DEBATE: For all animal foodstuffs from agriculture, a maximum recommendation has been proposed in the new dietary guidelines, but not for nuts. Is it just a matter of principle that the beef should be replaced with “nut roast”?
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The new Nordic nutritional recommendations, NNR2023, have been criticized from several quarters for lacking solid knowledge-based anchoring, and for being carried out with a low degree of transparency.
Rune Blomhoff, head of NNR2023 and member of the National Council for Nutrition, has pointed out on several occasions that the Norwegian dietary guidelines should be adapted to what can be grown and produced in Norway.
Now the new proposed advice has been published, but no adjustments have been made to recommend food products that can actually be produced in this country.
Suggested dietary guidelines provide more energy from nuts than red meat
The Norwegian Directorate of Health has now sent the dietary advice out for consultation, but does not want feedback on the quantity recommendations, only the wording. It has therefore been decided that it is recommended to eat 20-30 grams of nuts per day.
Committee member Erik Arnesen’s own research is also used as a source for the formulation that a “consumption of nuts and seeds has shown an inverse dose-response relationship with risk of cardiovascular disease, especially coronary heart disease”.
also read:
Meat or plant substitutes? The conclusion is clear
A daily intake of 20-30 grams of nuts may sound small, but nuts, almonds and the like are very energy-dense foods. Then you end up with advice where more of the energy in our diet should come from nuts than red meat.
Nuts are not always good
A maximum recommendation has been proposed for all animal foodstuffs from agriculture, but not for nuts. It gives the impression that animal foods are dangerous, whereas it is rather nuts that should have a maximum limit. One should not exaggerate the intake of nuts, because they can contain heavy metals and dangerous molds (aflatoxins).
If the advice on nuts remains in place, it will mean in practice that Norway is recommended to import 45,000 tonnes of nuts annually, which is three times the current consumption.
Eli Gjerlaug Enger, researcher in Norsvin
All nuts are imported to Norway. Controlling the level of toxic substances is primarily the responsibility of the manufacturer and importer. The Norwegian authorities take this danger seriously, and the Norwegian Food Safety Authority writes that aflatoxins
can be carcinogenic and can damage the genes. No lower limit has been set for content that cannot pose a health hazard.
It can be aflatoxin in a whole range of types of nuts, and one should limit the intake of pistachios, Brazil nuts and peanuts. Hazelnuts and almonds are also susceptible. The Institute of Public Health further writes that it is not known to what extent aflatoxin affects the Norwegian population and that a reduction in exposure is desirable.
Nutrient-rich diet with Norwegian ingredients produced good health effects
Many foods can have both favorable and unfavorable health effects, and Arnesen’s research shows that by eating a given amount of nuts and almonds, you can lower the risk of cardiovascular disease (CHD) by 25 percent. The decrease in LDL cholesterol was 0.13 mmol/L.
LDL cholesterol is the cholesterol that is bound to the LDL molecule. This is often referred to as “bad cholesterol” because too much of it can increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.
In comparison, a large study with human intervention (designed as a randomized control trial – the gold standard for establishing causal relationships) has been carried out, which showed a far greater positive effect on the risk of LHL disease.
The results showed that a nutritious, Norwegian diet with relatively large portions of meat or cheese was better than the normal diet of the participants. Pork excelled particularly positively when it came to risk markers for LDL-cholesterol, with a reduction for LDL-cholesterol of 0.35 mmol/L. So a significantly better effect than what is stated for nuts and almonds.
Isn’t it strange that this study is not given any attention in the new dietary guidelines, even when the result is in line with a number of other studies that have shown that eating meat in an otherwise healthy diet has beneficial health effects?
Triple nut consumption
If the advice on nuts remains in place, it will mean in practice that Norway is recommended to import 45,000 tonnes of nuts annually, which is three times the current consumption. Monitoring toxins is demanding, as there can be great variation within a batch of nuts, and the public is advised to monitor the quality themselves.
The risk of disease from eating red meat is virtually non-existent.
Norwegian food production is subject to strict rules regarding toxicology (poisons). Country of origin is important, as foodstuffs from Norway consistently have lower levels of plant protection residues, mold and poisons than imported foodstuffs.
Fewer livestock will result in lower self-sufficiency
These dietary guidelines are incompatible with the government’s goal of 50 percent self-sufficiency. Nuts are not grown in Norway, and from a self-sufficiency perspective it is therefore problematic to make such a recommendation.
The livestock that produce red meat are those that make the most of grass and Norwegian fodder grain. This is cultivated today on 94 percent of Norwegian agricultural land, because this soil is not suitable for other foodstuffs.
In today’s diet, 30 percent of the calories come from red meat and milk. With the new dietary guidelines, this is reduced to 13 per cent (effect of lower quantity and lean products).
Farmers cannot grow food for which there is no provision. If the new dietary guidelines are followed, self-sufficiency and the Norwegian share of the diet will decrease, thousands of Norwegian farms will be closed down, and it is estimated that around 30 percent of cultivated land will become redundant and go out of business. These consequences are investigated in a report from NIBIO.
Norwegian ingredients and good health can be combined
The risk of disease from eating red meat is virtually non-existent. There is professional disagreement as to whether the intake of meat and other animal foods in the diet should be reduced. However, there is a very high chance that lower levels of animal proteins in the diet will lead to more obesity and ill health in the population.
As the research from NMBU (and others) shows, it is entirely possible to have a diet with a high Norwegian proportion, while at the same time significantly improving health. A strength of the study from NMBU is that the food is based on raw materials, with all the necessary nutrients, and to a lesser extent industrially produced foods.
This shows that it is entirely possible to recommend a diet with food from Norwegian agriculture and food culture, which at the same time provides better health. I hereby forward this request to the Norwegian Directorate of Health.
Norsvin SA is a breeding company, with the development, production and sale of pig genetics as its most important tasks. Norsvin SA has its head office in Hamar, with a subdivision in Ås, and has a total of around 90 employees.
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