Portfolio Diet
A targeted plant-based portfolio of foods selected to help lower LDL cholesterol.
What Is It?
The Portfolio diet combines several cholesterol-lowering food categories in one plant-forward pattern: viscous fiber, nuts, soy or other plant proteins, and plant sterols. It is more targeted than a general healthy-eating plan.
How It Works
Daily meals deliberately include oats, barley, psyllium, beans, okra, eggplant, nuts, soy foods, and plant-sterol-fortified foods. Saturated fat is kept low. The individual components have complementary effects on cholesterol absorption, excretion, and production.
Potential upsides
- Designed around LDL-lowering foods
- High in soluble and viscous fiber
- Plant-forward and low in saturated fat
- Uses complementary food components
- Can fit into Mediterranean-style meals
+ Common foods
- •Oats, barley, psyllium, okra, and eggplant
- •Beans, tofu, tempeh, and soy milk
- •Almonds and other nuts
- •Plant-sterol-fortified foods
- •Vegetables, fruit, and unsaturated oils
− Typically limited or excluded
- •Butter and high-fat dairy
- •Fatty and processed meat
- •Coconut and palm fats in large amounts
- •Refined snacks that displace portfolio foods
Sample day
An illustration, not a personal meal plan.
EVIDENCE What the research says
Randomized trials in people with elevated cholesterol found that adding the portfolio foods to a low-saturated-fat diet reduced LDL cholesterol more than low-saturated-fat advice alone. It complements—not automatically replaces—prescribed medication or clinical care.