“How was the food?” isn’t usually the question to ask someone after a weeklong industry conference. But at the 11th Aging Research and Drug Discovery meeting in Copenhagen last week, the food was good.
As leading scientists studying aging and lifespan mixed and mingled with investors, pharmaceutical executives, and clinicians in a gilded university, there were no stale granola bars or bags of oily potato chips in sight. Instead, the conference enlisted cooking help from some trendy locals practicing “New Nordic Cuisine.”
For about 20 years, Copenhagen has arguably been the beating heart of the “New Nordic” movement, focused on fresh and seasonal ingredients, plus inventive picklings and smoking techniques. It’s an ethos on display at Noma, the local restaurant here that’s been named best in the world five times running. Noma cofounder Claus Meyer, who drafted the first New Nordic Food Manifesto, is also behind the company that catered ARDD 2024.
The food from Meyers was delicious, flavorful, and nutritious. While it wasn’t 100% perfectly aligned with every single piece of nutrition advice that longevity researchers swear by for healthy aging, it had a lot of the core concepts locked down, just by nature.
For breakfast, sourdough bread, yogurt, and overnight oats
OK, I’ll admit there were some Danishes in the morning (this is Denmark, after all!), but the breakfast menu also included many hearty, healthy Scandinavian breads.
Fermented sourdoughs, nutty loaves, and whole grain rolls are full of fiber and great for your gut, and they can easily serve as a backbone for the so-called “Nordic” diet, which is increasingly favored by some nutrition and longevity experts.
Satiating overnight oats and yogurt pots were also on offer, which are also both great for your gut health. Yogurt is a nice source of calcium, protein, and B vitamins, while oats are great for your heart and your waistline.
Meaty salads were a big hit and showed up on the menu at least once a day
Meyers’s “new Nordic” lunch and dinner offerings struck me as having a lot in common with the Mediterranean diet that’s so widely applauded by dieticians worldwide.
Lunch and dinner always seemed to be a bowl or two filled with some permutation of five key components.
- Alongside the greens, there would usually be a pickled veggie. Bright pink pickled onions, for example, provide a great flavor punch in the mix, but are also nice for your gut.
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Underneath, there would be a bed of protein. For the omnivores, this was a combo of both meat and beans, like a bit of locally sourced poultry, or some pulled beef, but there were also vegan options at every meal.
The beans weren’t boring, either. One particularly memorable night, there was hummus, plus green fava beans, and some meat in the mix. It was a savory flavor explosion, bursting with protein and vitamins.
- On the bottom of the pile, I’d generally find some well-seasoned veggies tucked below everything, like roasted carrots or some eggplant with herbs.
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And my personal favorite part of the puzzle was the flavorful sauce plopped on the side. The most memorable one tasted like some kind of garlicky sour cream.
While sauces and dressings aren’t exactly known as health-boosters, they do serve an important function when used in moderation — helping your body better absorb the vitamins in your food. Vitamins A, D, and E, for example, are all fat-soluble, requiring some fat to be properly absorbed.
Nuts, fruit, and the occasional sweet treat for a snack
Conference-goers did not go hungry (unless, of course, they opted to practice intermittent fasting for longevity).
Every few hours, more snacks would be marched out by a quiet team of servers. There wasn’t a ton of plastic waste, either. Large glass containers of nuts, seeds, and dried fruit could be scooped into bamboo leaf boats, while hummus and veggies were served in reusable glass containers.
Nuts and seeds are the perennial favorite snacks of many longevity researchers, because they’re protein-rich, full of fiber, and happen to also be linked to longer lifespans.
There were a few interludes for “naughtier,” or at least less longevity-forward snacks like dessert bars, brownies, and an ice cream bar that rolled up on a bike.
Instead of carting the treats out for dessert after meals, the caterers brought the bars in for mid-afternoon coffee breaks, and topped them with dried raspberries or nuts for a nutritious kick. They were all textbook examples of the “everything in moderation” maxim that longevity doctors and nutritionists love to espouse.
On Thursday I tried two small golf ball-sized scoops of ice cream: one magenta flavor that was some sort of berry, and another of stracciatella. The tangy berry flavor was so tart and lovely in the warm sun I felt completely satisfied with the small serving.
Lessons for the rest of the world on how to make convenience food healthy
I was, quite frankly, amazed at the quality of the conference fare.
This spread seemed to perfectly exemplify an eating strategy many longevity doctors swear by: aim to eat a diet rich in vegetables, whole grains, and low in sugar and refined carbohydrates like white bread or cake. Snack on nuts and fruit. And you don’t have to be perfect! If you enjoy a little treat like ice cream or a glass of good wine with dinner now and then, that’s not super likely to boost your longevity, but it’s also fine. As long as water, tea, and coffee are your mainstays on most days.
Eating like this isn’t always practical for a busy American on-the-go. It’s easier in Denmark, a country pioneering a decades-long movement to sideline ultra-processed foods, and to surround people with healthier options. Even 7-Eleven had a fresh couscous salad with hummus on offer that didn’t look too different from what we ate.
Ultimately, it shouldn’t all be up to the individual to attempt to eat well. But, for now, I have some ideas on how to make my lunches and snacks a little better for my longevity.
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