Dutch people eat more healthy foods: more plant products, less red and processed meat (2024)

FAQs

Do Dutch people have a healthy diet? ›

Dutch people are eating more plant products, like fruit and vegetables, unsalted nuts and legumes. They are eating less red and processed meat. They are also drinking fewer sugary drinks. Both children and adults are eating and drinking more healthily.

So the vast majority of Dutch people do eat meat, but by no means every day: 22 percent eat meat, but choose a main meal without meat or fish three or more days a week (those in this group are also known as 'flexitarians'). A further 43 percent eat a vegetarian main meal once or twice a week.

Typical Dutch dishes are stamppot boerenkool (mashed kale), Hutspot (stew of potatoes and carrots), erwtensoep (split pea soup) and bruine bonensoep (brown bean soup). Food which isn't typically Dutch, but which is 'seen' as Dutch are dishes like nasi (Indonesian dish) and bami (Chinese dish).

The Dutch government's food policy is aimed at promoting healthy and responsible food. It encourages the food industry to produce food that contains less salt, fat and sugar.

It is a 13-day diet, which promises incredible weight loss of up to 22lbs / 10kg during this period. As a firm rule, you'll need to limit your calorie intake to a maximum of 600 per day, while eating high-protein and low-fat food.

According to the index “Good Enough to Eat,” the Netherlands emerged the leader thanks to relatively low food prices, low prevalence of diabetes, and better nutritional diversity than its European rivals.

Preparing potatoes

In the Netherlands, however, the potato most commonly appears mashed in one of a myriad of varieties of stamppot or sliced in the ubiquitous ovenschotel – oven dish. In the spring, a boiled potato with white asparagus is also considered a delicacy.

Due to the availability of water and flat grassland, the Dutch diet contains many dairy products such as cheese and butter, and is relatively high in carbohydrates and fat.

'Haringhappen': the Dutch tradition of eating raw herring. What is depicted here is the way the Dutch traditionally eat herring. Holding on to its tail and eating it in a few bites. Usually this dish is served with chopped pieces of raw onion and sometimes pickles.

With a typical Dutch breakfast is often buttermilk, melk, coffee, tea, fresh juice or optimel Drunk. Dutch people who prefer not to start their day with bread often choose yogurt or cereals, such as muesli or cornflakes with milk, yogurt or cottage cheese.

What is a Dutch lunch? ›

A Dutch lunch is a light meal that is typically eaten in the Netherlands between 12 and 2 p.m. It often consists of bread, cheese, and other cold cuts, as well as fruit, vegetables, and coffee or tea. A Dutch lunch is typically more substantial than a snack, but less so than a full meal.

Cheese is typically enjoyed with fresh bread. But you can also eat it plain or dip it in mustard. It's good enough to have as a meal on its own, and many Dutch folks do just that at lunch.

: to go to a movie, restaurant, etc., as a group with each person paying for his or her own ticket, food, etc. We went Dutch on dinner.

Dutch food culture is heavily based on meat, bread and potatoes. It is not unusual for the Dutch to eat bread in the morning and afternoon, and end the day with potatoes, vegetables and meat.

The term stems from restaurant dining etiquette in the Western world, where each person pays for their meal. It is also called Dutch date, Dutch treat (the oldest form, a pejorative), and doing Dutch.

And the U.S. didn't even make the top 20. The Netherlands came out on top because of low diabetes rates, low food prices and nutritional diversity.

In 2021, around half of the Dutch population aged 18 years and over were overweight. Of this group, 36 percent were moderately and 14 percent severely overweight (obesity).

The philosophy underpinning the Dutch health care system is based on several more or less universal principles: access to care for all, solidarity through medical insurance (which is compulsory for all and available to all) and high-quality health care services.