Your heart works every second of every day, and what you eat plays a genuine role in how well it keeps going. At NutriBlooms, our Accredited Practising Dietitians provide evidence-based nutrition care for people managing cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and their related risk factors. We translate heart-healthy eating into a realistic plan that fits your life, your culture and your medical history, working alongside your GP and medical team rather than in place of them.
- ✓ Care from Accredited Practising Dietitians across six Melbourne clinics and Australia-wide telehealth
- ✓ Support for cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and heart-failure nutrition
- ✓ A personalised, evidence-based plan built around your goals, preferences and referring team
- ✓ Medicare, private health, DVA and NDIS pathways welcome
Understanding heart health and cardiovascular disease
“Cardiovascular disease” is an umbrella term for conditions affecting the heart and blood vessels, including coronary heart disease, high blood pressure (hypertension), abnormal blood fats such as high cholesterol, and heart failure. It remains one of Australia’s leading causes of ill health, and diet is one of the factors you can most directly influence.
Nutrition is never the whole picture. Your genetics, physical activity, smoking status, sleep, stress and any medication your doctor prescribes all matter too. What an Accredited Practising Dietitian does is take the part you can change through food and make it practical, sustainable and specific to you, so heart-healthy eating becomes something you can actually keep doing. For the wider clinical context, national guidance is published by the Heart Foundation.
Heart health in Australia: why nutrition matters
Cardiovascular disease remains one of Australia’s biggest health challenges, and diet is one of the factors most directly within your control. The most recent national figures from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) put it in perspective:
- Cardiovascular disease was the underlying cause of around 42,300 deaths in 2024 — roughly 1 in 4 of all deaths in Australia.
- About 6.4% of adults (an estimated 1.3 million people) were living with one or more heart, stroke or vascular conditions in 2022–24.
- There were an estimated 57,100 acute coronary events in 2023 — around 156 every day.
Encouragingly, several of the biggest contributors are things nutrition can help with. The AIHW identifies high blood pressure (36%), dietary risks (32%), high cholesterol (30%) and overweight (28%) among the leading modifiable risk factors contributing to Australia’s cardiovascular disease burden. Working alongside your GP, an Accredited Practising Dietitian can help you address the diet-related pieces of that picture in a realistic, sustainable way. Individual results vary. (Source: AIHW, Heart, stroke and vascular disease: Australian facts.)
Cardiovascular conditions we support
Our dietitians work with adults across the spectrum of heart and vascular health. Every plan is individual, and we always coordinate with the doctor managing your condition.
Cardiovascular & heart disease risk
Support to reduce dietary risk factors linked with heart and blood-vessel disease, including eating-pattern quality, healthy fats, fibre and overall diet.
High blood pressure (hypertension)
Evidence-based guidance on sodium, potassium-rich foods, alcohol and eating patterns that may help support healthy blood pressure, alongside your GP’s management.
High cholesterol & blood lipids
Education on how food affects LDL, HDL and triglycerides, with practical strategies. For a structured plan, see our low cholesterol diet program.
Heart-failure nutrition
Nutrition support for people living with heart failure, including fluid and sodium considerations and maintaining nourishment, working alongside your cardiology and medical team.
Because heart health rarely travels alone, we also support closely related risk factors such as type 2 diabetes, overweight and metabolic syndrome, and can help with weight management where it is clinically relevant to your goals.
How your diet supports heart health
There is no single “heart diet”. What the evidence points to is an overall pattern of eating, rather than any one food or supplement. Your dietitian helps you build that pattern in a way that suits your budget, culture and preferences.
Eating patterns
Mediterranean-style and similar dietary patterns — rich in vegetables, legumes, wholegrains, fish, nuts and extra-virgin olive oil — are among the most strongly supported eating patterns for cardiovascular health. The Heart Foundation’s heart-healthy eating pattern reflects the same principles: plenty of vegetables, fruit and wholegrains, a variety of proteins including fish and seafood two to three times a week, healthy fats, and herbs and spices in place of salt. We help you move toward this in realistic steps rather than an overnight overhaul.
Fats and cholesterol
We look at the balance of fats in your diet, swapping some saturated and trans fats for healthier unsaturated sources such as extra-virgin olive oil, nuts and oily fish, and including foods that support healthy blood fats. This is education and coaching, not a promise of a particular blood-test result.
Blood pressure and sodium
On average, Australians eat close to double the recommended maximum of about 5 grams of salt a day, much of it hidden in processed and packaged foods. For blood pressure, we focus on reducing added salt, choosing lower-sodium options, and including potassium-rich foods where appropriate, alongside alcohol and overall diet quality.
How we work with you: your plan and pathway
Every client receives a clear, personalised action plan with practical objectives and agreed goals and milestones, plus a defined pathway that maps your next steps and how ongoing support is structured. Here is what that looks like in practice:
- Initial assessment — we review your medical history, current eating, bloods (where you have them), lifestyle and what matters to you
- Your action plan — we agree realistic, individual goals and practical strategies you can start straight away
- Ongoing pathway — scheduled reviews to adjust the plan, troubleshoot barriers and keep momentum, at a pace that suits you
- Team coordination — we work in with your GP, cardiologist or other providers, and can report back to your referring GP
Because NutriBlooms is a multi-dietitian clinic, your dietitian can draw on built-in peer support. For a complex case, they can case-conference with colleagues or our Principal Dietitian to get a considered second opinion. Individual results vary, and your plan is always tailored to your needs, history and preferences.
Cholesterol and your heart
Cholesterol is a fatty substance your body needs, but the balance matters. LDL cholesterol is often described as the type to keep in check, HDL as the more protective type, and triglycerides as another blood fat linked with heart risk. Diet is one of several factors that influence these numbers, along with genetics, activity and medication.
On this page we cover the education side, how food choices relate to your blood fats and simple, sustainable swaps. If you want a structured, step-by-step approach, our low cholesterol diet program is designed for exactly that. Your dietitian can help you decide which option fits your situation, and will always work in with any advice from your GP.
Medicare, referrals and fees
You do not need a referral to see us, but if you live with a chronic cardiovascular condition, a GP referral can unlock a Medicare rebate.
Medicare and the GP Chronic Condition Management Plan
From 1 July 2025, the older GP Management Plan (GPMP) and Team Care Arrangements (TCA) were replaced by a single GP Chronic Condition Management Plan (GPCCMP). What this means for you:
- Your GP refers you with an ordinary referral letter — the old structured Medicare form is no longer required
- You can access a Medicare rebate for up to 5 individual allied health services per calendar year (10 for people of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent), shared across all your allied health providers
- The referral is valid for 18 months from your first session, and plans in place before 1 July 2025 can still be used until 30 June 2027
You can read the current rules on the Services Australia website.
A note on fees: NutriBlooms welcomes GP referrals, but we are not a bulk-billing clinic. Medicare pays a rebate toward eligible appointments and a gap fee applies. Private health extras, DVA and NDIS pathways may also apply depending on your cover.
When to see a dietitian, and when to see your GP
A dietitian and a doctor do different, complementary jobs. Your GP or cardiologist diagnoses your condition, orders and interprets tests, prescribes and monitors medication, and manages the overall medical picture. Your dietitian takes that medical plan and helps you put it into practice at the table, translating it into food, habits and routines that work for your life.
If you have not yet had your heart health checked, your GP is the right first stop. If you already know you are managing a cardiovascular condition or risk factor and want practical, sustainable help with eating, that is where an Accredited Practising Dietitian adds real value. You can learn more about referral options on our referrals page.
Important: if you experience chest pain, sudden shortness of breath, or other signs of a heart emergency, do not wait for an appointment. Seek immediate medical help or call 000.
Why choose NutriBlooms for heart health
Led by an experienced APD team
Your care is delivered by Accredited Practising Dietitians and backed by in-clinic peer review. Our Founder and Principal Dietitian, Racha Slim, is an Accredited Practising Dietitian with extensive experience across heart health, high blood pressure, diabetes and chronic-disease nutrition. Alongside seeing clients, Racha mentors and supervises the wider NutriBlooms team, sits on the Dietitians Australia Victoria Branch Leadership Team and teaches as an academic sessional — and she provides case support to your dietitian when a situation is complex.
Recognised in primary care
NutriBlooms is a recipient of the Dietitians Australia and Griffith University Quality in Primary Care Award, 2025, recognition from the body that accredits the dietetics profession, in the primary-care context these services sit within.
Explore related services
- Disease & Chronic Condition Management — our pillar page covering the full range of conditions we support
- Low Cholesterol Diet Program — a structured, step-by-step cholesterol program
- Type 2 Diabetes — nutrition care for a common cardiovascular risk factor
- Weight Loss & Management — support where weight is relevant to your heart-health goals
Frequently asked questions
A heart health dietitian is an Accredited Practising Dietitian who helps you turn heart-healthy eating advice into a realistic plan for everyday life. We review your current eating patterns, medical history and goals, then work with you on practical, evidence-based strategies to support your cardiovascular health, always alongside your GP and medical team. Individual results vary.
A dietitian can help you understand how food affects your cholesterol and support you to make sustainable dietary changes that work toward better heart health. We focus on realistic, evidence-based eating patterns rather than quick fixes or guarantees, and we work in with any advice or medication from your GP. For a structured option, ask us about our low cholesterol diet program.
A heart-healthy pattern is built on plenty of vegetables, fruit and wholegrains, a variety of proteins including fish and seafood two to three times a week, legumes, nuts and seeds, healthy fats such as extra-virgin olive oil, and herbs and spices in place of salt. It is the overall pattern over time that matters, not any single food. Your dietitian helps you build this in a way that suits your budget, culture and preferences.
Mediterranean-style eating is among the most strongly supported patterns for cardiovascular health, and it is naturally rich in vegetables, legumes, wholegrains, fish, nuts and extra-virgin olive oil. We help you adapt these principles to your own tastes and cultural foods, in realistic steps rather than an overnight overhaul. Individual results vary.
No, you can book directly with NutriBlooms without a referral. If you live with a chronic condition, your GP may be able to refer you under a GP Chronic Condition Management Plan, which gives access to a Medicare rebate for a set number of allied health services each year. Since 1 July 2025, an ordinary referral letter from your GP is all that is needed.
If your GP refers you under a GP Chronic Condition Management Plan, Medicare pays a rebate toward eligible dietitian appointments. NutriBlooms is not a bulk-billing clinic, so a gap fee applies. Private health extras, DVA and NDIS pathways may also apply depending on your cover and situation.
Yes. Our dietitians support people managing high blood pressure with evidence-based eating patterns, including guidance on sodium, potassium-rich foods, alcohol and overall dietary quality. We tailor this to your preferences, culture and medical history, and we work alongside your GP, who manages your diagnosis and any medication.
Yes. We provide nutrition support for people living with heart failure, including sodium and fluid considerations and maintaining good nourishment, working alongside your cardiology and medical team rather than in place of them. Your plan is tailored to your situation and reviewed as your needs change.
No. Heart-healthy eating is not about labelling foods good or bad, and it does not mean giving up the foods you love. We focus on small, sustainable changes that fit your culture, budget and routine, so the plan is something you can actually keep doing. Your dietitian tailors every recommendation to you.
Yes. We offer telehealth consultations Australia-wide, as well as in-person appointments across our six Melbourne clinics in Blackburn, Ringwood, Lilydale, Dandenong South, Roxburgh Park and Epping/Lalor. Telehealth is a convenient option if you live outside these areas or prefer to meet from home.
Ready to take care of your heart?
Book with an Accredited Practising Dietitian and get a realistic, evidence-based plan for your heart health. Available across six Melbourne clinics and via Australia-wide telehealth, with Medicare, private health, DVA and NDIS pathways welcome.