Scandinavian diet

The Norwegian, or as it is also called, Scandinavian diet was born in a fairly well-known Copenhagen restaurant in Denmark.

The initiator of its development was one of the capital's nutritionists, who proposed creating a diet that would effectively help fight excess weight, improving the body's health, and at the same time it would include not exotic products for the northern region, but local vegetables, fruits, meat and fish dishes.

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Scandinavian Diet for Rheumatoid Arthritis

The developed diet does not infringe on the addiction of many people to food, but is a "bridge" that allows a painless transition to proper and rational nutrition. It became the basis of a healthy Scandinavian diet, which not only allows you to lose extra pounds (four to five over a couple of months), but also significantly improve your body. After all, the diet allows the introduction of plant foods rich in vitamins, microelements and minerals, so necessary for the human body for its normal functioning. At the same time, meat eaters and seafood lovers do not suffer.

Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune pathology caused by inflammatory processes affecting the joint tissues of the human body and the tissues surrounding them. As a rule, symmetry in the lesion is observed. At the same time, patients who have encountered this problem understand perfectly well that extra pounds only aggravate the situation, increasing the load on the diseased joints. Therefore, the Scandinavian diet for rheumatoid arthritis has found a positive response "in the hearts" of patients suffering from this disease.

Not long ago, data from observations of patients diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis who underwent treatment for the disease using various diets were published. And it was Scandinavian rheumatologists who managed to achieve the most striking results. The Scandinavian diet was used as the base diet.

It is necessary to warn in advance the persons who have agreed to its introduction into their lives that it is not so easy to follow the recommendations put forward by Norwegian and Danish nutritionists, but the result can exceed all expectations. Treatment of rheumatoid arthritis against the background of dietary nutrition allows patients to significantly reduce the quantitative component of the hormonal agents they take.

Following all the recommendations will significantly reduce the pain syndrome, the joint will acquire greater mobility. The first stage of adjusting the diet of the sufferer is maintaining a fairly strict low-calorie diet. This stage usually lasts from seven to ten days. During this period of time, the following products are allowed:

• Teas brewed from various herbs (black tea, fruit juices, coffee and other drinks are prohibited).
• Freshly prepared juices obtained from garlic, beets or carrots are permitted for consumption.
• Rosehip berry tincture.
• Taking vegetable broths.
• Decoctions of parsley and potatoes.

In the second stage, which lasts for 3.5 months, the patient switches to vegetable dishes.

Allowed for admission:

• Almost all vegetables.
• Berries and fruits. Except citrus fruits.
• In small quantities, balsamic vinegar, horseradish and mustard are allowed. They will diversify and improve the taste of dishes.
• Rice is allowed.
• Various nuts.
• It is advisable to replace olive and sunflower oil with rapeseed oil.
• Salt can be added to dishes, but in limited quantities.

The following are prohibited for admission:

• Dairy products, especially whole milk.
• Bakery products and other goods made from cereals. This especially concerns wheat and corn grits, oatmeal, rye. Consumption of products based on them can aggravate the inflammatory process occurring in joint tissues.
• Chicken eggs and eggs of other birds are prohibited.
• Any meat. It is only advisable to exclude or limit the intake of pork.
• Reception of semi-finished products and fast food products.
• Refined sugar.
• Fish.
• Coffee.
• Alcoholic drinks of any strength.
• Artificial additives should be avoided.
• Canned foods.
• Fried foods.
• Citrus fruits, grapes and bananas.
• Hot spices.

After the stated time has passed, the Scandinavian diet allows for an expansion of the number of permitted products. Gradually, the patient can return to his diet:

• Fermented milk products:
  • Kefir.
  • Sour milk.
  • Cottage cheese.
  • Ryazhenka.
  • Yogurts.
  • Hard cheeses.
• Cereal products.
• Eggs, but no more than three in one week.
• Salt remains prohibited at this stage of restrictions.

This, the third stage of the diet, usually lasts about a year or more.

Against the background of dietary treatment, during the entire period of treatment, the patient's body should be supported by taking multivitamins and vitamin-mineral complexes, which are necessarily prescribed by the attending physician conducting the therapy. The composition of such drugs must necessarily include vitamins C and E, as well as selenium.

You should not prescribe such a diet for yourself. Such strict restrictions may well affect the functioning of other internal organs and body systems. Therefore, before going on a Scandinavian diet, you need to undergo a full examination, and if there are no significant deviations in the gastrointestinal tract and other systems, the doctor will give the go-ahead to begin dietary restrictions.

The majority of patients diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and following the diet in question for years report a significant improvement in their well-being. It should be noted that not only joint pain goes away, but blood pressure (with hypertension) is normalized, ulcerative lesions of the gastrointestinal mucosa are eliminated, and excess kilograms are lost, the figure returns to normal, which is also important for the patient's emotional health.

The basic tenets of the Scandinavian diet are:

• Fasting or, conversely, overeating is prohibited.
• The daily food ration is divided into five to six meals.
• Immediately before going to bed, you are allowed to drink a glass of yogurt, herbal tea, kefir, or milk.

Rheumatoid arthritis does not require serious exercise. Against the background of the Norwegian diet, when treating the pathology, we can talk about special therapeutic exercises, combined into a specialized complex, which was developed for a specific patient. Mostly, such loads are carried out in a lying and sitting position.

It is necessary to watch very carefully to prevent hypothermia. It is necessary to constantly monitor the heart rate. After all, such a patient is strictly contraindicated from intense exercise. After completing therapeutic exercise, a person should feel only slight fatigue.

Scandinavian Diet Menu

What is attractive about the diet discussed in this article is that it adapts perfectly to any time of year, being tied to the seasonality of vegetables and fruits. This allows a person not to feel inferior, receiving a variety of dishes and drinks every day throughout the year.

Seafood plays a big role in this diet, because Scandinavians are people of the sea and their diet and life are largely connected with this element. But if someone is not a fan of seafood, no problem, he is quite capable of choosing a diet to his taste.

The Scandinavian diet menu is mainly based on fish dishes. This can be both river and sea fish: herring, salmon, Baltic herring, pike, cod, mackerel, etc. From seafood, mussels, scallops, squid will enrich the table...

When it comes to meat products, preference should be given to lean varieties, and dishes based on them should be eaten no more than two or three times a week.

You can diversify your table with cereal products, and it is better if they have a high fiber content. But the basis of the diet is still vegetables and fruits, which can be eaten in any combination. The only exceptions are citrus fruits, as well as bananas and grapes, which are high in calories. It should only be noted that they should be prepared in one of the following ways: steamed, boiled or baked. Fried foods should disappear from the diet of a person who cares about their health.

You can also enrich your diet with mushroom dishes and bean recipes. Nuts have also proven themselves well, but you should know your limits and not overeat them.

In accordance with the northern diet, the main meal – lunch – can consist of two components: the first course and salad or the second course and salad.

The first “permitted” dishes include:

• Fish soup made from lean fish or seafood.
• Lenten borscht.
• Vegetable pickle soup or cabbage soup.
• Okroshka.

The second course you can offer is:

• Baked salmon with boiled rice garnish.
• Boiled asparagus with meat or fish meatballs.
• Pea puree with fish soufflé.
• Grilled steak with Brussels sprouts, kohlrabi or broccoli.
• Vegetable sauté.
• Lean meat baked in pumpkin.
• Pearl barley with meat goulash (lean meat).
• Brown rice risotto with mushroom sauce.
• Mashed potatoes with boiled fish.
• Boiled rice with vegetables and mushrooms.
• And many other recipes.

Variations on the theme of salads are quite diverse and there is room to apply your imagination. You just need to follow some conditions. To prepare them, use:

• Red cabbage and white cabbage.
• Cabbage of other varieties.
• Boiled beets.
• Fresh carrots.
• Leaf salad.
• Seaweed.
• Pumpkin.
• Zucchini.
• Black radish.
• Onions and garlic.
• Nuts.
• Apple, pear, other permitted fruits.
• Vegetable oil is used for dressing.

A Scandinavian diet breakfast may consist of:

• Cottage cheese casserole with berry sauce.
• Oven-baked eggs.
• Baked apple with cinnamon and honey.
• Oatmeal with fresh fruits or berries.
• Herbal tea with bread.
• Omelette, baked in the oven with spinach.
• Homemade yogurt and muesli.

For a second breakfast (lunch) you can serve:

• A slice of whole grain bread with a slice of ham.
• Bread with pate.
• Toasted rye bread with fish fricassee.
• A sandwich made from coarsely ground hard bread and cottage cheese, ground together with herbs.
• A handful of nuts.
• Toast with Adyghe cheese.

For dinner, a person who follows a northern diet can prepare for himself:

• Steamed fish with stewed vegetables.
• Baked chicken with mushrooms.
• Goulash made from lean meat.

Scandinavian Diet Weekly Menu

When the cold season comes, many diets begin to limit themselves to a set of available products that not only allow you to maintain your health in proper shape, but also prevent you from gaining extra pounds. This aspect does not concern the Scandinavian diet at all. It helps the body get the necessary daily dose of vitamins and minerals, chemical elements necessary for its full functioning. At the same time, a balanced diet ensures a loss of up to 900 g over the course of one week. That is, it makes it possible to lose weight and at the same time maintain the necessary level of the body's condition, allowing you to feel, if not great, then at least satisfactory.

Below is one of the menu options for a week of the Scandinavian diet, which a person, if desired, can diversify or compose at their own discretion, the main thing is that all the recommendations specified by its developers are followed.

Below is one of the weekly diet options.

Monday

Breakfast:

• Egg baked with pieces of ham.
• Salad of fresh tomatoes dressed with balsamic vinegar and vegetable oil.

Lunch: some nuts.

Dinner:

• Lenten borscht.
• Avocado salad with boiled chicken breast, dressed with sour cream and lemon sauce.

Afternoon snack: dried fruit compote.

Dinner:

• Baked turkey with cheese.
• One fresh cucumber.

Before bed: a glass of yogurt.

Tuesday

Breakfast:

• Muesli with a glass of milk.

Lunch: A slice of whole grain bread with a slice of hard cheese.

Dinner:

• Mashed potatoes.
• Baked salmon fillet.
• Boiled asparagus.

Afternoon snack: Apple.

Dinner:

• Meat fricassee on a spinach bed.

Before bed: A glass of kefir.

Wednesday

Breakfast:

• Green tea.
• Hard cheese.

Lunch: Rye bread sandwich with pate.

Dinner:

• Baked mackerel fillet with lemon juice.
• Fresh cabbage salad.

Afternoon snack: Cranberry juice.

Dinner:

• Meat goulash made from lean meat.
• Boiled cauliflower.

Before bed: A glass of low-fat milk.

Thursday

Breakfast:

• Omelette with mushrooms.

Lunch: Toasted rye bread with fish fricassee.

Dinner:

• Chicken soup with broccoli.
• Fresh carrot salad.

Afternoon snack: Pear.

Dinner:

• Spaghetti made from durum wheat.
• With tomato sauce and cheese.

Before bed: A glass of yogurt.

Friday

Breakfast:

• Herbal tea.
• Hard cheese.

Lunch: Toast with Adyghe cheese.

Dinner:

• 1. Baked goulash in a pumpkin pot with a cheese crust.
• 2. Salad with goat cheese.

Afternoon snack: A glass of carrot juice.

Dinner:

• Meat goulash made from lean meat.
• Boiled cauliflower.

Before bed: A glass of kefir.

Saturday

Breakfast:

• Oatmeal.
• Fresh fruits or berries.

Lunch: Sandwich of wholemeal bread and cottage cheese, mashed together with greens.

Dinner:

• Pickle soup.
• Salad - mix of rocula with cherry tomatoes.

Afternoon snack: fruit jelly.

Dinner:

• Chicken fillet stuffed with sweet pepper, baked in the oven.

Before bed: a glass of fermented baked milk.

Sunday

Breakfast:

• Oatmeal.
• Fresh fruits or berries.

Lunch: Sandwich of wholemeal bread and cottage cheese, mashed together with greens.

Dinner:

• Steak on coals.
• Puree of beans or peas.

Afternoon snack: apple.

Dinner:

• Boiled beef.
• Stewed vegetables.

Before bed: a glass of rosehip infusion.

In hot weather, hot soups and borscht can be replaced with cold vegetable and fruit soups.

Scandinavian Diet Recipes

It is, of course, impossible to reflect the entire spectrum of combinations of the Norwegian diet in one short article. Here, one of such options was offered. There are also quite a few recipes for the Scandinavian diet, which will allow a person who follows its recommendations to significantly diversify their diet.

First courses:

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Finnish cabbage soup

Ingredients:

• Sauerkraut – 1 kg
• Lean pork – 500 g
• You can take some sugar bone and brains
• Peppercorns – 10 pieces
• Salt to taste

Cooking sequence:

• Rinse the sauerkraut thoroughly in cold water; if desired, you can even soak it slightly for half an hour.
• Rinse the meat, bones and brains thoroughly and dry with a kitchen towel. Place in boiling water. After boiling, remove the foam that has risen from the broth.
• Salt the broth and add pepper.
• Place the sauerkraut into the broth, which is boiling vigorously.
• Reduce the heat after a couple of minutes. Cook the cabbage soup for two to three hours.
• Before serving, remove the meat, chop it, and return it to the broth.

Finnish meat soup

Ingredients:

• Lean beef – 1 kg. The best choice is a sugar bone, brisket or shoulder meat
• Carrots – 2 pieces
• Potatoes - 6 medium tubers
• Celery root - half of medium
• Rutabaga - a quarter of a root vegetable
• Parsnip root - half of the root vegetable
• Onions – 2 pieces
• Water – 2.5 liters
• Peppercorns – 10 pieces
• Salt - 1 level tablespoon
• Chopped parsley - 2 tablespoons

Cooking sequence:

• Rinse the piece of meat and dry it with a kitchen towel.
• Place the water on the fire and bring to a boil.
• Add meat to boiling water, wait until it boils and remove the foam.
• Add salt, onion and pepper.
• Remove the finished meat, remove films and tendons and divide into large pieces.
• Add carrots, parsnips, rutabaga, celery to the boiling solution, and lastly add chopped potato tubers.
• A couple of minutes before the end of cooking, finely chopped parsley is added to the soup.

Pea soup

Ingredients:

• Lean pork – 350 g. A sugar bone with pulp will do, you can use a marrow bone
• Lean beef – 250 g
• Peas – 250 g
• Water – 2 liters
• Wheat flour - 2 tablespoons
• Salt - 1 level tablespoon

Cooking sequence:

• Pour water over the peas and leave overnight, changing the water several times.
• Place the water on the fire and add all the peas to the warm liquid. Bring to a boil.
• Rinse the pieces of meat well and dry them with a kitchen towel. Add the meat and bones to the boiling water, wait until it boils, and skim off the foam. Add salt. Cook for two to three hours.
• Take a quarter of a glass of cold boiled water and dissolve the flour in it.
• Season the broth with diluted flour.

Spring soup

Ingredients:

• Chicken meat – 200 g
• Cauliflower inflorescence – 200 g
• Carrots – 30 g
• Spinach leaves – 70 g
• Celery root – 10 – 15 g
• Green peas – 180 g
• Egg yolk - half
• Low-fat cream – 70 g
• Flour – 2 tablespoons
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Vegetable oil

Cooking sequence:

• Wash the chicken, dry it, put it in water, bring it to a boil, remove the foam. Continue to cook over low heat.
• Chop the greens, cauliflower, carrots and celery.
• Pour meat broth over all the chopped vegetables, as well as the green peas, and simmer for several minutes.
• Dissolve flour in cold boiled water.
• Add stewed vegetables, chopped spinach leaves, diluted flour to the chicken broth and cook until all ingredients are ready.
• Prepare the liaison: beat the egg yolk with the cream using a fork at a temperature of about 80 °C.
• Before serving, carefully add the liaison and herbs to the broth.

Second courses of the Scandinavian diet

Lamb with cabbage

Ingredients:

• Lamb meat – 500 g
• White cabbage – 1 kg
• Margarine – 30 - 60 g
• Flour – 2 tablespoons
• Salt and peppercorns to taste

Cooking sequence:

• Wash the lamb thoroughly. Divide into small pieces, lightly fry in a small amount of vegetable oil. You can do it without fat in a frying pan - grill.
• Place the lamb in a saucepan and pour in a small amount of water, add salt and cook until almost done.
• Remove the lamb from the pan and add the cabbage, chopped into large pieces, to the remaining sauce. Simmer until done.
• Take out a glass fireproof dish and put the meat and cabbage in it. Dissolve flour in the "juice" left after the carcass. Salt to taste. Grind the pepper, pepper the liquid with it. Add a little water and keep it on the fire until the sauce thickens.
• Pour the sauce over the ingredients and place in the oven for 20 minutes.

A side dish for this dish is potatoes seasoned with caraway seeds.

Stuffed pork fillet

Ingredients:

• For one serving of pork fillet - 250 g
• Dried pitted prunes (smoked is not desirable, but if dried is not available, it is acceptable) – 50 g
• Apple - one
• Butter or margarine – one to two tablespoons
• Low-fat cream - half a glass
• Water - one glass
• Salt and peppercorns to taste
• A little potato starch

Cooking sequence:

• Rinse the fillet thoroughly under running water and dry with a kitchen towel. Cut along the meat fibers, leaving a little short of the end. Unfold the two halves and beat lightly with a hammer.
• Pre-soak the prunes and, when softened, place them on a meat cloth.
• Place thin slices of peeled apple on top.
• Roll the resulting layer into a roll and tie it tightly with a thread to maintain its shape.
• Place fat in a frying pan and heat to a high temperature.
• Place the roll on a hot frying pan and fry thoroughly on all sides until golden brown.
• Add salt and sprinkle with ground pepper if desired. Pour a small amount of water into the container and simmer until the meat is fully cooked.
• Carefully remove the threads from the finished product. Cut into pieces with a step of one and a half to two centimeters.
• Pour sauce over each serving.

Can be served with rice or mashed potatoes.

Risotto with mushrooms

Ingredients:

• Brown rice – 250 g
• Water as needed
• Salt to taste
• Any mushrooms – 300 g
• Garlic - a couple of cloves
• Parsley - one bunch

Cooking sequence:

• Rinse the rice grains several times with clean cold water.
• Place in a thick-bottomed saucepan and add water so that it is about a centimeter above the surface of the grain.
• Add salt and place on the fire, bringing to a boil.
• Wash the mushrooms, clean them if necessary. Cut into thin slices.
• Separately, fry the mushrooms, garlic (whole) and chopped parsley in a frying pan.
• Add the cooked rice to the cooked mushrooms. Press together for about five minutes.
• Add a little water and simmer for about 10 more minutes.

Meatballs

Ingredients:

• Meat trimmings – 250 g
• Chopped meat – 250 g
• Breadcrumbs – 2 tablespoons
• Onion, grated on a fine grater – 1 tablespoon
• Boiled potatoes - two pieces
• Potato starch - 1 teaspoon
• Milk – 1 glass
• Salt - 1.5 level teaspoons
• Ground pepper - a quarter teaspoon
• A little bit of fat

Cooking sequence:

• Put the boiled potatoes through a meat grinder.
• Pass the meat through a meat grinder, but it will be tastier if you simply chop it finely with a sharp knife.
• Mix all ingredients thoroughly. Leave for 20 minutes to “exchange” smells and juices.
• Roll the resulting mass into portioned balls, similar in size to a walnut.
• Pour enough fat into the frying pan and put it on high heat. After it is hot, put the meatballs in. You shouldn't put too many in at once, there should be a gap between them.
• During frying, shake the pan or turn the meatballs over with a spatula to ensure even frying on all sides.

This dish can be eaten both hot and cold. The sauce for meatballs can be sour cream, to which salt, sugar, mustard and pepper are added to taste.

Chicken in pineapples

Ingredients:

• Chicken – 1 kg
• Pineapple pulp, grated on a large grater - one glass
• Sugar - 1 teaspoon
• Salt – 100 g
• Mayonnaise – 100 g
• Low-fat cream – 2 tablespoons
• Lettuce leaves

Cooking sequence:

• Take one and a half liters of water and dissolve sugar and salt in it. Bring the brine to a boil and cool to room temperature.
• Wash and gut the chicken carcass. You can do it whole, but it is better to cut it into portions. Put it in brine and soak for a couple of days.
• Periodically, for more uniform impregnation, turn the pieces over.
• After the time has passed, remove the chicken and boil it in clean water. A small amount of liquid is enough.
• Separate the finished chicken meat from the skin and bones.
• Mix cream, mayonnaise and a little pineapple juice.
• Place lettuce leaves on a plate. Put chicken meat on top. Put pineapple pieces on top. Pour mayonnaise-cream sauce over the finished dish.

Baked or boiled potatoes can be used as a side dish.

For dessert you can prepare:

Swedish pancakes

Ingredients: for one serving

• Premium flour (first grade flour will do) – 30 g
• Sugar - squeak – 11 g
• Jam or any thick preserves – 40 g
• Egg – 3/4
• Milk – 70 g
• Salt - a pinch
• A little fat for frying

Cooking sequence:

• Knead the dough using eggs (yolks), flour, salt, sugar and milk.
• The whites are beaten separately and very carefully added to the dough.
• We fry pancakes from the resulting dough in the basic way: first fry on one side, then turn over with a spatula and fry the other side.

This dish is served with jam or preserves.

Fruit soufflé

Ingredients:

• Gooseberries - 500 g
• Sugar - squeak – 120 g
• Wheat flour – 1 teaspoon
• Zest of half a lemon
• Eggs – 2 pieces
• White dry wine - half a glass

Cooking sequence:

• Wash and sort the gooseberries.
• Place in a saucepan. Add sugar, zest and a small amount of water.
• Cook until the berries soften.
• Rub the soft berries through a sieve.
• Separate the yolks from the eggs. Mix them with the berry puree and sugar. Put on low heat and, stirring constantly, hold for three to five minutes.
• Add white wine.
• Remove from heat.
• Beat the egg whites into a thick foam and very carefully fold into the berry mixture.
• Take a baking dish. Grease its inner surface with oil.
• Place the mixture into a mold and bake on low heat for half an hour.

Scandinavian Diet Reviews

Today, the Norwegian diet is increasingly used in the diet of our compatriots. But it should be noted that there are negative reviews, and they mainly relate to people who want to get a very quick result. That is, a week and 5-6 kg is not. It is unlikely that you will be able to get this with the diet described in this article. It is designed for a long time. But this is, perhaps, one of its few disadvantages. But is it a disadvantage? After all, it is the smooth reduction in body weight that does not harm health and is a more stable and maintainable weight.

Another disadvantage of this regime is that it requires going through the first stage of the diet, which is characterized by particularly strict adherence to restrictions. People with weak willpower have a hard time going through this stage.

But otherwise, the reviews of the Scandinavian diet are very positive. After all, if a person has successfully “survived” the first seven to ten cleansing days, a consistent diet no longer scares them. But losing excess kilograms is a stable process. Maintaining the new weight is not particularly difficult.

Many respondents noted that following the recommendations of Norwegian nutritionists allowed them to switch to healthy food and balance their diet less painfully. In parallel with losing extra pounds, the body of people who went through the diet significantly improved its health, symptomatic pain disappeared. Patients suffering from arthritis and other diseases affecting the musculoskeletal system of the body, significantly improved joint mobility.

It has been clinically proven that this approach to nutrition significantly improves the condition of the cardiovascular system, prevents the occurrence and development of diabetes, and reduces the risk of cancer.

But there are also "contraindications" to its use. Such a diet is categorically not suitable for people who promote vegetarianism, since the basis of the diet is meat and fish dishes, as well as if the person has an allergy to seafood in the anamnesis.

Analyzing the effectiveness of numerous diets, nutritionists came to the conclusion that the Scandinavian diet is more acceptable for use in the cold season, while in the hot period it is still better to stick to the Mediterranean menu. As experts note, such a tandem brings double benefits.

The Scandinavian diet is not a quick-fix method for losing excess weight, but a way of life for the rest of your life. If you live in a region with a moderate or cold climate and want to feel healthy and in great shape, then a way of life with the recommendations of Norwegian nutritionists is a guarantee of vigor, good health and a good mood for life. You just need to be patient and strong-willed at first, so as not to “break down”. A little time will pass, the body will get used to the new regime, and you will get physical and emotional comfort.