Episode 177: Nordic Diet For Aging Well

In this episode, Dr. Armstrong and Corbin Bruton discuss the Nordic Diet, a nutritious and sustainable way of eating rooted in the culinary traditions of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. The hosts compare the Nordic Diet with the Mediterranean Diet, highlighting the key differences in fats, proteins, fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. They also discuss the health benefits of the Nordic Diet, such as improved cardiovascular health, better weight management, and enhanced metabolic function. Tune in to learn how incorporating elements of the Nordic Diet can help you age well, with a focus on locally sourced foods, minimal processing, and seasonal eating.

"Switching to a Nordic diet could help us stay healthy"

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Transcript

0:13

Welcome to the Aging Well podcast. I'm Jeff Armstrong here with Corbin Bruton. In this and the episodes that follow, we will share candid discussions on aging and hear from the experts. We are here to inform and encourage as we experience, well, aging. In this episode, we explore the Nordic diet, a dietary approach inspired by the traditional eating habits of the Nordic countries. Join us as we dive into the unique aspects of the Nordic diet, comparing it with the Mediterranean diet, and uncovering the numerous health benefits it offers. From locally sourced and sustainable foods to distinct spices and nutrient rich components, we'll discuss how this diet can promote overall well being and support healthy aging. Stay tuned for an informative and engaging conversation on how the Nordic diet can be a powerful tool for aging well.

Corbin: 1:05

So, I hear there's a new kid on the block to challenge the Mediterranean diet. Have you ever heard of the Nordic diet?

Jeff: 1:13

I have, and we should first remind the listeners that when we talk diet, and I have my air quotes around that, we are referring to a way of eating, not a way of losing weight.

Corbin: 1:27

Of course, we can lose or gain weight and any diet if we are not balanced.

Jeff: 1:35

So what is the Nordic diet?

Corbin: 1:36

So the Nordic diet, inspired by traditional dietary habits of the Nordic countries like Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. This emphasizes the consumption of locally sourced foods.

Jeff: 1:53

So, sounds like Portland. What are some of the foods that are included in the Nordic diet?

Corbin: 2:03

Looks like some of the key components of the Nordic diet include whole grains, fruits, and vegetables, fatty fish, lean meats, low fat dairy, legumes, nuts, seeds, and healthy fats.

Jeff: 2:18

So, this sounds a lot like the Mediterranean and DASH diets.

Corbin: 2:24

they're pretty similar.

Jeff: 2:26

I think the key differences lay in the, quote, consumption of locally sourced and sustainable foods, end quote. And I would guess that there are not a lot of olive trees in Scandinavia.

Corbin: 2:41

Nah, they aren't. The Nordic diet emphasizes canola oil and rapeseed oil.

Jeff: 2:47

Yeah, both of those are rich in omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids.

Corbin: 2:53

Both diets promote health benefits and emphasize whole, minimally processed foods, but they reflect the local and traditional foods available in their respective regions. So what are some other differences?

Jeff: 3:12

differences lay in the more regionally sourced fats, proteins, fruits and vegetables, whole grains and dairy.

Corbin: 3:21

Well, we already mentioned canola oil and rapeseed oil versus the olive oil, but what are the differences in protein?

Jeff: 3:29

Well, the Mediterranean diet emphasizes fish, especially oily fishes like sardines, poultry and legumes. legumes. The Nordic diet also focuses on fatty fish like salmon, herring, and mackerel, lean meats, and legumes. Legumes will be different, of course. The Nordic diet includes more peas and beans, whereas the Mediterranean diet is more lentils. The Nordic diet also includes wild game.

Corbin: 4:01

Wild game like deer and elk and stuff like that

Jeff: 4:05

Yeah, anything that, is, is huntable, hunting and again, you think about the Nordic regions historically have had much more kind of hunting for their meats as opposed to farming of meats or, fishing of meats. It's a little less of a fish industry per se up in the Nordic Scandinavian countries, but there's a lot more hunting. And so, yeah, deer, elk, all those types of more gamey foods, even, like wild fowl, like, and those types of things would be included more on a Nordic diet. Which I know a lot of people don't necessarily like gamey, game food. They think it tastes quote unquote gamey. I actually favor venison and elk and those types of meats. I mean, I would much prefer those over buying farm raised beef and some of the other meats that we tend to eat. Even, range fed chicken versus, wild hunted turkey or something like that is much, much difference.

Corbin: 5:09

Yeah, totally I love I love the taste of elk and deer, especially if it's prepared correctly It doesn't really have that gamey of a taste You If that are hunting it actually prepare it and then a lot of our supermarkets are starting to have You know elk deer and bison available it's it's in the It's over in the frozen food section, but it's just in that little tiny portion of They have all different types of weird meat there. They have rabbits and pig hooves and You And thanks to that effect, but there's some pretty good solid lean meats in there as well.

Jeff: 5:51

Yeah, I don't think most grocery stores are going to be the best places to buy game food because it's going to be so horribly marked up. But, in the United States, we have a lot of regions of the country that hunting is very much popularized. And so, for example, my state, Middle sister lives in West Virginia and her husband and her two boys are avid hunters. They almost always probably shouldn't even say almost always probably always bring back their limits in terms of deer every season. And so they always have a freezer full of deer meat. And, so some of the hunting and eating of natural game should be encouraged. This is the United States. We have a lot of hunters in this country. And so even maybe boosting that industry more of even selling some of that wild game that you have to your neighbor could be a pretty good way of moving us a little bit more toward a Nordic diet.

Corbin: 6:58

Yeah, so speaking of Nordic diet, you mentioned with the Mediterranean diet they use more legumes while the Nordic diet uses more peas, I'm assuming that fruits and vegetables are going to be quite different as we move up from the Mediterranean region north into the Nordic region.

Jeff: 7:19

Yeah, I mean, the Mediterranean is going to be very abundant in a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, especially like tomatoes, green leafy vegetables, citrus fruits. The Nordic region highlights Nordic diet highlights a bit more berries, like blueberries and lingonberries, which I've never had lingonberries. But, you think of just the variety of berries that are available out there. And root vegetables, so carrots, potatoes. Turnips, those types of things are going to be much more popularized in a Nordic diet as opposed to maybe a Mediterranean diet.

Corbin: 7:54

Which is interesting because, don't we, haven't we typically been told through the recent years to stay away from those root vegetables like potatoes and carrots, they have a, they have a higher spike on the body and so we want to stay away from that.

Jeff: 8:16

Well, I think some of that has been misconstrued and certainly, there are better potatoes than, than others. Like, white potato isn't necessarily the best potato to eat, but there's a lot of varieties of different sweet potatoes. My wife just made recently These sweet potatoes that were really deep purple. And, if you start getting some of the color into your foods, I think the more we start looking at roots and vegetables that have a lot of color to them, we're starting to see more nutrients, the more variety of color, the more nutrients that we're going to be getting in our foods. And, we, we can't. Trust a lot of the dietary recommendations that have been made in the past because they've been driven by a lot of different policy rationales and, industries and things like that to tell us that things are not healthy, things are better. I think there are better choices in some you. potatoes and roots and things like that. Our understanding of the insulin spikes are a little bit different as well. And you also have to consider to you're not sitting down eating a big bunch of carrots. We're not rabbits. That's not the only thing we're eating. And so that insulin spike is going to be a bit more modulated by The other foods that we're eating as we incorporate fats, as we incorporate proteins into the diet, that's much more modulated. And I actually think carrots is probably one of the best go to vegetables because they're relatively cheap, they keep well in the refrigerator, they're very nutrient dense, and so, if you can't afford some of the fancier vegetables, but you want to get a good bang for your buck. Buying carrots is a good route to go and even potatoes, we can get a lot of good nutrients good carbohydrates out of Healthy potatoes. How do we fix those is going to be a little bit more of the issue in terms of whether it you know Those insulin spikes have a negative or positive effect on us.

Corbin: 10:44

I would say beets, beets and turnips actually have a lot of health benefits

Jeff: 10:49

Oh, yeah beets and turnips are awesome. I love beets

Corbin: 10:55

beets are great.

Jeff: 10:57

Can't beat a beet. Bears, beets, and Battlestar Galactica.

Corbin: 11:02

Okay,

Jeff: 11:05

Hopefully somebody gets that reference.

Corbin: 11:06

So the Mediterranean diet includes whole grains like wheat, barley, and bulgur. Whereas the whole grains on the Nordic diet, like rye, barley, and oats.

Jeff: 11:22

Yeah, so there's a little bit of difference in terms of the overall grains involved. And, as we look at these two diets, I think you see enough similarity to where there's not a huge distinction between the two and we can blend the two of them. If we say I'm going to opt for the Mediterranean diet, but, so that means I can't eat rye, barley, and oats. But I can eat wheat, barley, and bulgur. I guess barley's in both of them. So, yeah, you got a little bit of choice there. You go with barley and you're safe on both diets. But, it's, it's those healthier natural grains that are going to be better for us. And, and some of it's going to be a little bit more personal choices. I would favor oats over wheat. I like rye as well. And so those types of breads are going to be a little bit more appealing to me. Trying to limit bread in the first place. And in certain breads like sourdough bread are actually shown to have much less gluten in them, which can be healthier for some people. The key is that we're eating these more natural localized grains. So we're not having a necessary import grains. And we mentioned in a recent podcast, as we were talking about the Mediterranean diet for children, that The United States has access to all these things, and we can farm and grow all of these and keep them relatively local and hopefully a little bit more sustainable that would really both of these diets. You have any thoughts on grains?

Corbin: 12:56

Yeah. Well, it's almost as, it's, I believe in our episode where we were discussing the Mediterranean diet, we were talking about ways that we can improve the American diet, and if we're comparing and contrasting the Mediterranean diet to the Nordic diet, It seems that they're, they're very similar. They're just regional based. So if we could of do the same thing with the American diet, just keep it very similar, but keep it regional based, right? Like us living here in the Northwest, we have access to a lot of berries, right? We have our blueberries, our huckleberries, strawberries, blackberry, blackberries are everywhere. And from the blackberry, we actually get the genetically modified, the boysenberry and the Marion berry, which I love Marion berries. They're amazing. Shout out to OSU for inventing that. I'm so grateful. But if we can, if, if, if the Nordic diet has access to berries the Mediterranean diet has access to citrus, why can't we do our own American diet based off of region, like down south in. You know the more of the southern states where they have access to limes and oranges and grapefruits and And lemons why not why not just capitalize on? the different demographics of Fruits and vegetables that we have here in America. I feel like that's an easy solution

Jeff: 14:35

Yeah, ideally in really both of these diets we want to be regional and sustainable. So we're looking at foods that we have greater access to locally. We also should be looking a lot more at in season fruits and vegetables. And rather than, importing things or having things that are having a tremendously long shelf life. Yeah, the regional aspect can be very important. So we can have, you have a northeast, northwest, southeast, southwest, midwest. We have different regions of the country that produce a variety of different foods. Ideally, we're going to be eating those more locally. Okay. more sustainably. A benefit that we have in these U. S. Is that we can very quickly and easily transport foods across the country and maintain some of that healthy benefits. And so regional becomes a little bit brought more broad than it might be as we look at kind of the Scandinavian countries. But I think the key is that we don't want it necessarily have to be relying on. Bringing foods from much, much farther away. Always laugh at, people that are on like the paleo diet and they're eating avocado and avocado is supposed to be a good part of the paleo diet. Well, the paleolithic man never had access to an avocado and and for many of us, the avocado is coming from, regions of South and Central America. It has to be transported here. So it's not a local, necessarily sustainable. so it wouldn't necessarily fall under the guidelines of what would be Nordic. But, we, we can compromise based on what's available to us in this region, but what we can also access the most sustainably and with the most health, healthful benefits. And again, we don't want to be, necessarily consuming foods that are having to be stored for a long period of time. Maybe they're, they're harvested early so that they're ripening on the road as they come to us. We want things as fresh as possible. We get apples in the Northwest as well. I mean, it's a Washington apples are pretty popular, right? Well, those have a pretty long shelf life to begin with, so we can eat those throughout the year. But there might be other things like, Carrots, is it best to eat them when they're freshest and grown here, but we can also get them frozen, you can get them canned. There's a lot of different ways that we have access to foods in a more broad sense that can give us the healthiest. general food and nutrition. Does that make sense?

Corbin: 17:20

That makes sense

Jeff: 17:21

All right, so now we come to dairy. Thoughts on dairy?

Corbin: 17:26

Yeah, so when I'm thinking the Mediterranean diet, I think feta cheese, and I also think Greek yogurt.

Jeff: 17:34

Of course, the Mediterranean diet includes modern amounts of cheese as well as yogurt, and I think yogurt's probably the more primary focus of dairy. And we've talked about the Mediterranean diet in the past. There's variations of that where some variations are incorporating a little bit more dairy, particularly as we look at attempting to age well and the health benefits for the older population, getting some more of the vitamin D and some of the other benefits. of dairy and the fats in dairy for brain health But the nordic diet also focuses on low fat dairy products. Have you ever tried skir?

Corbin: 18:11

Nope.

Jeff: 18:12

You got to try it. If you like yogurt skir is a Traditional icelandic dairy product. It's very similar to yogurt, but technically it's classified as a cheese It's been a staple in iceland for centuries. It has this kind of really thick creamy texture to it You has a bit of a tangy flavor. Nutritionally it is very high in protein and low in fat. So it makes it a very healthy option when it comes to calcium and other essential nutrients. It's produced by, Kind of taking and heating skim milk so it already is naturally lower in fat. They add active cultures to it that cause it to ferment. The cords of the curds then are strained and it gives it this really thick consistency. It can be consumed on its own, you can add fruits to it, honey it can be used in desserts, topping for a lot of different dishes. I really like it. It's got, again, that high protein content, it's got a lot of probiotics it can be very beneficial for muscle maintenance, good for digestion, just really great for overall health. I think its popularity is starting to spread a little bit more, you're seeing it more in grocery stores. So you can get it beyond going to Iceland for it. I think it's starting to gain a lot more recognition. So you gotta try it. Actually my son got me turned on to it. My son's much more attuned with our kind of more Nordic heritage. In addition to our Scottish heritage. I had never heard of it before and tried it. And I just like it. And when I look at the label on it, I think there's like two ingredients in skewer. And the protein content is much higher than we see in Greek yogurt. And there's some other brands and variations of it that even have higher protein levels in it. So you can get a pretty good dose of good protein. balance of amino acids, almost the full complex of essential amino acids in your dairy product.

Corbin: 20:23

Where do you, where would you even get that? Like, I've never even heard or seen that in any of the local grocery stores around

Jeff: 20:32

You just have to look in, in the dairy aisle next to the yogurt. You might have to look carefully. There aren't a lot of brands, so you might have to look through all the different brands of yogurt and Greek yogurt. I can't think of the popular brand that we get I think there's really only like a couple brands. the local stores. And sometimes we have to go to a particular grocery store in order to find the yogurts that we like. And so you have to maybe shop around a little bit. And again, it gets into this whole issue of availability. If you don't have availability to skier, it doesn't mean, oh no, I can't be on a Nordic diet. You can substitute, you can have Greek yogurt and still have a more Nordic diet and likewise you can do a more Mediterranean diet and be eating skier instead of, Greek yogurt. And so you just have to look for it, hopefully find it in your local grocery store. They're both really great sources of calcium and protein. Greek yogurt tends to have a little bit more of a creamy texture to it. It's a little bit tangier. Usually has a little bit more higher fat content compared to skir. And also a little bit, because it's, your substituent fat for the protein has a little bit lower protein content. Do you eat much yogurt?

Corbin: 21:55

I used to as a kid, my mom a really good job of trying have my brother and I have a fairly balanced diet, fairly healthy. I had a lot of yogurt growing up and even through college yogurt was one of my staple. And then when I graduated college, I switched it up to Greek yogurt just because, I was doing personal training and I was slowly starting counting my macros and Stuff like that and the, the protein calorie balance, like it was just, to me Greek yogurt was a way better option. They, they used to have one that was like 35 grams of protein and only 100 calories. or less and It was just boom that one little pack and it was it was really good. It was really flavorful that i'm Older, I just stopped eating I don't know why yeah Like if I buy it, it'll just sit in the fridge and then i'll just forget about it I don't eat it as often as I as I once did

Jeff: 23:09

So what are your dairy choices?

Corbin: 23:12

Choice is just either milk or honestly, just whey protein at this point.

Jeff: 23:20

Well whey protein wouldn't be considered really a dairy product per se,

Corbin: 23:25

It's

Jeff: 23:25

at least in my opinion. I mean it comes from dairy but you know, you're not getting all the full benefit of dairy, you're really just getting the protein benefit of the dairy. So, I would suggest, looking for some additional. dairy choices that are going to be, relatively low in fat and higher in protein and give us some of those benefits like the calcium and the other minerals and things that we see in, in dairy. And the Nordic diet is a little bit more emphasis on cheeses as well. Not that the Mediterranean diet doesn't have their cheeses. Cheeses are going to be a little bit different as we look from a Nordic versus a Mediterranean style diet. But, we're looking. I mean, again, in the U. S. we have so much access to so much variety of cheeses that we're not limited by what is produced locally. We have access to cheeses from around the globe and that kind of makes it a little bit more advantageous for us that we can have a little bit more variety in those diets. But it's, it's quality over, um, quantity, I guess, in many ways. Getting the best of the foods that we can eat doesn't necessarily have to be perfectly Nordic, perfect, perfectly Mediterranean. But, there are differences between the diets,

Corbin: 24:48

Yeah, definitely, I mean, we've talked about the differences with the fruits and the legumes. what about spices? I'm assuming spices are going to be quite different.

Jeff: 24:58

They are, and when we look at the Nordic diet, it tends to emphasize natural mild flavors like dill, chives, caraway, mustard. All these are ones that are going to really well complement. the staples in the diet like the fish, the root vegetables and the whole grains. So these, and if you've ever had any kind of Nordic dishes, these spices are often used to enhance the flavors of the dishes, but not being overly powering to the natural taste of the main ingredient of, like the fish or the grain or whatever it might be. Whereas in contrast, the Mediterranean diet, Tends to feature more robust and diverse array of spices. You have things like oregano, basil, rosemary, thyme, and garlic. These spices are very integral to the Mediterranean cuisine. And, again, when we talk about Mediterranean dishes, we can think of those vibrant flavors and the aromatics. of complexity of the dishes like pastas and salads and the grilled meats from those areas. And so they they tend to be a little bit different. Actually quite a bit different. Some of it may just reflect the difference in our palates. Some of it can give us some variety. I mean, again, we're essentially eating the same basic food qualities, but we're getting them from different sources, and we are preparing them in slightly different ways that maintain their healthful benefits, but giving us a little bit different palate and giving us a little bit more variety to our food. So while both diets are going to prioritize, fresh, natural ingredients, the choice of spices are going to give us that more unique cultural and regional influence.

Corbin: 26:55

Yeah, it's really interesting because I feel like rosemary or sage, I feel like that's, that shouldn't just be limited to that Mediterranean area because even here in Oregon, like rosemary grows wild here. It just, and I don't know, I don't think we have a Mediterranean Atmosphere per se. I think we have more closer to Nordic or even like like an Ireland style here. So I don't I mean my opinion. So I don't I don't know. I don't know why There wouldn't be more options as far as spices and flavors go into the Nordic diet

Jeff: 27:44

Well, I mean, the Nordic region, it's not so much about the environment geographically and things like that, or the amount of rain or snow or the weather conditions that they get. It's just how those cultures have evolved over time, what's been available, what they're able to grow. I mean, obviously the terrain in the Nordic countries is a little bit less, a little bit different than what we see in the Pacific Northwest and certainly different than we see. So those influences have evolved more regionally. And so those choices just tend to be that's what's always been used. That's how recipes have evolved over time. Mediterranean diet tended to evolve what was available there in the Mediterranean. We live in a much more culturally diverse world. world now. And so things have been transported in two regions that maybe normally naturally wouldn't be been there. I mean, I think if you go back to the early founding of Oregon back in the late 1800s, you'd have a very, very different diet and palate. Then we see today, now we've been influenced by different cultures that have come in. You have a bit more of a food culture in Portland area. And so, people have experimented much more with the palette and different spices. And we have, again, a unique opportunity in the United States. to be drawing on the multiple cultures that we have brought in to the country or have been brought into the country and the different flavors that those cultures have brought together. And so we have a much more broader mix of spices and flavorings in our spice cabinets. Then you might see more regionally in the Mediterranean or in the Nordic regions. And, and again, to those are traditional diets, you're seeing much more cultural diversity brought into all those areas just because we're able to access more spices and, import flavors and things like that from other regions. And so those are equally diverse. I don't think that when you look at a Nordic diet that everyone in Scandinavia is eating always this same very Nordic diet, there's, there is other flavors to it. I'm sure. You might have an Italian meal from time to time in a Nordic country. Traditionally and historically and regionally, that's where those diets have, have found themselves. And so both diets really promote health benefits and emphasize the whole minimally processed foods and, but they reflect really those local and more traditional foods and cultures that are available in their respective regions. And so again, the American diet, we have a little bit more cultural diversity that might give us more of a blend of those different types of diets. But for us, we want to really look at how do we take the best of those diets and incorporate them into what's available for us locally, regionally, and more sustainably.

Corbin: 31:08

So what are the benefits of the Nordic diet? Because I presume they're like, it seems to me that it's almost similar to the Mediterranean

Jeff: 31:20

It's very similar. And so, so similar, in fact, that I would say they are the same. As we've been talking about, the Nordic diet offers. Numerous health benefits including reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, improved weight management, and enhanced metabolic health, emphasizing whole grains like rye and barley, fatty fish that are rich in omega 3 fatty acids, and a variety of fruits and vegetables, particularly berries and root vegetables. The diet provides essential nutrients while being low in processed foods and unhealthy fats. So additionally, the Nordic diet's focus on locally sourced sustainable foods supports more environmental health and promotes a balanced nutritious eating pattern that can improve overall well being.

Corbin: 32:16

Yeah, both diets discourage food and added sugars. They discourage processed and high salt meats, fast food obviously, and sweet beverages. Would you have a preference on which one you would choose?

Jeff: 32:31

I can't say I really have a preference. I, I would probably in many ways lean more toward a Nordic diet. And I think some of that is just again, being in tune with my, again, Armstrong is Scottish. The Armstrong clan has. strong kind of genetic and ancestral roots in the Nordic cultures. So I have a little bit more of a personal interest and proclivity toward the Nordic diet, but I also love the Mediterranean foods. And so I don't know that I have a preference of one versus the other. I think we have the opportunity for a bit more diverse choices. And so I can choose some days to choose a little bit more Nordic approach, other days choose a bit more of a Mediterranean approach. I like In terms of my legumes, I like lentils, but I also like other forms of beans. So again, there's a wide diversity of choices in legumes that I can consume. I probably do favor a bit more of the rye and oats of the Nordic diet. As I mentioned, I do favor skir over Greek yogurt, but ever so slightly. I mean, it's not a huge, huge difference. I tend to gravitate more toward olive oil as opposed to canola oil. So that gives me a little bit of a difference. I, I can't say I have a preference of one over the other. I think it's. It's a little bit of a blend of both and I actually think, we're messing around with semantics here a little bit when we start talking about the healthiest diet, whether it's Nordic diet or the Mediterranean diet. It's that general pattern of eating that is most important. And like I've said before, I would love to see The American diet become the, the worldwide approach to healthy living and healthy eating. But the current American diet does not fit that bill. And so I would not encourage an American diet, but we can take from different cultures and take the general principles of the Nordic and the Mediterranean diets and incorporate those into our, our own cultures. to eat healthy, to maintain healthy body weight and to improve our performance. It wouldn't surprise me if in the next few years we hear of some other, like, I think you mentioned in one of the recent episodes the Costa Rican diet or something like that, didn't you?

Corbin: 35:18

Oh yeah.

Jeff: 35:19

yeah, or Brazilian diet or, even and I've had this conversation with, students in my exercise physiology class because we have a growing proportion of Hispanic students, particularly Mexican students or students of Mexican origin in our classes. And, we talking about, some of them saying how unhealthy their traditional diets are. And I was like, well, let's really look at that. I mean, there are healthy options within those particular diets that we can incorporate so that we can maintain some of our ethnic culture and traditions but still eat healthier. And so I think almost any cultural diet, cultures diet can be considered heart healthy and good for longevity if the choices follow those basic principles that these two diets follow. Where we look at trying to eat regionally, locally, trying to eat more environmentally sustainable foods. eating more seasonally, seasonal foods, but eating foods that are good quality fruits and vegetables, quality grains, lean meats, or meats that are healthy fatty meats, meats that are high in omega 3, omega 6 fatty acids. And eating eating those types of foods, eating more legumes or regional local beans, is going to give us very similar healthy diets. So it's those basic dietary principles, not so much the specifics of what spices are used, what recipes are included in the diet.

Corbin: 36:58

One thing that we've never really mentioned when comparing all of these diets, we've never really mentioned mushrooms. And maybe we should, maybe we should revisit that on another Podcast episode, but mushrooms are grown wherever and there's a ton of literature out there that talks about the huge benefits that mushrooms have and the literatures Are getting more and more popular obviously your local grocery store, you can see supplements that of lion's mane or turkey tail Or even they have mushroom coffee now Which is absurd to me, but that's you know mushroom. It's People are starting to recognize the benefits of mushrooms and maybe that's something that can be considered as a part of the American diet with all the different species of mushrooms that we have growing naturally here

Jeff: 38:00

Yeah, and I, I don't discount that, there isn't a certain component of local mushrooms included in the both the Mediterranean and the Nordic diets. I'm sure the mushrooms grow everywhere in the globe, pretty much, maybe not everywhere, but certainly not Antarctica. But, again, it gets incorporated into some of the regional aspects of the foods that we might be eating that are gonna be considered to be healthy. And honestly, I'm not sure if all of the nutritional benefits of, of mushrooms. I know there's certain components of different mushrooms that have different beneficial effects. And I would say probably if you're eating regional or local mushrooms, a variety is going to be obviously better than one specific type as well. So

Corbin: 38:53

So all in all, the Nordic Diet promotes and focuses on environmental sustainability, seasonal eating, and minimal processed foods. The research has shown that the Nordic Diet can have numerous health benefits, including reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease, eating and weight management, and improving overall metabolic health. Whether you choose the Mediterranean diet, the Nordic diet, or a mix, or something that's similar in cultural focus on food choices that include fatty fish in addition to healthy meats. Lots of local seasonal fruits vegetables. Whole grains, legumes, nuts, seeds, low fat dairy, and your seasoning of choice. If you do all of this, will well

39:53

thank you for listening. I hope you benefited from today's podcast. Until next time, keep aging well.