The New Nordic Diet presented by co-owner of world's best restaurant and leading obesity scientist

BOLINAS, CA, October 09, 2010 (Press-News.org) Where: Stanford University, Tresidder Hall, Oak Lounge.
When: 4:10pm - 5:00pm, Tuesday, October 26.
The talk is part of the Future of Health Innovation hosted by SDForum and Innovation Center Denmark.

Noma and the Nordic culinary revolution has catapulted the regional cuisine onto the global stage as the Copenhagen restaurant in a big upset earlier this year was ranked #1 on the San Pellegrino list, the world's most prestigious restaurant review.
The New Nordic Diet grew out of a desire to re-introduce local, seasonal Scandinavian ingredients and develop a cuisine that could pose a challenge to the original Mediterranean cuisine's status as being healthy, while once and for all put to rest the opposition between great food and health.

Lean wild game and fish, free-range lamb, cold climate vegetables, native berries, and whole grains such as rye, barley, and oats, are major ingredients in the New Nordic Diet, which has created a worldwide buzz with nutritionists as well as gourmets. The nutritional basis of the diet was established in Diogenes, a much anticipated Pan-European dietary intervention study to be published in New England Journal of Medicine this fall. The study is the most comprehensive of its kind ever undertaken and includes 1500 people in eight European centers, who have followed the 12 months dietary intervention program resulting in significant, lasting weight loss.

"The study clearly shows that major weight loss can be effectively maintained if one sticks to a diet with slightly more protein at the expense of carbs, while keeping your carb intake focused on whole grain and high fiber foods,"says professor of human nutrition at Copenhagen Faculty of Life Sciences, Arne Astrup, who led the Diogenes study

He is now collaborating closely with Claus Meyer to integrate the Diogenes findings into the New Nordic Diet in the OPUS project, an immense cross scientific study focused on children's health and well-being developed through an interplay between the fields of gastronomy, nutrition, user-driven innovation, food sociology and economics.

Claus Meyer, known in the US from the popular PBS show New Scandinavian Cooking, stresses Nordic food as an everyday cuisine that can inspire people in the northern hemisphere to eat both locally and seasonally:

"It' s about tradition and eating from your back yard in a new and modern context. We have invited all levels of society to interact with this project, to share ideas and distribute ownership. Tapping into local, regional cuisine instead of attempting to import whatever and grow warm-weather crops through energy-intensive greenhouses in cold climates, is an important, environmental aspect of the diet. If we do this correctly, we have a tremendous chance to re-define what people eat.'

Learn more about the Future of Health Innovation Conference:
http://www.futureofhealthinnovation.com

Claus Meyer
Claus Meyer is the author of 14 cookbooks and has earned a reputation as an educational, enlightening and witty TV-host in more than 300 cooking shows over the last 20 years. In addition to running a cooking school, Meyer is the innovative, gastronomic entrepreneur behind several business ventures including catering, a vinegar factory, an orchard, a bakery, a coffee roaster, and chocolate supply companies. He also acts as a culinary advisor, lecturer and assistant professor at the Faculty of Life Sciences at the University of Copenhagen. In 2003, he co-founded Noma with Rene Redzeki and went on to act as the driving force behind the New Nordic Kitchen Manifesto, a vision meant as a guiding light to farms, food companies and restaurants, adopted by the Nordic Council of Ministers in 2005.
Meyer and the Nordic Cuisine: http://www.clausmeyer.dk/en/the_new_nordic_cuisine_.html.

Arne Astrup
Arne Astrup, M.D., Dr.Med.Sci., is head of the Department of Human Nutrition at the Faculty of Life Sciences at the University of Copenhagen, and one of the most quoted obesity scientists in the world. He was the President of the International Association for the Study of Obesity (IASO) 2006-9, and now its chairman.
This fall, The New England Journal of Medicine publishes the Diogenes (Diet Obesity Genes) study led by Astrup, who was also the senior-author of the project investigating how the right combination of dietary protein and carbohydrates low on the glycemic index affect weight (re)gain, metabolic and cardiovascular risk factors in obese and overweight families in eight European centers.
Astrup now directs the OPUS project, the world's largest research project on how to combat child obesity and learning difficulties through dietary intervention. Based on the New Nordic Diet and the Diogenes findings, the project is financed by the Nordea foundation with $18 million and will be tested in large school-based studies covering 1600 children.
The Opus Project: http://www.foodoflife.dk/Opus/English.aspx
Diogenes: http://www.diogenes-eu.org/
Astrup's obesity research: http://www.sciencewatch.com/ana/st/obesity2/10julObes2Astr/

New Nordic Diet
Rich in protein, omega-3s and antioxidants, the Nordic diet is based on high intakes of inexpensive but tasty fish such as herring, mackerel, salmon and trout. Meat and fish are nearly always served with potatoes and root vegetables, and the bread is dark brown and full of grains and oats.
According to research from Oslo University, cold-weather veggies such as cabbage, kale and Brussels sprouts contain some of the highest antioxidants of any vegetables and are also a great source of vitamin K. Rapeseed oil, the most common cooking oil in Scandinavia, has been found to be a good alternative to olive oil, containing more omega-3 fatty acids and being a good source of vitamin E.
Research also shows that native berries from northern Europe such as blueberries, lingonberries and cloudberries contain as much unsaturated omega-3 fatty acids as fish per unit of energy. Obesity rates in the Nordic countries range from 7 and 12 per cent, while the US rate is between 37 and 43 per cent.