#507: Does a Higher Portfolio Diet Score Reduce Heart Disease? – Andrea Glenn, PhD

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About This Episode:

The Portfolio diet is a nutritional approach that has garnered attention for its ability to reduce blood lipids and thus improve cardiovascular health.

While past intervention trials have demonstrated significant reductions in blood lipids, a critical aspect often overlooked is the long-term impact, both in terms of adherence and disease outcomes.

A recent study aimed to address this by looking at disease risk across three cohorts: the Nurses’ Health Study I, Nurses’ Health Study II, and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study.

The study made use of a Portfolio Diet Score (PDS), a comprehensive metric that evaluates the diet’s efficacy based on specific components.

These components include positive rankings for plant proteins (especially from legumes), nuts and seeds, viscous fiber sources, phytosterols (mg/day), and plant monounsaturated fat sources. Conversely, the PDS negatively ranks foods high in saturated fat and cholesterol.

In this episode, Dr. Andrea Glenn, the lead author of this study, discusses the intricacies of the research, providing insights into its findings and shedding light on how these findings resonate within the broader landscape of literature.