I Tried the Nordic Diet And Here’s What You Should Know

The diet was created by a group of nutritionalists in 2004 at a Copenhagen conference, focuses on the traditional eating habits of the Nordic countries, like Finland, Sweden, Iceland and Norway. In theory, this is both a healthy as well as traditional diet that especially focuses on seasonal local produce and sustainability.

It concentrates on adding more berries, root vegetables, whole grains, Omega 3 rich fatty fish, nuts and seeds, low-fat dairy and also advises on the use of canola oil over olive oil.

But like most fad diets, there is some questionable science behind the Nordic diet, especially for a modern-age man who is on the quest to find a healthy and nutritional diet with long-term benefits and sustainability. The Nordic diet begins to falls apart as you start to question its effectiveness for our modern lifestyle.

Yes, the diet leaves tons of room to tailor it to your own individual needs since there is no calorie count and no set meal plan. But it also comes with no advised fitness routine to stick to. In order to reach any long-term health goals, eating healthy is only one side of the coin. A strict physical fitness regimen is also a must, especially for a modern-age man who has a desk job and lives a hectic lifestyle.

Another problem with the diet — It focuses on a lot of fish, as opposed to animal fats derived from other healthy sources like lean cuts of chicken, turkey and red meat. And in most modern cities, finding a trusted source so you know where the fish came from is next to impossible. It’s far easier to find organic chicken and lamb than to find responsibly caught fish.

Another downside is the use of Canola oil suggested, as it is both excessively bleached and deodorized to make it more palatable. As a result, it is absolutely not nearly as healthy as olive oil. The low-fat dairy suggested doesn’t help the Nordic Diet either; we all know that ‘low-fat’ labels are just as excuse to add more sugars and artificial chemicals to make a food product taste better.

If your goal is to achieve a healthy and balanced lifestyle, give this one a miss.

Have you tried the Nordic Diet? What do you think about it?