The Viking Diet: How to eat healthily the Nordic way

A new study shows that a Nordic diet based around fish, whole grains, berries, vegetables and dairy products can lower blood sugar and cholesterol levels. Here Norwegian doctor Berit Nordstrand explains how to eat as her ancestors did
Berit Nordstrand: like a mix of Jamie Oliver and Elle Macpherson, but with a science career
Berit Nordstrand: like a mix of Jamie Oliver and Elle Macpherson, but with a science career
STUDIO DREYER HENSLEY

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Updated March 10 2022

We are sick of being told how to eat like the French. Those supercilious books telling us why “French women don’t get fat” when, in fact, they do. No amount of artfully draped scarves will hide the effects of those baguettes.

Instead, why has no one looked for inspiration to a country with one of the lowest obesity rates in the developed world — Norway? A land with a native eating culture that is upheld by the latest medical research: fish, oats and berries. Let the Vikings conquer your bulging belly.

Enter Berit Nordstrand. It’s hard to think of a British equivalent for this Norwegian phenomenon. She has been a respected hospital doctor for 25 years. She has also published seven