendations. The research will make use of new markers that assist in measuring the risk of major diseases and the nutritional value in the blood.

With the information provided by the study, we will endeavour to identify the risk factors and biochemical routes that can be affected through the adoption of a healthy diet. This is considered important, because it would facilitate the development of more efficient tools for the prevention of major diseases. 

A diet that adheres to Nordic nutritional recommendations interests researchers, since it is likely to be as healthy or even healthier than the Mediterranean diet, which has long been considered beneficial. Research information about Nordic “super foods” and their health benefits will benefit the public, because the inclusion of these familiar foods into a daily diet is more probable and relatively easy.

For further information, please contact Special Researcher Iris Erlund, Disease Risk Unit, Department of Chronic Disease Prevention, National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), iris.erlund@thl.fi

Academy of Finland Communications
Communications Specialist Leena Vähäkylä
Tel. +358 (0)9 7748 8327
E-mail: leena.vahakyla@aka.fi