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You already know that eating a plant-based diet is beneficial to your heart. Research published in Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases demonstrates that the plant-based Portfolio dietary pattern can result in clinically meaningful improvements in LDL cholesterol and other established cardiometabolic risk factors.

The four core food components of the Portfolio dietary pattern include (based on a daily 2,000-calorie diet):

• 42 grams of nuts (tree nuts or peanuts)
• 50 grams of plant protein from soy products or dietary pulses such as beans, peas, chickpeas, and lentils
• 20 grams of soluble fiber from oats, barley, psyllium, eggplant, okra, apples, oranges, or berries
• 2 grams of plant sterols initially provided in a plant sterol-enriched margarine

The systematic review and meta-analysis of controlled trials was conducted to update The European Association for the Study of Diabetes clinical practice guidelines for nutrition therapy.

Researchers also found that the Portfolio eating plan significantly reduced the primary outcome LDL cholesterol by 17 percent, as well as non-high density lipoprotein cholesterol, apolipoprotein B, total cholesterol, triglycerides, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, C-reactive protein, and estimated 10-year coronary heart disease (CHD) risk.