The new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations were published in June. The inclusion of food’s impact on the climate and environment is new, as is the summary of how different food groups influence health.

A major challenge for the working group that has produced the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations is that the scientific basis is so extensive. “There are few areas of medical research with more activity. Every day, 300 new scientific articles on diet and health are published, so no single country could have produced this review alone,” says Rune Blomhoff, professor at the University of Oslo and project manager for the work on the NNR. The most important conclusions are that we should eat more fruit, vegetables, legumes and wholegrain products, and less red meat and foods high in salt, fat and sugar.

...we should eat more fruit, vegetables, legumes and wholegrain products...

Or more simply: more plantbased, and less meat. “Our recommendation to eat no more than 350 grams of red meat per week is purely a health assessment, without considering the climate impact, but generally we’ve found that what is good for health is also good for the climate.” The recommendation on limiting the intake of meat aims to create a balance between the increased risk of bowel cancer and how much meat we should eat to obtain important nutrients that are difficult to obtain from other foods. “It has also been important to ensure that the updated nutritionrecommendations also benefit the environment and the climate,” he concludes.

Text: Per Westergård
Photo: Kyrre Vigestad/UIO