Relation of the Nordic Dietary Pattern With Cardiometabolic Risk Factors and Incident Cardiovascular Outcomes: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials and Prospective Cohort Studies

Background: Greater adherence to the Mediterranean diet, a traditional dietary pattern of the wider region of the Mediterranean sea, has been associated with favourable cardiometabolic outcomes, including the prevention of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases (CVD). However, limited local food availability, increased cost or unfamiliar culture and tradition render the Mediterranean diet difficult to follow in the northern European environment. The Nordic Diet or those of other traditional diets of the Nordic countries (Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Faeroe islands) are dietary patterns rich in traditional Nordic foods, including berries, grains, and fatty fish common in northern Europe. The Nordic Diet has been associated with favorable cardiometabolic outcomes including improved lipid profile and insulin sensitivity. These benefits have been recognized in the most recent updates of the clinical practice guidelines for diabetes in Canada. The European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) has not included the Nordic dietary pattern in their guidelines.

Need for proposed research: High quality systematic reviews and meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials and prospective cohorts represent high-quality evidence to support dietary guidelines and public health policy. As dietary guidelines and public health policy have shifted towards food and dietary-pattern based recommendations, there is a need for systematic reviews and meta-analyses comparing the role of the Nordic diet in the prevention and management of cardiometabolic outcomes and cardiovascular diseases.

Objectives: To support the update of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) clinical practice guidelines for nutrition therapy, the investigators will conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials and prospective cohorts using the GRADE approach on the Nordic dietary pattern on cardiometabolic risk factors and cardiovascular disease outcomes.

Design: The systematic review and meta-analysis of clinical trials and prospective cohort studies will be conducted according to the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of interventions and reported according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) and Meta-analysis of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (MOOSE) guidelines.

Data sources: MEDLINE, EMBASE, and The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (Clinical Trials; CENTRAL) will be searched using appropriate search terms supplemented by hand searches of references of included studies.