Forget the Mediterranean Diet: Try the Nordic Diet to Slim Down

As the days shorten and temperatures fall, it is natural to reach for meals that feel warm, comforting and satisfying. But winter eating does not have to revolve around heavy carbohydrates or ultra-processed foods.

I come from Denmark, where people across the Nordic countries have followed a similar style of eating for generations. The traditional diet is built around the plants and produce of the northern hemisphere, including wholegrains, root vegetables, leafy greens, oily fish, poultry, game, berries and herbs.

Researchers are now finding that this way of eating can offer many of the same benefits associated with the better-known Mediterranean diet. It may support heart health, improve the gut and reduce cholesterol levels, while also helping with weight loss during the colder months, when cravings for comfort food are strongest.

Danes may have given the world hygge, but our idea of comfort food is centred on slow-cooked, highly nutritious meals rather than calorie-laden pastries and cakes.

As a chef and food writer, I have cooked and eaten dishes from many countries. For much of my adult life, I also struggled to keep my weight under control.

I always suspected that counting calories was not the answer. If it worked reliably, my husband, who never counts them, would not be slim, while I would not have spent years moving from one often-unsuccessful diet to another.

In 2023, at the age of 59, I decided to return to the food traditions I grew up with. Now 61, I maintain a healthy weight that I am happy with, without counting calories, following fads or relying on meal replacements. I eat delicious food every day, and have also improved my arthritis and reduced my cholesterol. Even after going through menopause, I have managed to lose weight rather than gain it, as many women do. So what changed? Read on…

Why Nordic Diet works so well

The principle is straightforward, although it may not be what people want to hear: losing weight means eating less, and that can sometimes mean accepting a little hunger.

Since publishing my first book, Eat Nordic, The Ultimate Diet for Weight Loss, Health, and Happiness, in 2016, the weight-loss world has changed dramatically.

Many people now turn to weight-loss injections to suppress hunger. However, the wholefoods at the heart of the Nordic diet, combined with a few Scandinavian lifestyle habits, can also help you feel satisfied after eating smaller portions. Unlike weight-loss drugs, these foods provide the nutrients needed to support healthy skin, muscles and the rest of the body.

When meals keep you full for longer, you are less likely to snack. I recommend eating two or three times a day, leaving around four hours between meals to allow your digestive system a break.

Following the principles of the Nordic diet should help you lose weight. Aim for a gradual reduction of 1lb to 2lb, or 500g to 1kg, each week — roughly 7lb a month. This pace should prevent you from feeling constantly hungry or exhausted. If progress is slow at first, stay consistent. The weight will begin to come off, and is more likely to remain off.

No grains, no gains

Wholegrains are a cornerstone of Nordic eating, particularly varieties suited to cooler climates such as spelt, rye, oats and barley. In their wholegrain form, they are rich in fibre, which helps you feel satisfied. Use them in salads, porridge or main meals in place of potatoes or rice. Anyone with high cholesterol should consider eating oats daily, as they have been shown to help lower it.

It is also worth avoiding mass-produced bread, which is often low in fibre and nutrients and contains additives to extend its shelf life. Instead, make your own Nordic-style rye bread or choose a loaf from an artisan baker.

Time to veg out

For weight control and a healthier gut, Danish researchers have found that the ideal pattern includes 300g to 500g of vegetables daily — around half to 60 per cent of the diet. Cabbage is especially popular in Nordic cooking, from white, hispi, red and Savoy varieties to related vegetables such as kale and Brussels sprouts.

Root vegetables are particularly valuable in autumn and winter. They keep well, are filling and can be prepared in countless ways. Look beyond potatoes and carrots to beetroot, radishes, turnips, celeriac, parsnips, Jerusalem artichokes, salsify and kohlrabi. Garlic and onions are also staples of Nordic cooking, providing both flavour and nutrients throughout the year.

Fish and fowl

Fish is another essential part of the Nordic diet. Oily varieties such as herring, salmon and mackerel are popular, while cod, lobster, haddock, mussels and oysters also feature. Fish supplies healthy fats that support the skin and brain, as well as vitamin D. Aim to eat it at least twice a week; canned options such as sardines are an excellent choice too.

Fish is excellent for weight loss because the high protein content is naturally filling without making you feel weighed down.

If you don’t fancy fish then I recommend red meat. Yes, that’s an unusual take nowadays but it’s very much part of the Nordic plan.

Try to go for something free range. Animals bred free-range on pasture generally have a better flavour than meat from animals reared in pens or stalls and are leaner too.

Game meat like venison and pheasant is seasonal and the best variety is available in the autumn, so take advantage while you can.

As for chicken, always buy free-range or organic. It’s more expensive, but our whole philosophy should be one of quality first even if that means reducing how often we eat it.

Take your pick

The Nordic diet is full of berries. Obviously, strawberries and raspberries are summer fruits, but the autumn is primetime for harvesting our super-berries: lingonberries, cranberries and bilberries. In the cool Nordic nations with the long, light days and nights they get a lot of light but not a lot of warmth. So, they grow slowly, and are smaller, lower in sugar but bigger in taste than the ones flown in from hot climates to supermarkets.

But you don’t have to scour specialist shops: all berries are healthy due to their particularly high levels of antioxidants. The healthiest way to eat them is raw.

Handfuls of herbs

Herbs are vital in everyday cooking, adding flavour and freshness. Popular garden herbs in Nordic cuisine include dill, parsley, chives, mint, tarragon, chervil, bay leaves, thyme and rosemary. To get the most nutritional benefit, you have to eat large amounts, so put handfuls in soups, sauces, pestos or salads. A Nordic tabbouleh with spelt grains is the perfect base.

Gut instincts

Nowadays, we also understand more about the gut microbiome than we did when I wrote Eat Nordic. Good gut bacteria play a major role in helping us achieve a healthy weight, and fermented foods feed them.

My favourites are homemade sourdough rye bread, yogurt and skyr (Icelandic high protein yogurt), plus my own homemade fermented cabbage which I eat with salads.

And finally cutting out processed foods is vital. That way we reduce mindless snacking and don’t overwhelm the good gut bacteria with chemicals.

Follow these top tips to start eating like a Scandi – and lose weight!

It’s great outdoors

In Scandinavia, we love the outdoor life and try to exercise outside every day. Hate the gym? Walk more. Build activity into your day. In the warmer months, I power walk and do a general workout with weights at home 4-5 times a week and I garden daily. In winter, I change my routine and start going to the gym instead. Being active improves your body’s physical and mental state, so it is a win-win situation.

Sleep is vital. When we are sleep deprived, we feel hungrier and crave sugary, fatty foods.

Cupboard clear-out

Start your new diet by going through your cupboards and phase out your convenience items – ready meals, canned soups, snack bars, milk chocolate, fizzy drinks, crisps, cereals containing sugar. 

Then restock your cupboards with real food: spices, good oils and vinegars, whole grains, oats, nuts, flours, mustards.

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Plan what to eat for the whole week ahead – I like to do this on a Sunday – and then only go shopping twice so I spend time in the kitchen. 

Shopping when hungry or on the spur of the moment means the wrong things end up in your basket. You’ll save money this way too.

Forget teas-on-knees

In the Nordic countries we believe that eating together at a table is important. Even if you are alone, set the table and present your food with care. Don’t eat in front of the TV ‘teas-on-knees’ style as the distraction will mean you won’t focus on and enjoy your food as much and will find yourself looking for treats in the fridge later.

Eat slowly

Weight loss medications work by mimicking our natural fullness hormones, but we can use time to create the same effect. When we start to eat, it takes time for our body to send signals to our brain to say that food is coming, which wakes up your digestion and sends messages to say when you are full.

But if you eat a plate of food in five minutes, there’s barely time for your body to respond. How many times have we eaten something too quickly, then realised we are over-full?

Instead take at least 20 minutes to eat each normal-sized meal. This is hard in the beginning (I know from my own experience) but it will definitely pay off.

I used to put my watch next to the plate to make sure I was taking enough time as I ate.

Step up to stop craving

Feeling peckish between meals and find yourself craving unhealthy food? This may sound crazy but try running up and down the stairs ten times. Bursts of intense exercise rapidly suppress the hunger hormone ghrelin and hunger pangs disappear.

Take time off

Don’t start a new way of eating when you are very busy or stressed. I sometimes advise people to take a few days off when they start – if you are rested and less stressed, you tend to feel less hungry and enjoying non-food recreational treats will help you feel less deprived.

Beat temptation

Make sure you always have something safe to eat if you are hungry and tired.

Put carrot batons in cold water in the fridge. Always have a stock of nuts in the larder so you can grab a handful. Don’t worry about the calories.

Nuts have many benefits in the form of healthy fats, minerals, vitamins and fibre and studies show they can contribute to weight loss, so they are ideal for snacking while you are getting used to your new pattern of eating. Prepare a large coleslaw with cabbage and carrots and dress with lemon juice and a little olive oil… then eat as much as you like.

Joy of cooking

Home cooking is at the heart of the Nordic diet. Today it’s common to hear people say they don’t have time to cook, but we all have the same 24 hours.

When we think about how much time we waste on our phones, mindlessly watching Netflix, and all the other distractions we become addicted to, we realise there is always time to spend in the kitchen. You can still listen to music, a radio drama or podcast while making meals.

Eyes on the prize

None of this means you can’t indulge ever again. Nobody can keep to a diet if the food isn’t good. I’m all for having fun, wonderful food and nice wine.

I am talking about changing your habits and your palate, so you end up preferring real-tasting food that’s good for you.

After a few weeks without a lot of the UPF you were used to – crisps, chips, fizzy drinks, sugar in everything, heavy sauces – you’ll stop wanting to eat them.

I promise they’ll simply lose their appeal. Real flavours from real food can truly change your preferences.

Trine Hahnemann’s latest book is Midnight Sun: A Scandinavian Cookbook for Long Summer Days (Quadrille, Penguin Books) is available on the Mail Bookshop.

@trinehahnemann

As told to Leah Hardy