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FinanceWhy everyone should care about Triglycerides
More: Exercise, Heart Health, Omega-3, Triglycerides
Many Americans are unaware of the significance of triglycerides. A recent survey conducted by the National Lipid Association (NLA) has revealed that 87 percent of patients don’t fully understand the importance of high triglyceride levels. High triglyceride levels can lead to serious complications, yet can be controlled with some sensible changes in lifestyle habits.
Triglyceride is fat in the blood which is derived from fats eaten in foods or made in the body from other energy sources like carbohydrates. Excessive calories ingested at a meal and not used immediately are converted to triglycerides and quickly transported to fat cells to be stored.
Elevated triglyceride levels have been associated with heart disease, especially if over 500 mg. Triglyceride levels over 150 mg/dl may be associated with problems other than heart disease.
The National Cholesterol Education Program has established guidelines for triglyceride levels. They are as follows:
- Normal – less than 150 mg/dL
- Borderline-high – 150 to 199 mg/dL
- High – 200 to 499 mg/dL
- Very high – 500 mg/dL or higher
How can excess levels of triglycerides be harmful? Excess triglyceride levels in plasma are known as hypertriglyceridemia, which is linked to Atherosclerosis and can also lead to pancreatitis in excessive concentrations.
You can control triglyceride levels with some sensible changes in lifestyle habits. The main therapies for lowering triglycerides include:
- Weight Reduction – If you are overweight, cut back on calories to reach your ideal body weight.
- People with high triglycerides may need to replace saturated fats with monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats such as canola oil, olive oil. Substitute fish high in omega-3 fatty acids instead of meats high in saturated fat like hamburger. Fatty fish like mackerel, lake trout, herring, sardines, albacore tuna and salmon are high in omega-3 fatty acids.
- Get regular aerobic exercise for at least 30 minutes on most or all days each week.
- Decrease alcohol and sugar consumption. The body can convert alcohol and sugar into fats and then dump those fats into your blood stream.
With a little discipline you can establish some good habits that will keep your triglyceride level in check.
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September 27th, 2006 at 7:46 am
Extensive triglyceride usually come with obesity as well, which frequently has multiple other diseases and factors along which reduce life expactansy. So not just because of triglycerides, but for an overall healthy condition a balanced and healthy diet along with a daily workout is adviced to everybody.
September 27th, 2006 at 9:04 am
Somebody is mistaken here.
Limiting sugars AND starches (pasta, rice, beans, bread) will DRAMATICALLY lower triglycerides, typically below 60 or 70, even when eating plenty of ‘horrid’ animal fats. Animal fats have virtually nothing to do with high triglcyerides. It’s starch and sugar.
It’s a classic, repeatable, almost universal effect of low carbohydrate diets. See Volek, Yancy, Westerman, Hays, and many many others.
September 27th, 2006 at 10:22 am
http://jn.nutrition.org/cgi/content/full/131/10/2772S
Effect of Dietary Carbohydrate on Triglyceride Metabolism in Humans
“…When individuals reduce their intake of dietary fat, they frequently increase their intake of carbohydrate, and a common observation is that their blood concentration of triglycerides (TG)3 rises. This phenomenon, known as carbohydrate-induced hypertriglyceridemia (HPTG), has been observed in research subjects consuming high carbohydrate, low fat diets for as few as 5 d…”
It seem logical to advise people to reduce fat consumption in order to reduce blod fats, (triglycerides). Unfortunately it not only does not work, it actually makes the problem WORSE.