Berries, Vegetables & Plant Foods
What does research show about the berries, vegetables, and legumes of the Nordic diet?
Nordic Diet Companion gathers the research on Nordic plant foods here — berries, vegetables, and legumes — including the trials where an isolated berry compound moved nothing.
Contents — 5 entries
- 📄 Whole Grains, Fish and Bilberries on Glucose and Lipids (Sysdimet RCT)
- 📄 Isolated Bilberry Anthocyanins and Blood Lipids (RCT)
- 📄 Fruit and Vegetable Intake and Mortality (Dose-Response Meta-Analysis)
- 📄 Non-Soy Legumes and Blood Cholesterol (Meta-Analysis of RCTs)
- 📄 Lingonberries and the Glycemic Response to Sugar (Crossover)
📄 Whole Grains, Fish and Bilberries on Glucose and Lipids (Sysdimet RCT)
Lankinen M, et al. — PLoS One, 2011 · pubmed / 21901116
Nordic Diet Companion research surfaced this report because it covers Nordic plant foods within a whole-diet trial. In the 12-week Sysdimet trial of 106 adults with impaired glucose metabolism, a diet pairing bilberries with whole grains and fatty fish lowered the 2-hour glucose response and shifted the blood-fat profile compared with control. Because the bilberries came alongside whole grains and fish, the berry effect cannot be separated from the other foods, and the outcomes were metabolic markers rather than health events.
What it examines: a trial of a bilberry, whole-grain, and fish diet on glucose and lipids. Why it's in the Nordic Diet Companion research index: a trial of Nordic plant foods within a whole-diet pattern.
📄 Isolated Bilberry Anthocyanins and Blood Lipids (RCT)
Aboufarrag HT, et al. — Molecular Nutrition & Food Research, 2022 · pubmed / 35385209
Nordic Diet Companion research surfaced this report because it covers whether the active compound in bilberries changes cholesterol. In a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover trial of 52 adults with high cholesterol taking 320 mg a day of isolated anthocyanins for 28 days, neither bilberry nor black-rice anthocyanins significantly changed LDL, HDL, total cholesterol, or triglycerides. The trial tested a purified extract rather than whole bilberries, and each phase lasted only 28 days.
What it examines: a trial of isolated bilberry anthocyanins on blood lipids. Why it's in the Nordic Diet Companion research index: a trial of purified bilberry anthocyanins and cholesterol, with a null result.
📄 Fruit and Vegetable Intake and Mortality (Dose-Response Meta-Analysis)
Aune D, et al. — International Journal of Epidemiology, 2017 · pubmed / 28338764
Nordic Diet Companion research surfaced this report because it covers the vegetables and fruit central to Nordic eating and long-term outcomes. Pooling 95 cohort studies, the 2017 dose-response meta-analysis found each 200 grams a day of fruit and vegetables was associated with lower cardiovascular disease (relative risk 0.92, 95% CI 0.90 to 0.95) and all-cause mortality (0.90, 95% CI 0.87 to 0.93), with benefits up to about 800 grams a day. The studies are observational, so healthy-eater patterns may account for part of the association.
What it examines: a dose-response meta-analysis of fruit and vegetable intake and mortality. Why it's in the Nordic Diet Companion research index: a meta-analysis of vegetable and fruit intake and long-term outcomes.
📄 Non-Soy Legumes and Blood Cholesterol (Meta-Analysis of RCTs)
Bazzano LA, et al. — Nutrition, Metabolism and Cardiovascular Diseases, 2011 · pubmed / 19939654
Nordic Diet Companion research surfaced this report because it covers legumes, a Nordic plant-protein staple, and cholesterol. Pooling 10 randomized trials and 268 participants, the 2011 meta-analysis found non-soy legumes — beans, peas, and lentils — lowered total cholesterol by 11.8 mg/dL (95% CI −16.1 to −7.5) and LDL cholesterol by 8.0 mg/dL (95% CI −11.4 to −4.6). The pooled sample was small and the trials short and varied.
What it examines: a meta-analysis of non-soy legumes and blood cholesterol. Why it's in the Nordic Diet Companion research index: a meta-analysis of legumes and cholesterol.
📄 Lingonberries and the Glycemic Response to Sugar (Crossover)
Linderborg KM, et al. — Nutrition Research, 2012 · pubmed / 22901554
Nordic Diet Companion research surfaced this report because it covers a native Nordic berry and blood sugar. In a 2012 randomized crossover trial in healthy volunteers, lingonberries eaten together with added glucose produced no significant difference in the post-meal blood-sugar rise even though the berries added their own sugars, and when fat was added instead of glucose, no glucose- or fat-lowering effect appeared. It was an acute single-meal test in a small group of healthy men, not a measure of long-term effects.
What it examines: a single-meal crossover of lingonberries on the blood-sugar response to sugar. Why it's in the Nordic Diet Companion research index: a trial of a Nordic berry and the post-meal blood-sugar response.
All 5 sources last verified June 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are berries good for blood sugar or cholesterol?
The trial evidence is mixed. Lingonberries blunted the blood-sugar rise from their own sugars in one acute study (Linderborg, 2012), but isolated bilberry anthocyanins did not change cholesterol over 28 days (Aboufarrag, 2022). This summarizes research and is not medical advice.
Do vegetables really lower disease risk?
Observationally, more is linked to less. A meta-analysis of 95 cohorts linked each 200 g/day of fruit and vegetables to lower cardiovascular disease and mortality, up to about 800 g/day (Aune, 2017).
Are legumes worth eating for cholesterol?
Trials suggest a small drop. A meta-analysis found non-soy legumes lowered LDL cholesterol by about 8 mg/dL (Bazzano, 2011), though the pooled sample was small.
Is it the berry or the supplement?
Whole berries within a Nordic diet shifted metabolic markers (Lankinen, 2011), but an isolated berry compound on its own did not move cholesterol (Aboufarrag, 2022) — the food matrix may matter.
More in Nordic Diet Research
Educational information only — not medical advice, and not a recommendation to start, stop, or change any diet, supplement, or treatment. Talk to a qualified healthcare professional before making changes. Nordic Diet Companion and Copper Sun Content and Creative, LLC are not medical providers.