Competition For The Mediterranean Diet

If you’ve been looking into international culinary schools, you probably also keep an eye on global food trends. A new dietary habit to be aware of the following of a Nordic diet for heart health. The Mediterranean diet, which features plenty of olive oil, fruits, veggies, nuts and seafood, is well known by now for significantly lowering the risk of heart disease. Despite its benefits, however, not everyone has adopted these food trends. Due to cultural differences or food unavailability, the Mediterranean diet has not been the easiest one to maintain. As a result of this, Scandinavian researchers are promoting a Nordic diet as a local alternative, which is based on the traditional foods of their region.

Eating primarily fish, berries, root vegetables, and poultry or game, study participants who followed the Nordic diet experienced a significant decrease in LDL cholesterol levels. It’s effect on cholesterol makes the Nordic diet a strong contender along with the Mediterranean diet for promoting a healthy heart. In addition to protecting against cardiovascular disease, though, the Nordic diet also lowers the levels of a marker for inflammation, which further strengthens heart health.

Students interested in cooking foods that follow the Nordic diet while working on culinary arts programs should look for foods that are typical of the region. Fish such as herring, salmon or mackerel are eaten three times a week along with game or poultry instead of red meat. Nuts, whole grains, legumes, berries and rapeseed oil also play prominent roles in this foodie phenomenon. Anyone cooking up these Scandinavian staples outside of the region, however, may stray from the diet a little, depending on the range of foods they have access to, as the diet focuses heavily on locally sourced or foraged foods.

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