A Nordic diet, full of fish, vegetables, berries and pulses can reduce the damaging effects of type 2 diabetes and liver disease, research suggests.
Known medically as metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), the condition is not linked to heavy drinking—the more commonly known cause of liver problems.
Instead, MASLD occurs when excess fat builds up inside the liver, and it is said to be on the rise in the UK.
Now, Swedish scientists who tracked more than 100 people, have discovered that the meal plan improved blood sugar control in type 2 diabetics by slashing the amount of fat in the liver.
They also found it helped half of participants with MASLD go into remission and slashed levels of ‘bad cholesterol’.
Experts, who labelled the findings ‘important’, said it showed the Nordic diet could be an effective tool for people with type 2 diabetes or MASLD to keep their conditions stable.
Professor Ulf Risérus, an expert in clinical nutrition and metabolism at Uppsala University and study co-author, said: ‘The healthy Nordic diet gave the best results in the study participants with diabetes.
‘Just over 20 per cent of their liver fat was reduced and blood sugar — glucose control improved over one year.
Swedish scientists who tracked more than 150 people, have discovered that the Nordic diet improved blood sugar control in type 2 diabetics by slashing the amount of fat in the liver
‘More than half of the participants also saw a remission of their fatty liver disease.
‘This makes these results equally important for people with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease as those with type 2 diabetes.’
Dr Michael Fridén, a nutrition and MASLD researcher at Uppsala University and study co-author, added: ‘Even though participants were allowed to eat as much as they wanted from the foods recommended, they still lost weight.
‘In many previous studies of different diets, calorie intake has been restricted, which is effective in the storm, but increases in hunger can be difficult to follow in the longer term.’
The Nordic diet has previously been touted as the next big trend in weight loss.
Research has also suggested that Scandinavian diets can help to lower blood pressure.
In the new study, scientists split 150 people into three groups.
The first was asked to follow a low-carb plant-based diet, low in animal products such as meat, seafood, eggs and dairy and the second, a healthy Nordic diet.
The third was the control, asked to follow their normal diet.
Participants in all three groups were also told to limit their consumption of sweetened drinks, sweets, candy and snacks with added sugar.
Over a follow-up of a year, they found the low carb plant based diet and Nordic diets were similar in reducing liver fat as well as bad cholesterol.
But the healthy Scandinavian meal plan was also more effective in reducing blood glucose over the long term, and also had more beneficial effects on body weight.
Scientists could not prove exactly why the Nordic diet had this effect.
But writing in the journal Nature Communications, researchers it could be due to its higher consumption of oats and wholegrain bread and low butter consumption.
Dr Risérus added: ‘This is very interesting, as it suggests that the diet itself has contributed to reducing fat deposits in the liver, but probably also to improved blood glucose levels and lipid values as well as reducing inflammation.
‘Our results are important for future dietary recommendations and are particularly important for overweight people with Type 2 diabetes or prediabetes.’
Known medically as metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), the condition is not linked to heavy drinking—the more commonly known cause of liver problems
The charity Diabetes UK says 4.6 million Britons have a diabetes diagnosis of which 90 per cent have type 2.
But worryingly they estimate that 1.3 million people are currently living with type 2 diabetes undiagnosed.
It occurs when the body doesn’t produce enough insulin or becomes resistant to it, leading to high blood sugar levels.
Symptoms include fatigue, increased thirst, peeing more than usual, losing weight without trying, blurred vision and wounds taking longer to heal.
Meanwhile, the British Liver Trust estimates that MASLD may now affect one in five people in the UK — though experts have warned the true figure could be as high as 40 per cent.
Around 80 per cent of those affected remain undiagnosed, as the disease often has no obvious symptoms—or it has symptoms that are mistaken for less serious problems.
In most cases, it is only spotted during routine blood tests or liver function tests carried out for unrelated issues.
People with MASLD have excess fat in their liver and one or more metabolic risk factors, which can include obesity, high blood sugar and high blood pressure.
Roughly one in four patients has a more advanced form called metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis, or MASH.
In this condition, fat buildup has led to inflammation, cell damage and, in some cases, liver scarring.
