Clustered
around the head of the 68-mile-long Oslofjord, Oslo is probably the most
spacious city in the world. Its 175-square-mile metropolitan area
consists of over 75 percent forests and five percent water. Its fine
deep harbor, Pipervika, stretches into the heart of the city and from it
leave ferries to Denmark and Germany.
Nutritional
experts say a traditional Nordic diet is just as healthful as a
Mediterranean one. In fact, it includes a lot of the same
ingredients—fish, fruits and vegetables, whole grain breads.
According to a study that conducted in Sweden, Denmark, Finland and
Iceland by the Nordiska
ministerrådet (the Nordic Council of
Ministers), a healthy, Nordic diet will decrease cardiovascular diseases
and the risk for Type 2 Diabetes,. The study, in which 200 people
participated, shows that the diet as a whole is important, just like the
well known Mediterranean diet, rather than individual foods.
The Nordic diet is about locally produced food. Scandinavians exchange
animal and butter fats for vegetable oils and margarine based on
vegetable oils. Nordic food has been shown to reduce inflammation in
conjunction with cardiovascular diseases. The levels of harmful
cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, decrease while the levels of good
cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, increase so the proportions between the
two fat types improve. Meanwhile the amount of harmful fat particles in
the blood vessels also decreased with the diet.
With these types of improvements, researchers involved in the Nordic
project Sysdiet, calculate that the risk of cardiovascular diseases will
decrease by 10 to 15 percent during a five to 10 year period. Thanks to
the diet, the body’s absorption of minerals and vitamins also increased.
The Sysdiet project began in 2007 with a diet based on foods originating
from the Nordic countries, a diet which improves the blood lipid profile
and the insulin sensitivity, and which lowers blood pressure and body
weight in hypercholesterolemic people. It means a higher intake of plant
foods, fish, eggs and vegetable fats, and a lower intake of meat
products, dairy products, sweets, desserts and alcoholic beverages.
Nordiska ministerrådet’s homepage explains how to best prepare the
Nordic diet. Substiture rape seed oil and plant oil-based margarines for
animal and butter fats, as is the use of fat-free dairy foods. Domestic
seasonal fruits such as apples, pears, plums and berries are good as are
vegetables and root crops. The Council also recommends eating whole
grains of rye, barley, or oats daily. For protein, they recommend lean
and fatty fish two to three times a week, as well as game and poultry.
Every year about 95 000 people die in
Sweden and, according to the law, everyone must be buried. There must be
room for everyone in the cemeteries, therefore the future needs of space
have to be predicted. Because of this funerals must be part of the
planning process.
In
the early Middle Ages, driven by famine at home and the promise of
wealth to be had in other lands, the Vikings set out from Scandinavia to
conquer parts of England, Ireland, France, Russia, and even Turkey.
Bolstered by their successes, the Vikings pushed westward, eventually
crossing the North Atlantic and founding settlements in Iceland,
Greenland, and Newfoundland in Canada. Read
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