A study conducted in Finland reportedly demonstrated that the Viking diet is very similar to the Mediterranean diet, but even more effective at reducing the risks of physical decline over time.
It is called the Viking diet (but also the Scandinavian or Nordic diet) because it is the traditional way of eating of northern European peoples: wholegrains, vegetables, fruit, fish and little sugar. A way of eating that has become well known in recent years for having proved natural, healthy, sustainable over time, and useful in keeping cholesterol low and maintaining the right physical shape.
Now, a piece of research reportedly goes further in confirming that the Viking diet also prevents the risk of acquiring physical disabilities and losing independence of movement as one ages. The study, coordinated by experts from the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare in Helsinki and published in the Journal of the American Medical Directors Association, examined physical decline over time in 962 people with an average age of around 60, finding that the individuals who adhered most closely to the Nordic diet were those who had by far the greatest reduction in the risk of deteriorating health over ten years of observation. Indeed, in this respect, the Scandinavian diet would appear to be more effective than the Mediterranean one. According to the study, the Mediterranean diet was also associated with a lower incidence of disability, but not in a statistically significant way.
In some respects the Mediterranean diet is actually very similar to the Nordic one, while in others it differs slightly. Both diets favour locally sourced, fresh and seasonal produce, fruit and vegetables in abundance, grains and fish, and then, less frequently, white meat over red, eggs and cheese. The foods themselves differ somewhat: in the Viking diet the vegetables are those that grow in colder climates, such as cabbages, the fish comes from cold seas, such as salmon, herring and stockfish, and the meat comes from game. The Nordic diet also includes a great deal of wholegrains, dried fruit, berries, herbs and wild berries and natural sugars such as honey and maple syrup. The Mediterranean diet also includes wholegrains, but all too often Italians still prefer to put refined pasta, rice and bread on the table, neglecting one of the healthiest guidelines of the Mediterranean eating style.
