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Does your day have the four foods that lower LDL?
The portfolio diet lowers LDL cholesterol with four foods eaten together every day: gel-forming fibre, plant sterols, soy or bean protein, and nuts. Tap what you plan to eat and see how close the day gets to each, and roughly what that could mean for your LDL.
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Targets for this day: 20 g viscous fibre, 2 g plant sterols, 45 g soy or pulse protein, 45 g nuts.
Plan a day
Tap + on what you'll eat
Viscous fibre0 of 20 g
Plant sterols0 of 2 g
Soy or pulse protein0 of 45 g
Nuts0 of 45 g
Oats, barley and psyllium
- 0
Porridge or rolled oats · 40 g dry (½ cup)
2 g viscous fibre
- 0
Oat bran · 30 g (3 tablespoons)
2.5 g viscous fibre
- 0
Barley, cooked · 1 cup (160 g)
2 g viscous fibre
- 0
Psyllium husk · 1 rounded teaspoon (5 g) in water
3.5 g viscous fibre. Take it with a large glass of water and start with one a day.
Beans, lentils and vegetables
- 0
Beans, chickpeas or lentils, cooked · ½ cup (90 g)
1.5 g viscous fibre · 7 g protein
- 0
Hummus · 4 tablespoons (60 g)
0.7 g viscous fibre · 4.5 g protein
- 0
Okra, cooked · ½ cup (80 g)
1 g viscous fibre
- 0
Aubergine (eggplant), cooked · 1 cup (100 g)
1 g viscous fibre
Soy foods
- 0
Tofu, firm · 100 g
12 g protein
- 0
Tempeh · 100 g
19 g protein
- 0
Soy milk · 1 glass (250 ml)
7 g protein
- 0
Edamame, shelled · ½ cup (75 g)
9 g protein
- 0
Soy yogurt · 1 pot (150 g)
5 g protein
- 0
Soy mince or soy burger · 1 portion (75 g)
12 g protein
Nuts
- 0
Almonds, walnuts or other tree nuts · a handful (28 g)
28 g nuts
- 0
Peanuts · a handful (28 g)
28 g nuts
- 0
Peanut or almond butter · 2 tablespoons (32 g)
32 g nuts
Sterol-fortified foods
- 0
Sterol-fortified spread · 2 teaspoons (10 g)
about 0.8 g sterols
- 0
Sterol-fortified yogurt drink · 1 mini bottle
about 1.6 g sterols. Most give 1.5 to 2 g: check the label.
Want a week of meals built around these foods?
Dr. Triveni can turn the portfolio into meals you already like, and fit it around your cholesterol results and any medicine you take.
Book a consultationWhere the numbers come from
Targets: the amounts David Jenkins' team in Toronto used in the portfolio trials, per 2,000 kcal: about 20 g of viscous fibre, 2 g of plant sterols, 45 g of soy (and in later versions pulse) protein and 45 g of nuts. For a smaller or bigger appetite the food amounts are scaled; sterols stay at 2 g, the dose behind their effect.
LDL estimate: in a 2003 feeding trial the full portfolio lowered LDL by 29%, about as much as a low-dose statin. At home it was 13 to 14% on average (2006 and 2011 trials), and more than 20% in the third who stuck closest to it; a 2018 pooled analysis of seven trials found about 17%. Single foods from meta-analyses: plant sterols 2 g a day about 8 to 10%, psyllium and oat or barley fibre about 5 to 10%, nuts 3 to 5%, soy protein 3 to 4%. The parts add up only in part, so the planner discounts their sum and counts each one only up to its target. Treat it as a rough guide, not a prediction for you. The trials in more detail: Lowering LDL cholesterol with food: what the portfolio diet trials showed
Food values are from USDA FoodData Central and the fibre values used in the portfolio trials, rounded to the portions shown. Fortified products differ, so check the sterol amount on the label.
General information, not medical advice. Don't stop or change cholesterol medicine without your doctor. Plant sterol products aren't meant for children under five, or in pregnancy and breastfeeding unless a doctor advises them.