The New Nordic Diet from Gastronomy to Health Certificate

University of Copenhagen - 5 WKS

Arne Astrup, Head Professor, MD, DMSc Department of Nutrition, Exercise and Sports (NEXS) Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen

Completed by Dawid F. Prestini

January 3, 2021

5 weeks

Grade Achieved: 89.08%

Certifies their successful completion of The New Nordic Diet - from Gastronomy to Health

The New Nordic Diet is a new food culture developed in 2009-13 with key emphasis on gastronomy, health, and environment. Major research in its effect on acceptability, behaviour and learning skills, and disease prevention have been conducted by the OPUS centre at the University of Copenhagen and the people behind the award-winning restaurant Noma in Copenhagen.

This course will give the participants the opportunity to experience a healthy and palatable new food and eating concept diet “The New Nordic Diet” and an understanding of how food and diets can affect mental and physical health and ensure the foundation for a healthier life style for future generations with a regional based diet and food culture. In Denmark “the Nordic cuisine”, has expanded from food eaten at the award-winning Copenhagen restaurant Noma to home-made dishes of local ingredients of whole-grain rye bread, root vegetables, berries, fresh fish and seaweed.

This course is also part of the EIT Health Programme

WEEK 1

Developing a New Meal System

In this first module you will be introduced to The New Nordic Diet project. You will hear about the
background for the project, the definition of the signatures and principles behind which are considered
to be fundamental of this new meal system. The New Nordic Diet is based on Nordic ingredients but
is adaptable all over the world. It incompases both the health and well-being of the individual and
environmental sustainability as well as the pleasure of eating. The challenges for accepting new
healthy components of a New Nordic Diet will be illustrated too. Based on these principles leading
chefs working with the Nordic kitchen and academic staffs from our university will guide you through
this module’s lectures.

WEEK 2

Development of the New Nordic Diet

WEEK 3

The OPUS School Meal Study

In this module we will investigate how the OPUS School Meal Study was designed and how the
investigators examined the effect of the New Nordic Diet school meals on the well-being, development
academic performance, body composition as well as their risk of developing lifestyle diseases such as
type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis and cardiovascular diseases. The study compared the New Nordic Diet
with the current situation in schools (packed lunch from home and/or school canteens/small shops etc.).

WEEK 4

The OPUS Supermarket Intervention

In this module, we'll be looking at the effect of New Nordic Diet on adults. We will study the effect of
 eating the New Nordic Diet (NND) and an Average Danish Diet (ADD), respectively, in terms of body
weight, body composition (fat) and risk factors for cardiovascular diseases and type 2-diabetes.
You will learn about problems, barriers and benefits associated with two types of diet, focusing in
particular on shopping, cooking and eating, meal structure and diet composition. Moreover, drop-out
rate and the subject’s compliance with the principles behind the diet are discussed.

• WEEK 5

  Investigate the New Nordic Diet – from Food to Health

  In this last module's lectures we will concentrate on the health of the New Nordic Diet,
  focus on the effects published so far from four different studies and on the potential factors
  and foods affecting the outcomes.

• University of Copenhagen

  The University of Copenhagen is the oldest University in Denmark - founded in 1479, and with over
  38,000 students and more than 9,000 employees. The purpose of the University is to conduct research
  and provide education to the highest academic level. Based in Denmark's capital city it is one of the
  top research institutions in Europe.