Portfolio diet, which focuses on plant-based, cholesterol-lowering foods, reduces risk of heart disease and stroke

The Mediterranean and DASH diets are often cited by cardiologists as two of the easiest, most effective dietary strategies for protecting the heart from cardiovascular disease (CVD).

According to new 30-year data from more than 200,000 patients, however, there is another diet that can help limit CVD: the portfolio diet, which focuses on cholesterol-lowering foods such as plant-based proteins, nuts and viscous fibers. The full analysis was published in Circulation, a journal from the American Heart Association.[1]

What is the portfolio diet?

The portfolio diet earned its name from the fact that it includes a “portfolio” of plant-based proteins such as soy. Viscous fibers, nuts, oats, barley, berries, apples, citrus fruit, avocados and plant-based oils are also included in a portfolio diet. The primary difference between this and other heart-healthy diets is that it is stricter about limiting animal proteins.    

Three portfolio diet studies show benefit

The authors of this analysis tracked the eating habits and cardiovascular health of nearly 74,000 women from the Nurses’ Health Study, more than 92,000 women from the Nurses’ Health Study II and nearly 44,000 men from the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study. All participants were free of CVD and cancer at the start of the study. “Validated food frequency questionnaires” were filled out at baseline and every four years, and the research team evaluated questionnaire responses to determine which patients were following a portfolio diet.

For the sake of this analysis, CVD was defined as “a composite of incident nonfatal myocardial infarction, fatal coronary heart disease and fatal and nonfatal stroke.” Participants were followed for up to 30 years.