Challenges and opportunities when moving food production and consumption toward sustainable diets in the Nordics: a scoping review for Nordic Nutrition Recommendations 2023.

The terms 'Nordic countries' or 'The Nordics' include the five countries Denmark, Finland, Island, Norway, and Sweden. This review includes evaluation of the Nordic countries against Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO)/World Health Organizations' (WHO) guiding principles for healthy, sustainable diets with respect to environmental impact (principles #9 - #13) and sociocultural aspects (principles #14 - #16). A food systems perspective is taken to summarize and discuss the most important challenges and opportunities for achieving sustainable diets.

Environmental Sustainability Perspectives of the Nordic Diet.

"The Nordic diet" is an umbrella term that encompasses any interpretation that combines Food-Based Dietary Guidelines (FBDGs) with local Nordic foods. The five Nordic countries have collaborated on Nordic Nutrition Recommendations for forty years, including FBDGs, so their national guidelines are similar. The countries also share similar public health issues, including widespread nonconformity to the guidelines, although in different ways.

Arsenic in seafood is associated with increased thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) in healthy volunteers - A randomized controlled trial.

Background: Exposure to exogenous elements like arsenic (As) may influence thyroid enzymes, thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), and the two principal thyroid hormones, free thyroxine (FT4) and free triiodothyronine (FT3), but little is known about how this is related to organic arsenicals, the main form in seafood.

Aim: To investigate whether a high intake of dietary arsenic from seafood can impact thyroid function and thyroid hormones by examining possible associations with changes in TSH, FT4, FT3 and the FT4:FT3-ratio in plasma.

Methods: Thirty-eight healthy subjects were randomized into four groups.

Organic Food in the Diet: Exposure and Health Implications.

The market for organic food products is growing rapidly worldwide. Such foods meet certified organic standards for production, handling, processing, and marketing. Most notably, the use of synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, and genetic modification is not allowed.

The impact of iron status and smoking on blood divalent metal concentrations in Norwegian women in the HUNT2 Study.

Low iron (Fe) stores may result in increased absorption of divalent metals, in particular cadmium (Cd). We have previously shown that in non-smoking women participating in the Norwegian HUNT2 cohort study this also included other divalent metals, e.g.

Urinary excretion of arsenicals following daily intake of various seafoods during a two weeks intervention.

The excretion pattern of arsenic (As) species after seafood intake varies widely depending on species ingested and individual handling. We have previously reported the 72 h urinary excretion of arsenicals following a single dose of seafood. Here, we report the excretion patterns in the same 37 subjects following 15 days daily consumption of either 150 g cod, salmon, blue mussels or potato (control), followed by a 72 h period with a low-As diet.

Consumption of lead-shot cervid meat and blood lead concentrations in a group of adult Norwegians.

Several recent investigations have reported high concentrations of lead in samples of minced cervid meat. This paper describes findings from a Norwegian study performed in 2012 among 147 adults with a wide range of cervid game consumption. The main aim was to assess whether high consumption of lead-shot cervid meat is associated with increased concentration of lead in blood.

Determinants of plasma concentrations of perfluoroalkyl substances in pregnant Norwegian women.

Background: Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are widespread pollutants that have been associated with adverse health effects although not on a consistent basis. Diet has been considered the main source of exposure. The aim of the present study was to identify determinants of four plasma PFASs in pregnant Norwegian women.

Major and minor arsenic compounds accounting for the total urinary excretion of arsenic following intake of blue mussels (Mytilus edulis): a controlled human study.

Blue mussels (Mytilus edulis) accumulate and biotransform arsenic (As) to a larger variety of arsenicals than most seafood. Eight volunteers ingested a test meal consisting of 150 g blue mussel (680 μg As), followed by 72 h with an identical, low As controlled diet and full urine sampling. We provide a complete speciation, with individual patterns, of urinary As excretion.

Humans seem to produce arsenobetaine and dimethylarsinate after a bolus dose of seafood.

Seafood is the predominant food source of several organoarsenic compounds. Some seafood species, like crustaceans and seaweed, also contain inorganic arsenic (iAs), a well-known toxicant. It is unclear whether human biotransformation of ingested organoarsenicals from seafood result in formation of arsenicals of health concern.

Low iron stores are related to higher blood concentrations of manganese, cobalt and cadmium in non-smoking, Norwegian women in the HUNT 2 study.

Low iron (Fe) stores may influence absorption or transport of divalent metals in blood. To obtain more knowledge about such associations, the divalent metal ions cadmium (Cd), manganese (Mn), cobalt (Co), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn) and lead (Pb) and parameters of Fe metabolism (serum ferritin, haemoglobin (Hb) and transferrin) were investigated in 448 healthy, menstruating non-smoking women, age 20-55 years (mean 38 years), participating in the Norwegian HUNT 2 study. The study population was stratified for serum ferritin: 257 were iron-depleted (serum ferritin < 12 microg/L) and 84 had iron deficiency anaemia (serum ferritin < 12 microg/L and Hb < 120 g/L).

Exploration of biomarkers for total fish intake in pregnant Norwegian women.

Objective: Few biomarkers for dietary intake of various food groups have been established. The aim of the present study was to explore whether selenium (Se), iodine, mercury (Hg) or arsenic may serve as a biomarker for total fish and seafood intake in addition to the traditionally used n-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA.

Design: Intake of fish and seafood estimated by an FFQ was compared with intake assessed by a 4 d weighed food diary and with biomarkers in blood and urine.

Methodological challenges when monitoring the diet of pregnant women in a large study: experiences from the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (MoBa).

The aim of this article is to describe the main methodological challenges in the monitoring of dietary intake in the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (MoBa), a pregnancy cohort aiming to include 100 000 participants. The overall challenge was to record dietary patterns in sufficient detail to support future testing of a broad range of hypotheses, while at the same time limiting the burden on the participants. The main questions to be answered were: which dietary method to choose, when in pregnancy to ask, which time period should the questions cover, which diet questions to include, how to perform a validation study, and how to handle uncertainties in the reporting.

Fish arsenic may influence human blood arsenic, selenium, and T4:T3 ratio.

The effects of an arsenic-rich fish diet and selenium (Se) supplementation on blood arsenic (As), Se, and thyroid hormones were studied in 32 women divided into four equal groups. Groups 1 and 4 received 400 microg Se-methionine daily, group 2 received 400 microg selenite daily, and group 3 received placebo tablets for 15 wk. In addition, groups 1-3 increased their fish intake, eating at least three fish dinners weekly.

Supplementary selenium influences the response to fatty acid-induced oxidative stress in humans.

The mutual influences of wheat selenium (Se) and n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFA) on plasma Se and indicators of increased oxidative stress were investigated in a randomized, double-blind study with 31 women (23.5 +/- 3.4 yr).

Does dietary arsenic and mercury affect cutaneous bleeding time and blood lipids in humans?

Fish species may contain considerable amounts of trace elements, such as selenium (Se), arsenic (As), and mercury (Hg). The present study investigated the relationships between dietary intake of these elements and cutaneous bleeding time and blood lipids in 32 healthy volunteers. For 6 wk, one group (n = 11) consumed approx 250 g Se-rich fish daily, providing them with an average Se intake of 115 +/- 31 micrograms Se/d, Hg intake of 18 +/- 8 micrograms/d, and As intake of 806 +/- 405 micrograms/d, all values analyzed in 4-d duplicate food collections.