A new study from Aarhus University shows that the updated Nordic dietary guidelines, designed to support both human and planetary health, are linked to increased longevity.
A new study from Aarhus University reports that the new Nordic dietary guidelines, which aim to support both human health and environmental well-being, are linked to a longer lifespan.
The guidelines advise reducing meat and added sugar while increasing the intake of whole grains, legumes, fish, and low-fat dairy products. These recommendations, released in 2023, were developed with attention to both nutritional needs and climate impact.
According to the Aarhus University research team, people who follow the guidelines tend to have lower mortality rates. The work was conducted by Associate Professor Christina Dahm together with PhD-Student Anne Bak Mørch.
Lower Mortality Among Those Who Follow the Guidelines
“Our study shows that among middle-aged Swedish men and women who follow the guidelines, mortality is 23% lower compared with those who do not – even when factors such as education, income, and physical activity are taken into account. The study also reveals lower mortality from cancer and cardiovascular disease among those who are best at adhering to the guidelines,” she explains.
The research team analyzed information from more than 76,000 adults in Sweden who took part in two major population studies: the Swedish Mammography Cohort and the Cohort of Swedish Men. Participants have been sharing details about their eating patterns and daily habits since 1997, creating an extensive dataset that allows scientists to examine how diet relates to long-term health.
A Diet That Supports Both People and the Planet
According to Christina Dahm, the results carry important implications for both public health and the environment.
“Our results are relevant across the Nordic and Baltic countries, since national dietary guidelines are based on the Nordic Nutrition Recommendations. We show that following the guidelines as a whole benefits public health. But our results also go further: because the recommendations take into account both nutritional value and climate impact, our research demonstrates that a sustainable Nordic diet benefits public health and the climate – and could serve as a model for other regional sustainable diets worldwide.”
Diet is a major contributor to climate change: around 30% of human-made greenhouse gas emissions come from our current food consumption and production. The Nordic dietary recommendations are therefore designed to balance human health with sustainability. This is the first study to examine the overall health benefits of the new guidelines.
“The study confirms that we can follow a Nordic diet to improve both our health and the climate – at least when it comes to preventing premature death,” says Christina Dahm.
Whether the diet also affects other health outcomes, such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, or cancer, remains to be seen. Dahm and her research team hope to investigate this further in a forthcoming study.
Reference: “Development of the Nordic Nutrition Recommendations 2023 Food-Based Diet Score and Its Association with All-Cause Mortality in Two Swedish Cohorts” by Anne B Mørch, Daniel B Ibsen, Alicja Wolk and Christina C Dahm, 3 July 2025, The Journal of Nutrition.
DOI: 10.1016/j.tjnut.2025.06.030
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13 Comments
Not a control trial. Bulls*** cohort studies relying on self reporting rather than actual data. The lead is wrong and a liar. Why the hell is she looking at diet int terms of climate change AT ALL? They aren’t even smart enough to figure out an evolutionarily proper human diet. Less red meat? WT actual F! Whole grains and legumes? Carbohydrates and peanuts and beans. Lets see both are unnecessary for ANY human to live and the other is one of the more poisonous types of food if not prepared properly (5 improperly prepared kidney beans can kill a person). Carbohydrates help cause obesity and type 2diabetes because it causes insulin spikes!
This ‘scientist’ doesn’t understand the first thing about health and diet. The article author is the same. If either of them actually knew anything they would figure out the bio-chemical and bio-available foods that are best for humans. This study is not that. This is a climate change study,.which as well was WRONG and rife with inaccuracies. The author and scientists should feel shame. Your false narratives and holding of status quo harms people.
Bingo!
Show me on the diet model where people (NOR, SWE, FIN…) answering the 93 food questionnaire (!) shortened your cohort’s lives. Get a soft room and rail against the latest ‘good pain’ Svierge pop culture term and invest in regional ag vertical stuff (so little actual vegan parm reg, bone marrow, internal organs, and fat for the tastes we’re hearing! Almost no dogs trained to keep onion beds.) near you.
Total rubbish. Eating low fat and not eating the most nourishing food on the planet in quality meat, has been 100% debunked many times over. Don’t believe idiots that want to sell you fake plants with sku numbers implying nourishment. Total nonsense.
Are you a scientist to dicute it or you are a politic interested?
And yet those cattle eat nothing but plants….hmm
Dude…read a book
Eat everything in moderation and everything should be good and do all other things in moderation exercise fasting eating socializing drinking etc
Meat is an essential part of human diet. Cutting back would be detrimental to our health. Balancing plants and meat is important.
Nice to see an intelligent answer, it’s not if meat is good or bad for you, surly it’s wrong to kill animal’s for food
Removing fat deprived everyone of pleasure, and the fat content supports lipid production and is an essential nutriment. Our ancestors cracked bones of game they hunted to get at this nutriment, and the eating of real, fat-containing meat promoted the development of the humans we are today.
Next:
Diets of infosec people who spoof location on their phones.
Skittles, pulses, onions baked on CRTs…
I’m grateful for this information. At 74, dealing with Type 2 DB, I’ve been on every diet out there. Keto helped me lose weight in the short term but it messed with my cholesterol and heart issues. I started a more fish/plant based way of eating just a month ago and have dropped my A1c already. Good to know I’m on the right track. Cows are cool but really hard on the planet when raised on factory farms. We support family farms not the megagricorps.