If you wonder how come Scandinavian women have beautiful skin, you are not alone. For years, many have questioned how come Scandinavian women can look up to 15 years younger without plastic surgery; some look almost ageless.
Finland is a small Scandinavian Santa Clause land, cold and dark in winter yet beautiful and colorful in summer with thousands of lakes, and an enormous amount of forests enjoyed by reindeer and bears.
There are also small islands that surround this Nordic country and old castles filled with old Viking stories. When it comes to nutrition or beauty secrets, Finnish forests are what you need to hear all about.
Finnish forests account for 86% of Finnish land area, especially famous for wild berries: strawberries, raspberries, bilberries, cranberries, blueberries, blackcurrants, gooseberry, red currant, cloudberries, white currant, rowanberries, rose-hip, blackberries and juniper berries.
And as you can guess, these berries are not only satisfying bears or reindeer tummies; rather they are a significant part of almost every healthy Finnish diet.
Berries are not only tasty but also nutritionally rich and healthy. In Finland, berries are eaten almost every day for breakfast, as a dessert, mixed in shakes, added to pies, soups, or jams.
During the summer season, berries are picked by locals and enjoyed “at the spot,” or picked and stored for the cold and dark winter. Everyone, from a small child to a cheerful senior, loves berries in Finland.
Lingonberry Benefits
However, a berry Dr. Oz talks a lot about on his show, which until recently not only Americans were not aware of, but even Dr. Oz himself did not know anything about, it is called Lingonberry (in Finnish Puolukka)!
According to Dr. Oz, lingonberries (Vaccinium vitis-idaea) are new superfoods to be put on your next shopping list. Lingonberries have a high concentration of antioxidants, even higher than blueberries. They also:
- Have a significant amount of vitamin E, Vitamin C, manganese
- Are an excellent source of fiber
- Kill bacteria
- Fight cancer
While low in energy and with no saturated fat, lingonberries have significant anti-aging properties.
In Dr. Oz’s show, it was suggested to eat lingonberry jam mixed with ice and almond milk as a morning nutritious shake. In Finland, lingonberry has been used traditionally as an accompaniment to meat dishes, porridges, and baked foods. Here is how Finns are using lingonberries:
- Fresh juice
- Lingonberry jam with blood pancakes
- Lingonberry jams with sautéed reindeer
- Jell-O
- Beer
- Cider
- Mixed with bread
- Lingonberry tea made from Lingonberry leaves
- In shampoo
- Summer pies
- Yogurts
- Liqueurs
- And much more
Good to know: as lingonberries contain natural shelf-life of pro benzoic acid, you can crush your lingonberries, and you can store them without requiring any extra conservative chemicals.
Whether or not lingonberries are the key to the great Scandinavian beautiful skin, it is something yet to be discovered. Anyhow, it is worth trying. Start enjoying lingonberries as often as you can. They are healthy and tasty.
