Is the Nordic Diet Effective for Weight Loss?
The latest weight loss eating trend in Europe has now become the Nordic Diet, which many people are also calling the Viking Diet or simply “eating like a Viking”. But is this strategy actually something that can help to promote health and fat loss or is it only the latest in a long line of different fads that are continually moving into – and out of – the dieting marketplace?
To answer that question, your first step is to know what the Nordic Diet actually is. Overall, it is based on traditional eating patterns from Scandinavia, with influences from several of the countries in that region. It is typically high in fish, berries, game meats and nuts and will – according to those who love it – help you to lose weight.
The New Nordic Diet, which is the version of this eating strategy that has been gaining the highest amount of attention from the media, was first created in 2004. It was developed by two chefs named René Redzepi and Clause Meyer. They brought together a symposium of various different regional chefs in order to try to come up with a solution to the trend toward the increasing consumption of processed foods, preservatives, additives and heavily refined carbs among the general public, in addition to the everyday consumption of mass-produced meat and poultry.
The chefs then altered the menu at their restaurant, Noma, which was new at the time, created a tasting menu that would allow patrons to sample a spectrum of dishes made from foraged and wild foods. This included twigs, seaweeds, mosses and edible barks as well as herring, elk, nettles and rye.
The chefs and many of those that attended the symposium signed the “Manifesto for the New Nordic Kitchen” with the intentions of returning to the ideals and goals of the original Scandinavian cooking style, which focused on the “purity, freshness, simplicity, and ethics we wish to associate with our region.”
This eating strategy was studied by the Faculty of Life Sciences at the University of Copenhagen in 2009 in order to determine whether or not it actually came with any notable health benefits. The research involved tracking a group of participants who followed the New Nordic, as well as a control group that followed a conventional diet. The purpose was not to lose weight, but after six months, those following New Nordic had reduced by an average of seven pounds and decreased their body fat levels, waist circumferences and even blood pressure.
If weight loss is indeed your goal, then Phentramin-d can help to accelerate the process, regardless of whether you’re eating like a Viking or following another healthful strategy recommended by your doctor.
