*Editorial* **Healthy Diets and Modifiable Risk Factors for Non-Communicable Diseases—The European Perspective**

**Marcello Iriti 1,\*, Elena Maria Varoni 2,**† **and Sara Vitalini 1,**†


Received: 27 June 2020; Accepted: 14 July 2020; Published: 16 July 2020

**Abstract:** Non-communicable diseases pose a serious threat to Western countries, in particular to European populations. In this context, healthy diets, such as the Mediterranean diet and the New Nordic diet developed in 2004, in addition to other healthy lifestyle choices (i.e., regular and low to moderate intensity levels of physical activity) can contribute to reduce the risk factors associated with cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes (majorly preventable, diet-related, non-communicable diseases), including being overweight, obesity, hypertension, hyperglycemia and hypercholesterolemia. The Mediterranean diet and the Nordic diet share common traits: they are rich in nutrient-dense foods (mostly plant-derived foods) and low in energy-dense foods (mainly of animal origin). However, more studies are needed to ascertain the long-term effects of adherence to both dietary styles with regards to disease prevalence and incidence, especially for the New Nordic Diet.

**Keywords:** Mediterranean diet; Nordic diet; overweight; obesity; cardiovascular disease; functional foods; nutraceuticals; bioactive phytochemicals

In the few last decades, the benefits of dietary styles rich in nutrient-dense foods have been emphasized in terms of longevity, healthy ageing and morbidity. Indeed, diets including plenty of plant foods have been associated with a reduced risk and incidence of chronic degenerative diseases such as cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, neurodegenerative disorders and some cancers. In general, healthy dietary habits include a low consumption of refined sugars, salt, saturated and trans fats, as well as high intake of fruit, vegetables (including legumes, whole grain cereals and nuts), low-fat dairy products and healthy lipids (from plant oils and seafood).

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), non-communicable diseases, including cardiovascular disease, cancers, respiratory diseases and diabetes, are responsible for almost 70% of all deaths worldwide. The rapid rise of non-communicable diseases has been driven by a number of (modifiable) behavioral risk factors, such as unhealthy diets, physical inactivity, exposure to tobacco smoke and the harmful use of alcoholic beverages, in addition to environmental (air pollutants), occupational (carcinogens, particulates, gases, fumes) and metabolic (overweight/obesity, hypertension, hyperglycemia, hypercholesterolemia) risk factors [1]. Of the six WHO regions, the WHO European Region is the most severely affected by non-communicable diseases (Table 1). Therefore, The European Food and Nutrition Action Plan 2015–2020 aimed at significantly reducing the burden of preventable diet-related non-communicable diseases, obesity and all other forms of malnutrition prevalent in the region, with emphasis on the decrease in the prevalence of obesity and diabetes, as well as overweight children under five years old [1].

**Table 1.** Burden of non-communicable diseases, overweight and obesity in the WHO European Region: factsheet.


Adapted from [1].

A number of studies have established the health-promoting effects of two European diets: the Mediterranean diet and the Nordic diet, particularly against cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes [2]. As substantiated by many observational studies, the Mediterranean diet, low in energy-dense foods, can be considered the archetype of a health-promoting lifestyle by virtue of the phytochemical diversity of its food components (Table 2).

> **Table 2.** Dietary pattern and lifestyles of traditional Mediterranean diet.
