#507: Does a Higher Portfolio Diet Score Reduce Heart Disease? – Andrea Glenn, PhD
Jan 2, 2024
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Dr. Andrea Glenn, PhD in nutrition, discusses the impact of the Portfolio diet on heart disease risk. She explores adherence to the diet, assesses sample size in population studies, and analyzes the diet's impact on heart disease. The episode also promotes the SIGmanutrition Premium subscription.
Adherence to the portfolio diet is associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease, coronary heart disease, and stroke.
Even partial adherence to the portfolio diet can yield positive health outcomes and reduce cardiovascular disease risk.
Deep dives
Portfolio diet and cardiovascular disease risk
The podcast episode discusses the portfolio diet, a dietary pattern aimed at lowering cholesterol and reducing cardiovascular disease risk. Dr. Andrea Glenn, a postdoctoral research fellow at Harvard School of Public Health, shares insights from a recent publication examining the portfolio diet and its impact on cardiovascular disease risk in three cohorts. The findings show that the portfolio diet is associated with a 14% reduction in cardiovascular disease, coronary heart disease, and stroke. The study also highlights the importance of long-term adherence to the diet, even if target levels are not fully met. Dr. Glenn emphasizes that making simple swaps in one's diet, such as substituting meat with tofu or beans or using olive oil instead of butter, can have a positive impact on cardiovascular health.
Development and validation of the portfolio diet score
Dr. Glenn explains the development and validation of the portfolio diet score, a tool used to measure adherence to the portfolio diet in population studies. The score incorporates recommendations from the portfolio diet trials, such as consuming plant protein, viscous fiber sources, nuts, and plant sterols, while limiting saturated fat and dietary cholesterol. By applying the score to food frequency questionnaires, researchers can assess how closely individuals follow the portfolio diet and estimate their risk reduction for cardiovascular disease. Dr. Glenn also highlights the importance of population-specific dietary assessment and points out that even partial adherence to the portfolio diet can yield health benefits.
Additional insights and future research
In addition to the current findings, Dr. Glenn discusses upcoming studies related to the portfolio diet. These include a trial combining the portfolio diet with exercise to assess its impact on atherosclerosis, a trial using an app to promote the portfolio diet for individuals with type 2 diabetes and hypertension, and a large-scale trial comparing standard care alone with the portfolio diet delivered through an app. Dr. Glenn also mentions her work on incorporating metabolomics into nutritional epidemiology to provide more objective measures of diet. She concludes by encouraging individuals to focus on optimizing one meal per day, such as breakfast, by making healthier swaps and gradually incorporating more portfolio diet recommendations into their diet.
Takeaway
The podcast episode emphasizes the benefits of the portfolio diet in reducing cardiovascular disease risk. Through the main findings of the study, it is evident that adherence to the portfolio diet is associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease, coronary heart disease, and stroke. Despite not fully meeting targets, partial adherence to the diet can still yield positive health outcomes. Simple swaps in one's diet, such as incorporating more plant protein, viscous fiber sources, and healthy fats, can contribute to the portfolio diet score. Future research aims to further explore the impact of the portfolio diet and incorporate objective measures, such as metabolomics, to assess dietary patterns more accurately.
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.
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