Adherence to Nordic diet reduces CVD risk

Adherence to a modified Nordic diet appears protective against cardiovascular disease (CVD) in a non-Nordic population, reveals a study.

The primary components of the Nordic diet, which shows an inverse association with CVD, are cereals, fish, and low-fat milk.

A total of 2,918 individuals were examined in this cohort study, of whom 203 experienced cardiovascular events during a median follow-up of 10.6 years. Compared with the lowest quartile, the third and fourth quartiles of the Nordic score correlated with a 35-percent (hazard ratio [HR], 0.65, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 0.45‒0.95) and 60-percent (HR, 0.40, 95 percent CI, 0.27‒0.65) lower CVD risk.

In subgroup analyses, a high Nordic score showed an inverse relation with a lower risk of CVD in adults aged >45 years, both sexes, and all body mass index categories.

Specifically, each 1-score increase in cereal consumption correlated with a 24-percent (HR, 0.76, 95 percent CI, 0.67‒0.87) lower CVD risk; low-fat milk with a 23-percent (HR, 0.77, 95 percent CI, 0.68‒0.87) risk reduction; and fish with a 22-percent (HR, 0.78, 95 percent CI, 0.69‒0.89) decrease in CVD risk.

This cohort study included participants from the third phase of the Tehran Lipid and Glucose Study. All participants had no CVD at the beginning of the study, which was monitored until 2018.

The investigators calculated the Nordic score using a validated food-frequency questionnaire and examined medical records for cardiovascular events, such as coronary heart disease, stroke, and mortality from CVD. Finally, they explored the association between the Nordic score and CVD risk using a Cox proportional hazards model.