Episode 61 - The lipid lowering effects of nuts -

27 August 2026

August 2026.

Listen here:

And available everywhere you listen to podcasts, via Podlink: https://pod.link/thehealthyhandful

About this episode

In this episode of The Healthy Handful, host Belinda Neville speaks with nutrition researcher Dr Stephanie Nishi about the latest evidence on nuts and cardiovascular health, including findings from a recent systematic review and meta-analysis examining the effects of nut consumption on blood lipids.

Together, they explore the role of nuts in improving cardiovascular disease risk factors, including LDL cholesterol, total cholesterol and triglycerides. Stephanie discusses the unique combination of nutrients and bioactive compounds found in nuts, the biological mechanisms underpinning their cardioprotective effects, and what the evidence tells us about the dose, duration and population groups most likely to benefit.

This episode provides a practical, evidence-based update for health professionals on one of the most robust and well-established areas of nut nutrition research, and reinforces the role of a daily handful of nuts as part of a heart-healthy eating pattern.

Key take-outs:

Regular nut consumption is associated with significant improvements in blood lipids, including reductions in LDL (“bad”) cholesterol and total cholesterol.
Nuts contain a unique combination of unsaturated fats, plant protein, fibre, vitamins, minerals and bioactive compounds that work together to support cardiovascular health.
The latest evidence reinforces the role of nuts as an important component of heart-healthy dietary patterns and cardiovascular disease prevention strategies.

About today’s guest

Stephanie Nishi is a Registered Dietitian, Researcher, and Educator. She is an Assistant Professor with the School of Nutrition, Faculty of Community Services, at Toronto Metropolitan University in Canada. She was a CIHR Postdoctoral Fellow with the Unitat de Nutrició, Departament de Bioquímica i Biotecnologia at the Universitat Rovira i Virgili in Spain, following completion of a PhD at the University of Toronto in Canada.

For over a decade, Stephanie has been involved in chronic disease prevention from a nutritional perspective (including cardiovascular, type 2 diabetes, and cognitive health), as well as advancing evidence-based practice and knowledge dissemination with the goal of informing public health policy and nutrition guidelines.