👉 INSIDE THIS BLOG: Scroll down to Resources to check out my downloadable check list of cholesterol-lowering foods
February is American Heart Month—a perfect time to focus on simple ways to protect your heart through your diet.
Too often, the conversation around heart health focuses solely on foods to reduce or eliminate such as lowering saturated fats, foods and drinks with added sugars, high-sodium foods and eliminating trans-fats.
While cutting back on foods that raise cholesterol gets a lot of the attention, that’s only half the story. There’s another powerful piece of the puzzle that is not emphasized enough, a group of foods that, when eaten consistently, can help lower 'bad' LDL cholesterol and provide key nutrients and compounds that have a positive impact on cardiovascular health.
This approach, known as the Portfolio Diet Pattern, focuses on reducing saturated fat while intentionally including 4 groups of everyday foods (plant proteins, nuts, soluble fiber, unsaturated fats and plant sterols, a supplement option). All are known to lower cholesterol independently, but when all are part of a regular diet pattern their effects can be ADDITIVE!(1)
Here's what you need to know:
The addition of portfolio diet foods reduced LDL-cholesterol 30% in controlled intervention trials where prepared meals were provided for people. That’s similar to the effect of a common cholesterol-lowering medication. (2)
When tested in in every-day living conditions with individuals receiving only dietary advice, LDL-cholesterol was still reduced by by 10% to 15%, even when participants met just half of the diet's goals.(3)
In addition to drops in LDL-cholesterol, adding portfolio foods to the diet also demonstrated reductions in CRP (a marker of inflammation) (2)
Let's dive in and learn about the 4 portfolio foods you can incorporate everyday.
#1 Boost Plant Proteins
According to the 2018 Portfolio Dietary Pattern and Cardiovascular Disease Systematic Review, incorporating plant proteins into your diet on a regular basis can actively lower LDL cholesterol by 5% to 10%.(1) What are plant proteins? ✅Beans,✅ lentils, ✅organic whole food soy like tofu, edamame and tempeh to name a few,
Ideas to try:
👉 Add a ½ cup of low-sodium canned beans or lentils to your lunch every day.
👉 Swap one animal-based meal per day with a plant-based option, Try baked tofu for dinner instead of chicken like this delicious Tofu Bruschetta recipe, or my favorite Mashed Chickpea Salad instead of an egg salad.
#2 Increase fiber, especially soluble (sticky) fiber
Did you know that fiber is only found in plants? Any time you choose to add a plant to your plate you are increasing fiber. A high fiber diet which includes both soluble and insoluble fiber is one of the best ways to reduce LDL cholesterol. The RDA for fiber is 28g per day. Are you reaching this goal? Track your intake for just a few days to see how much fiber you are taking in. To achieve this goal consistently, challenge yourself to include plants in every meal. When adding fiber, always start low and slow. Drink plenty of water to help fiber move through you.
Why especially soluble fiber? While insoluble fiber passes through the digestive tract unchanged, soluble fiber absorbs water in the GI tract forming a gel. This gel sticks to cholesterol remnants and pulls them out of the body with a bowel movement. Soluble fiber rich foods include fruit like apples, avocados, berries, and oranges; veggies like Brussels sprouts, eggplant, mushrooms, onions, sweet potatoes; beans and lentils; seeds like ground flax and chia seeds, plus whole grains including oatmeal, oat bran and barley. Check out my helpful Heart-Healthy Portfolio Foods: My Checklist That Help To Lower Cholesterol for a list of foods to get you started. (1) (4)
Ideas to try:
👉 Build snacks around fruit and vegetables like an apple with nut butter, or hummus or guacamole with veggies.
👉 Roast extra sweet potatoes for meal prep this week. Add leftovers to other meals and salads, like this Roasted Sweet Potato and Kale Salad.
👉 Fill half of your dinner plate with roasted, sautéed, or steamed veggies.
#3 Nuts (& Seeds)
A two-year controlled trial of daily nut consumption (1 oz or ¼ cup) showed reductions in LDL cholesterol including a reduced number of small dense LDL particles.(5) While the Portfolio Diet focuses on nuts, I expand this category to include seeds as well. Similar to nuts, seeds are sources of heart healthy fats, protein, and supply trace minerals all of which are supportive of heart health. The caveat here is that nuts & seeds are calorie dense, so eat them responsibly by watching portion sizes and limit the number of daily servings to achieve a weight neutral impact.
Ideas to try:
👉 Add 1tablespoon of chia or ground flax seeds to yogurt or smoothies.
👉 Snack on a cupped palmful of walnuts paired with a piece of fruit.
👉 Sprinkle a tablespoon of chopped nuts or seeds on salads for crunch instead of croutons.
#4 Emphasize Unsaturated Fats
Focus on replacing sources of trans-fats and saturated fat with unsaturated fats. Plant fats such as olive oil and avocado oil are key healthy fats to incorporate on a daily basis. In addition, intentionally include food sources of omega-3 fats which promote anti-inflammatory pathways. These foods include fatty fish like salmon, anchovies, mackerel, herring, walnuts, chia, hemp and flax seeds.(1)
Ideas to try:
👉 Cook with olive oil instead of butter
👉 Swap hummus for mayonnaise
👉 Enjoy fatty fish, such as salmon 1-2x/week - try my quick Mediterranean Salmon Packets.
Plant Sterols - a supplement consideration: Plant sterols are compounds found in plants that have a structure which similar to cholesterol. Plant sterols can block cholesterol from being absorbed in your gut. Two grams of phytosterols daily from a supplement or a fortified food such as a a plant sterol-enriched margarine may lower cholesterol 7--10%. While plant sterols naturally occur in a wide variety of plant foods, generally it is trace amounts. Obtaining the recommended 2 grams/day can be more easily achieved through the intentional addition of a fortified food or through supplementation. This is a great conversation to have with your health practitioner. (1) (6)
Small Changes, Big Impact
To build sustainable, life-long change, the key is to start from where you are. Learning about the foods to add into your diet to support heart health is the first step.
👉Be curious, experiment. Your challenge is to find realistic ways to incorporate these foods into your life that you enjoy.
👉Experiment with ways to add in more beans and lentils, delicious ways bump up the fiber, and easy fat swaps. It starts with once change to your grocery list, or to your pantry.
✅ Download my handout Heart-Healthy Portfolio Foods: My Checklist That Help To Lower Cholesterol to get inspired for inspiration of detox supporting foods to add to your shopping cart
✅ Pick 2–3 Ideas to Start With: Choose a few tips from this post that resonate with you and try them out. See how they fit conveniently into your daily routine. Once they become habits, build on that foundation.
Every small change adds up. Over time, these little shifts will create big, positive impacts on your health.
I am here to help. Don't hesitate to reach out for a FREE 10 minute discovery call to learn more about how I can support you.
Resources:
Looking for inspiration when you cook? Sign up for a FREE trial of my meal plans, no credit card required. The Refresh plan is filled with recipes with a short list of ingredients. Perfect if you are living in an off campus apartment. Search through the library of recipes to find your top 10 favs that you can cook with your eye's shut. Perfect for those weeks when your workload is high.
References:
Jenkins DJ, Kendall CW, Marchie A, Faulkner DA, Wong JM, de Souza R, Emam A, Parker TL, Vidgen E, Lapsley KG, Trautwein EA, Josse RG, Leiter LA, Connelly PW. Effects of a dietary portfolio of cholesterol-lowering foods vs lovastatin on serum lipids and C-reactive protein. JAMA. 2003 Jul 23;290(4):502-10. Abstract available: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12876093/
Jenkins DJ, Jones PJ, Lamarche B, et al. Effect of a dietary portfolio of cholesterol-lowering foods given at 2 levels of intensity of dietary advice on serum lipids in hyperlipidemia: a randomized controlled trial. JAMA 2011;306: 831-839. Abstract available at: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21862744/
Viscous Fiber and Your Cholesterol. National Lipid Association. Available at: https://www.lipid.org/sites/default/files/viscous_fiber_and_your_cholesterol.pdf
Guasch-Ferré M, Tessier AJ, Petersen KS, Sapp PA, Tapsell LC, Salas-Salvadó J, Ros E, Kris-Etherton PM. Effects of Nut Consumption on Blood Lipids and Lipoproteins: A Comprehensive Literature Update. Nutrients. 2023 Jan 23;15(3):596. Available at: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9920334/
National Lipid Association: Plant Sterols and Stanols in Food and Supplements. Available at: https://www.lipid.org/sites/default/files/plant_sterols_and_stanols_in_food_supplements.pdf
*Disclaimer: Ellen Petrosino Consulting has no affiliation with any of the brands mentioned on this website.
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