A new study from Uppsala University in Sweden shows that a healthy Nordic diet can help treat type 2 diabetes and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. These are two common health problems that are becoming more widespread around the world.
The Nordic diet is full of fiber from whole grains, fruits, and vegetables. It includes healthy fats from plants and only small amounts of saturated fat. The researchers found that this diet gave better results than two other diets that were tested.
In the study, 150 people with type 2 diabetes or prediabetes were randomly placed into one of three diet groups. The first group followed a low-carb diet with healthy plant fats, the second followed a Nordic diet, and the third followed general nutrition advice from the Nordic Nutrition Recommendations.
The low-carb group ate foods like sunflower oil, nuts, seeds, beans, lentils, and some low-fat dairy. The Nordic diet group ate foods like rye bread, oats, crispbread, fruits like apples and berries, cabbage, peas, and fatty fish like salmon and mackerel.
They also ate low-fat yogurt and used rapeseed oil. All groups were asked to eat less red meat, processed food, sugary drinks, and snacks.
After one year, the people in the Nordic diet group had the best results. Their liver fat was reduced by more than 20 percent, and their blood sugar levels improved. Over half of them saw their fatty liver disease go into remission. This is good news for people with both type 2 diabetes and fatty liver disease.
What surprised the researchers was that they expected the low-carb group to do better. But both the low-carb and Nordic diets helped reduce liver fat and bad cholesterol. However, the Nordic diet helped more with lowering blood sugar over time. It also helped with weight loss, lowering inflammation, and improving cholesterol levels.
The study also found that these diets were easy for people to stick to. Even though participants could eat as much as they wanted from the allowed foods, they still lost weight. In many past studies, people had to eat fewer calories to see results, which can be hard to maintain.
One interesting finding was that weight loss only explained about half of the benefits for liver fat reduction. This means that the diet itself helped lower liver fat, improve blood sugar, reduce harmful fats in the blood, and lower inflammation.
The study was published in Nature Communications and led by Professor Ulf Risérus and Michael Fridén. The results could help improve dietary advice for people with diabetes or fatty liver problems. The researchers believe this diet could be part of long-term care for people with these health conditions.
This study shows how powerful diet can be in improving health. The Nordic diet, which is easy to follow and includes many everyday foods, could help people manage serious health problems more naturally and effectively.
If you care about liver health, please read studies about simple habit that could give you a healthy liver, and common diabetes drug that may reverse liver inflammation.
For more information about health, please see recent studies about simple blood test that could detect your risk of fatty liver disease, and results showing this green diet may strongly lower non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
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