Overview
- Participants with high adherence to the 2023 Nordic dietary guidelines had a 23% lower risk of all-cause death after adjustments for education, income, and physical activity.
- The highest adherents also showed reduced mortality from cancer and cardiovascular disease compared with lower adherents.
- The analysis drew on the Swedish Mammography Cohort and the Cohort of Swedish Men, which have collected diet and lifestyle data since 1997.
- The guidelines call for less meat and added sugar and more whole grains, legumes, fish, and low-fat dairy, and they were designed to balance health with climate impact as food systems account for roughly 30% of human-made greenhouse gases.
- The peer-reviewed study, led by Aarhus University researchers and published in the Journal of Nutrition, reports no conflicts of interest and outlines plans to investigate effects on other health outcomes.