The Portfolio Diet
Four cholesterol-lowering foods eaten together every day — tested head-to-head against a statin.
Compiled by Nidari Nutrition from the Atlas dataset · pending clinical review by Maryam Shabbir, DN.
This is an Atlas entry — a short reference overview, not one of our long-form diet guides. Educational, not medical advice; personalized and clinically reviewed at your consult.
What is The Portfolio Diet?
The Portfolio Diet is a therapeutic and medical eating pattern from Toronto, Canada. Nidari rates it moderate to keep up day to day, and rates the weight of peer-reviewed evidence behind its main claims as strong.
Family: Therapeutic & Medical · Origin: Toronto, Canada · Era: 2002 · trialled 2003 · Difficulty: Moderate · Evidence rating: Strong evidence
Where does The Portfolio Diet come from?
Jenkins’ group in Toronto noticed that several foods each nudged LDL cholesterol down a little, and asked what would happen if you ate all of them at once. They assembled plant sterols, soy protein, viscous fibre and nuts into a single daily “portfolio” in 2002, then ran it against lovastatin in a controlled feeding trial. The point was never one magic food — it was the additive effect of four ordinary ones held together.
Originator: David J.A. Jenkins & Cyril Kendall, University of Toronto · Region: Toronto, Canada · Era: 2002 · trialled 2003 · Atlas map pin: 43.65° N, 79.38° W
How does The Portfolio Diet work?
- Combine four foods, not just one
- Viscous fibre: oats, barley, psyllium
- Soy protein in place of animal protein
- Plant sterols plus a daily handful of nuts
What do you eat on The Portfolio Diet?
✓ Eat freely
- Oats, barley, aubergine and okra
- Soy foods, beans and lentils
- Almonds and other tree nuts
✕ Limit or avoid
- Saturated fat from meat and butter
- Refined low-fibre starches
- Relying on a single component
Who is The Portfolio Diet for?
The goals this pattern is most often used for. In a consult we confirm whether it actually fits your body and life.
Is there good evidence that The Portfolio Diet works?
Nidari rates the evidence behind The Portfolio Diet’s primary claims as strong — that is the current weight of peer-reviewed research for those claims, and nothing more.
The 2003 JAMA controlled feeding trial (n=46) cut LDL by 28.6% against 30.9% for lovastatin. A 2018 meta-analysis of 7 controlled trials in 439 adults found roughly 17% LDL reduction at high certainty, and a 2023 Circulation analysis of 210,240 people linked higher Portfolio scores to lower cardiovascular risk.
Is The Portfolio Diet safe, and who should avoid it?
An addition to prescribed lipid-lowering medication, never a replacement — do not stop a statin to try it. Plant sterol products are contraindicated in sitosterolemia; the nut component is unsuitable with tree-nut allergy. Familial hypercholesterolaemia needs a clinician, not diet alone.
How does Nidari adapt The Portfolio Diet?
This one adapts almost too easily to a desi kitchen: chana and masoor dal already carry the pulse target, okra and baingan are the viscous-fibre foods, and we swap the almond handful into your existing chai routine rather than adding a supplement.
Book a free 15-minute intro callReady to discuss The Portfolio Diet?
Fifteen minutes with one of our dietitians. We’ll tell you honestly whether The Portfolio Diet fits you — or point you to the diet that does. Halal and home-kitchen ready. No pressure.