Path To Improved Health
There are 2 main types of cholesterol:
- Low-density lipoprotein . This delivers cholesterol to the body. This is called bad cholesterol. You want a low level of this type.
- High-density lipoprotein . This removes cholesterol from the bloodstream. This is called good cholesterol. You want a high level of this type.
If your doctor says you need to improve your cholesterol, youll need to lower your LDL and increase your HDL. Medicines can help with this. But the simplest way to improve your cholesterol is through lifestyle changes.
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How To Lower Triglyceride Levels Naturally
High cholesterol has taken most of the attention from cardiologists for years, but scientists have revealed that having high triglycerides is a much more important indicator of cardiovascular disease than cholesterol. Even if you have low cholesterol levels, having high triglycerides, which are a kind of fat found in your blood, can triple your risk of heart disease and stroke. They are actually important because they provide energy to the body but when triglyceride levels become too high, the body begins to store them as fat and it increases the risk of heart disease and stroke. Fortunately, there are several ways to lower your triglyceride levels if they tend to be high.
How to Lower Triglyceride Levels
1. Lose Weight
Exercise has a significant impact on triglyceride levels. If youre overweight, losing 5-10 percent of your body weight will lower your triglycerides by about 20 percent. Moreover, exercise is the best way to keep your weight under control. You can lower your triglycerides by up to 10-20% by doing moderate to high intensity aerobic exercise. You can also go walking, hiking, jogging, swimming, or biking, try classes in yoga, spinning, pilates, or weight training.
2. Control Your Calorie Intake
3. Cut Sugar and Simple Carbohydrates
4. Drink Less Alcohol
6. Consume Omega-3 Fatty Acids
7. Eat Plant-Based Foods
9. Limit Your Fructose Intake
10. Quit Smoking
Supplements to Lower Triglyceride Levels
Alpha Lipoic Acid
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How To Measure Triglyceride Level
There is no other way to get your triglyceride levels checked then a blood test. Your doctor will order a lipid panel, which will give them a list of all your lipid levels in the bloodstream. This assessment will also look at cholesterol, giving your doctor a good idea of what your cardiovascular risk currently is. The American Heart Association recommends that everyone 21 years and older get a lipid panel at least every 5 years.
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Avoid Refined And Processed Foods
You gain a large number of calories from foods that are rich in carbohydrates. However, the carbohydrates you get from refined and processed foods are unhealthy. It is because once consumed, they get easily converted into sugar and lead to a rise in triglyceride. Some common sources of processed foods include rice, pasta and white bread.
What High Triglycerides Mean For Your Heart & How To Lower Triglycerides Naturally
With the growing epidemic of childhood and adult obesity, insulin resistance, and type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease remains the leading cause of death and disability in the United States, affecting more than 13 million Americans. Its estimated that 31 percent of the U.S population has high triglycerides, a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease.
A 2007 meta-analysis involving a total of 3,582 incident cases of fatal and nonfatal coronary heart disease indicates that there is a significant association between triglyceride values and coronary heart disease risk.
Thankfully, there are natural ways tolower cholesterol and triglyceride levels naturally with diet and lifestyle changes.
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If you’ve been diagnosed with high triglycerides, you’re not alone. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 21.5 percent of all adults have above-normal triglyceride levels, also called hypertriglyceridemia or dyslipidemia. High levels of triglycerides may not come with specific symptoms, but they may coincide with both high total blood cholesterol and low HDL cholesterol levels. Having too many triglycerides in the blood can raise your risk of heart disease and insulin resistance, especially if you also have high blood pressure or high cholesterol.
The good news? Whether you currently have high triglycerides or it runs in the family and you want to keep your levels down, there are natural ways to keep them on an even keel.
Foods To Lower Triglycerides
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Skip The Sweet Drinks
One of the easiest things you can do to lower your triglycerides is to cut out sweetened drinks. Sodas and other sugary drinks are packed with fructose, a known offender when it comes to boosting triglycerides. Drink no more than 36 ounces of sweet sippers per week — that means three 12-ounce cans of soda.
Consider Cutting Back On Carbs
You dont have to go full keto. But some research suggests that lower carb diets are tied to healthier triglyceride levels.
How low should you go? In a 2006 study, people who consumed about a quarter of their calories from carbs lowered their triglycerides more than those who got more than half their calories from carbs.
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Include Nuts In Your Diet
Nuts provide a concentrated dose of fiber and healthy fats, which work together to lower blood triglycerides.
An analysis of 61 studies on the effects that nuts have on our health showed that each serving of tree nuts decreased triglycerides by 2.2 mg/dL. Other epidemiological studies found that you will get the greatest health benefits if you consume between 37 servings of nuts per week.
Here are some nutty recipes you can try to get more nuts in your diet:
Increase Fibre Quantity In Your Diet
High-fibre foods are also rich in carbohydrates, however, they are more complex to break down and are gradually absorbed by the body. Dietary fibre also helps you feel full without having consumed excess calories. Therefore, it directly lowers your triglyceride levels.
Choose healthy fats
The main source of triglycerides is fats, themselves. Thereby, a reduction in the fat content that you consume can help you achieve good triglyceride levels. However, fat is also an essential component of your body. There are both healthy and unhealthy fats. In order to reduce triglycerides, you should aim to consume more healthy fats and decrease your intake of unhealthy, saturated fats. Healthy fats include omega-3 fatty acids that are found in oily fish, olive oil and other supplements.
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Watch Out For Refined Carbs
White rice, pasta, and baked goods are all delicious and hard to resist, but they are made with refined white flour, which can cause elevated triglycerides3. Reducing these carbohydrates can have a quick impact on your triglyceride levels. Of course, that doesnt mean that you cant enjoy breads or pastas ever again, it just means that rather than eating the ones made with refined white flour, choose those made from whole grains instead.
It’s also a good idea to reduce your intake of carbohydrates as a whole and eat more protein instead. Proteins have a lower “glycemic index” than carbohydrates, meaning that they are absorbed more slowly into the bloodstream. This helps keep blood sugar levels from spiking, which is tied to your bloods lipid levels, including triglycerides.
Choose Healthy Fats Over Saturated Fats
Another way to lower triglycerides and cholesterol naturally is by eating healthy fats. Omega-3 fatty acids lower triglycerides and bad cholesterol by increasing fat metabolism, according to the AHA. Omega-3 fatty acids are found in oily fish, such as salmon and herring, olive oil, and dietary supplements. For people with high triglycerides, the AHA recommends prescription-strength omega-3 fatty acid supplements at a dose of 4 grams per day, although its still best to get it from foods. Saturated fats, which come mainly from meat sources, should be limited to no more than 5 to 6 percent of your total daily calories, and your daily intake of cholesterol should be no more than 300 mg, according to the AHA.
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What Foods Should I Eat To Lower My Cholesterol And Triglycerides
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Look At Your Prescription Meds
A bunch of different drugs can potentially raise triglyceride levels, including oral estrogen, corticosteroids, and antipsychotic drugs.
If your numbers recently measured high, be sure to review any prescription drugs you might be taking with your doctor. If one of your meds is the culprit, you can talk figure out a plan for protecting your heart health.
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What Are The Complications Of High Triglycerides
If you have a high triglyceride level, this may lead to health complications. If not lowered, high triglycerides can lead to conditions including:
- acute pancreatitis
Contact your doctor if you feel you may be at risk of high triglycerides. They will be able to order blood tests and advise on a treatment plan to lower your levels if they are too high. This can help reduce the risk of complications.
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Address Underlying Health Issues
Remember, although triglycerides can be high due to bad lifestyle and dietary choices, they can also be high due to an underlying health condition. The most important thing is to work with your doctor to find out whats causing your high triglyceride levels and to treat any underlying conditions!
For example, triglycerides can be high due to liver disease, infections, underactive thyroid , autoimmune disease, or some genetic disorders just to name a few .
In these cases, simply changing your diet or lifestyle wont help address the underlying issue and may actually be harmful!
In addition, high triglyceride levels can be dangerous for your body. If necessary, your doctor will prescribe triglyceride-lowering medication.
Thats why, if your triglycerides are elevated, you should discuss the lifestyle and dietary changes listed below with your doctor. None of these strategies should ever be done in place of what your doctor recommends or prescribes!
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And Limit Unhealthy Ones
Namely, trans fats or partially hydrogenated oils, which sometimes show up in baked goods, snack foods, fried foods, refrigerated dough , nondairy creamers, and margarines.
Eating these harmful fats can send your triglycerides up in just a few short weeks, not to mention raise your LDL cholesterol and lower your HDL cholesterol.
Eliminate Bread & Pasta
White bread, pasta, and Irish potatoes contain starch, a carbohydrate that has a high glycemic value that can spike blood sugar and raise your triglyceride levels. Eliminating these foods can help lower your triglycerides. Focus on eating whole grains, such as wild rice, barley, or quinoa, and a variety of vegetables, nuts, and seeds, which contain complex carbohydrates and fiber.
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What Is The Difference Between Triglycerides And Cholesterol
You might be wondering how triglycerides are different from cholesterol. Both are essential types of fat that our bodies need to function, and they can be made in the body and sourced from our diet. Triglycerides and cholesterol are often lumped in together as part of a blood test called a lipid profile or lipid panel.
There are some important differences between the two.
Triglycerides are one of our main sources of energy. They are either transported to the parts of our body that need energy, or they are stored for use later.
Cholesterol is not a source of energy, but it is an important part of the makeup of our cells. It is one of the building blocks for some of the hormones our bodies make, the bile acids that help us digest food, and vitamin D. The body makes all the cholesterol that it needs.
Foods That Can Help Lower Triglycerides
The way you prepare food can also have an impact on triglycerides. One approach to lower triglycerides naturally is choosing healthy fats, like extra virgin olive oil, instead of saturated fats, like butter and lard, when its time to fry or saute something to eat.
Adding foods rich in omega 3 fatty acids, like salmon, flax seeds, and chia seeds, can also help. The American Heart Association currently recommends at least 1 gram of omega-3 fatty acids per day.
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Busy Lifestyles Are The Most Common Reasons For High Cholesterol And Triglyceride Levels
If you are like me and like to pack your day full of activities or if you are simply trying to balance a work and home life, watching your diet is often the last thing on your mind.
Therefore, making a healthy meal for yourself and even the family is often impossible. Processed and other fast foods are often high in the fats associated with increasing cholesterol and triglycerides.
To try and tackle this problem, I have started doing a simple menu plan. That is deciding for the week what foods will best suit my cholesterol and triglyceride lowering diet and ensuring I have the ingredients ready to go.
The idea of creating a menu plan is, the days you know you are going to be pressed for time you and organise a simple meal that is still healthy. The meals that require more preparation or cooking time, I save for the days I know I can commit the time.
- Day one Poached salmon, new potatoes and carrots
- Day two Pasta with tomato and basil sauce
- Day three Vegetable curry with rice
- Day four Chicken salad
- Day five Mackerel, rice and poached eggs
The weekend I would leave to chance, although I do treat myself to a small Chinese takeaway and a half-a-glass of red wine on a Saturday evening.
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What Is The Best Triglyceride Lowering Diet Low
Lets start by comparing two ends of the dietary spectrum Low-carb versus low-fat.
A recent meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials evaluated the effects that low-carb and low-fat diets had on triglyceride levels with conclusive results. Researchers found greater reductions in triglyceride levels on the low-carb diet.
In another study by Bonow and Eckel, the two scientists concluded that low-carb diets produced a more robust triglyceride-lowering effect than low-fat diets, even if there was a similar magnitude of weight loss after one year.
These studies confirm what we found above. Eat more carbohydrates and less fat, and youll increase your triglyceride levels. Eat fewer carbs and more fat, and the opposite will occur. In fact, researchers found that for every 5% decrease in total fat, triglyceride level was predicted to increase by 6% and HDL cholesterol to decrease by 2.2%.
However, there could be other variables at play in this case. When you reduce fat consumption, youll be more likely to eat processed carbohydrates, which limit fat burning and increase fat production. So, high triglycerides levels only have to do with increased processed sugar consumption, right? Not quite.
However, there is another diet that heralded more than the low-carbohydrate ketogenic diet for its health benefits. Could this diet be the perfect balance of carbs and fats? Or is the low-carbohydrate diet always better?
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