The risks of cardiovascular diseases are expected to increase, in part because of rising pollution. But researchers have discovered that this plant-based diet can help you manage your health.
The portfolio diet emphasizes plant-based foods, like nuts or soy proteins, that have soluble fiber, plant sterols, and healthy fats. It was originally introduced to help people lower their LDL cholesterol, which increases the risk of heart disease.
Research conducted between 1988 and 2019, published in BMC Medicine, found that greater adherence to the portfolio diet decreased risk for cardiovascular diseases, coronary heart disease, and all-cause mortality. Scientists added that more studies need to be done among diverse populations.
Adopting a plant-based diet like the portfolio diet can help the cardiovascular issues twofold. Eating more plant-based foods can lower health risks partly caused by pollution, and it can help reduce that pollution by curbing meat consumption, which is a major driver of changes to the climate. This is because animal agriculture contributes to deforestation, air and water pollution, and biodiversity loss.
Even reducing your meat consumption can help your health, which is what the growing "reducetarian" movement promotes. One study found that reducing your intake of unprocessed red meat by 30% can lower your risk of chronic health issues like colorectal cancer, Type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases.
The portfolio diet encourages people to eat foods like lentils, peas, beans, and soy-based products. You can replace meat with these plant-based foods by swapping it out with beans or tofu, replacing dairy products with soy-based ones, or snacking on edamame and hummus, according to Harvard Medical School.
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"A lot of different foods can lower LDL cholesterol, but only by a little bit — about 5% to 10%. The idea behind the portfolio diet was to combine many of these foods together to get a larger reduction," registered dietitian Andrea Glenn, a postdoctoral research fellow at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, told Harvard Medical School's Heart Letter. Glenn co-authored a different study on the long-term benefits of the portfolio diet, published in 2023.
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