Rethinking The 150 Mg/dl Triglyceride Threshold
What are normal levels of triglycerides? Most labs define High TG as fasting levels greater > 150 mg/dL. However, new research published in the August, 2020 edition of the Journal of Clinical Lipidology suggests physicians might want to take a more aggressive stance when lowering TGs in their patients. To quote the Journal:
the association of TGs and CVD risk continued well below TG levels of 150 mg/dL. This supports the American Heart Associations statement that an optimal fasting TG level is less than 100 mg/dL and further suggests that an optimal level may be even lower.
The trend in measuring TGs seems to be averaging levels over several days rather than using one fasted blood draw to gauge a healthy metabolism.
How Can I Lower My Triglyceride Level
You may be able to lower your triglycerides with a combination of losing weight, diet and exercise.
- Avoid simple carbohydrates, such as foods containing sugar or made with white flour. Eat more whole-grains, such as oats, brown rice and multi-grain bread.
- Reduce alcohol intake drink less than the recommended amount of alcohol per week. These guidelines are usually too high for people with high triglycerides. If you have triglyceride levels over 5mmol/L you should avoid alcohol completely.
- Eat less fat and choose healthy fats
- cut back on saturated fat and trans fats
- eat more fish omega-3 fats in salmon, tuna, sardines, and other fatty fish can lower triglycerides. Having fish twice a week is fine.
See our Healthy Living section for more ideas to help you get started.
You also may need to take medication to lower your triglycerides. Your doctor may start you on a statin, or a fibrate . Your doctor will let you know if you need to take medication.
What Causes High Triglyceride Levels
- Being overweight.
- Lack of physical activity.
- Excessive alcohol use alcohol is high in calories and sugar. Even small amounts of alcohol can raise triglyceride levels.
- A very high carbohydrate diet.
- Certain diseases and medicines.
- People with very high triglycerides often have a genetic disorder which prevents them from moving triglycerides out of their blood.
- Smoking increases your risk of heart disease and stroke by increasing clotting factors in the blood, decreasing HDL cholesterol levels, increasing triglyceride levels, and damaging the lining of blood vessels.
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What Are The Best Ways To Reduce Triglycerides For A Healthy Lifestyle
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When To Get Your Tgs Tested
The American Heart Association recommends that everyone has a blood cholesterol test by the age of 20. Ideally, this test will include triglycerides. If you are overweight, obese, or considered at risk for heart disease, earlier testing is preferable. Harvard Health suggest getting tested at least every five years after the age of 20.
You might also want to get your labs done if you eat a lot of carbohydrates, have switched to a plant-based diet, lack energy, or have recently gained weight. Knowing your TG levels puts you in a far better position to make positive changes in your diet and lifestyle.
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Foods And 7 Day Diet Plan To Lower Triglycerides
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Triglycerides are a type of fat present in the blood. But in the case of excess triglycerides, it gets stored in different body parts such as the belly, hip, and arms. Normal levels of triglycerides are less than 150 mg/dl.
Increased levels of triglycerides are linked to heart diseases, especially in patients who have high levels of bad cholesterol and low levels of good cholesterol . Include healthy foods to reduce triglycerides.
Preferred amount of different fats and substances in our daily diet:
Below are the top 25 foods list to know how to reduce triglycerides.
How Are Triglycerides Different From Cholesterol
Triglycerides and cholesterol are both fatty substances called lipids. But triglycerides are fats cholesterol is not. Cholesterol is a waxy, odorless substance made by the liver. It is used to build cell walls, helps the nervous system and plays an important role in digestion and hormone production.
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What Are Risk Factors For High Triglycerides
Factors that may raise triglyceride levels include:
- Excessive alcohol use.
- American Academy of Family Physicians. High Cholesterol. Accessed 11/182/2021.
- American Heart Association. Cholesterol. Accessed 11/18/2021.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Getting Your Cholesterol Checked. Accessed 11/18/2021.
- Hormone Health Network. Triglycerides. Accessed 11/18/2021.
- MedlinePlus. Triglycerides Test. Accessed 11/18/2021.
- Merck Manual Consumer Version. Overview of Cholesterol and Lipid Fats. Accessed 11/18/2021.
- National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. High Blood Triglycerides. Accessed 11/18/2021.
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Limit Your Sugar Intake
Added sugar is a big part of many peoples diets.
While the American Heart Association recommends consuming no more than 100150 calories of added sugar per day, one study found that the average American eats about 308 calories of added sugar daily .
Added sugar is commonly found in sweets, soft drinks, and fruit juice.
Extra sugar in your diet may be turned into triglycerides, which can lead to an increase in blood triglyceride levels, along with other heart disease risk factors.
A 2020 review that included data on 6,730 people found that those who consumed sugar-sweetened beverages regularly were over 50% more likely to have high triglycerides, compared with those who did not drink them regularly .
Another study found that consuming high amounts of added sugar is also associated with higher blood triglyceride levels in children .
Fortunately, several studies have shown that low carb diets can lead to a decrease in blood triglyceride levels .
Even a simple change such as replacing sugar-sweetened beverages with water could decrease triglycerides in some people .
Summary
Minimizing added sugar in your diet from sugary beverages and sweets can reduce your blood triglyceride levels.
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How Can You Lower Triglyceride Levels
If you are diagnosed with high blood triglycerides, your doctor may first recommend that you adopt heart-healthy lifestyle changes. These may include:
- Choosing heart-healthy foods and limiting alcohol, added sugars, and foods high in saturated fat
- Getting regular physical activity
- Aiming for a healthy weight
- Getting enough good quality sleep
- Managing stress
What Are High Triglycerides
Triglycerides are a type of fat-like substance in the blood that the body uses for energy. Some triglycerides are needed but too much of them can put people at higher risk for heart attack, stroke, inflammation of the pancreas, and other health problems.
What Are Symptoms of High Triglycerides?
High triglycerides also can run in families.
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Possible New Treatment For High Triglycerides
In the report in The New England Journal of Medicine, an international team of researchers describe a new therapy for high triglycerides. It involves a weekly injection of “antisense oligonucleotides” , pieces of DNA that short-circuit the livers production of triglycerides. The new report shows that ASOs can reduce triglyceride levels by as much as 70%.
Keep in mind that this was a phase 2 trial, which is designed to test whether a drug does what it is supposed to do . Larger, longer-term studies will be needed to see whether ASOs actually reduce the risk of heart disease, and what sorts of side effects they cause.
Many experimental medications that sparkle in early testing never become FDA-approved drugs. We wont know for several years whether ASOs will become available for individuals with high triglycerides.
Eating Foods With A Low Gi
The glycemic index indicates how much a specific food is likely to increase your blood sugar levels.
For example, oats have a low GI, but white bread has a high GI and is more likely to lead to a big spike in your blood sugar.
Research suggests that eating a low glycemic diet is associated with lower triglycerides.
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Working Out Your Tg To Hdl Ratio
Note: as we discussed on a recent episode of the podcast, TG:HDL ratio has very little meaning for the Black community because African Americans are much less likely to have elevated TG, even in the presence of insulin resistance.
If youve just undergone a fasting lipid panel, you might see results for TG:HDL listed alongside total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol. If not, you can work out your TG:HDL ratio for yourself. All you have to do is divide the triglyceride count by the HDL count. So, if your TG is 120 mg/dL and your HDL is 60 mg/dL, your TG:HDL ratio is 2.00. As another example, a TG level of 150 mg/dL and HDL of 50 mg/dL gives a TG:HDL of 3.00.
Top tip: Numerical values for TGs and HDL-C are often given in mg/dL and mmol/L. To convert mg/dL to mmol/L, divide the values for HDL-C, by 38.6 for triglycerides, divide by 88.6.
Is It Possible To Lower Triglycerides Naturally
Similar to cholesterol, triglycerides come from the food we eat and our liver. When levels are normal, triglycerides are used for energy. The problems arise when levels are high, explains Dr. Nissen. When we make more triglycerides than we use, the rest are stored as fat. Thats why many people who are overweight or have type 2 diabetes have high levels.
Poor diabetes control is a major factor in causing high triglyceride levels, Dr. Nissen says. He stresses the importance of watching your carbohydrate consumption. Eating a low-carb diet and getting plenty of exercise are often effective in lowering triglyceride levels.
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Dietary And Lifestyle Recommendations
1) Follow a diet low in fat, with less than 30% of daily calories from total fat. Choose polyunsaturated fats over saturated fat:
An example of someone eating a 1500Kcal diet and aiming for less than 30% fat would be less than 50 grams of fat per day. If your triglycerides do not reduce with this, then you may need to aim for less. You will see a Dietitian who will discuss this with you.
Grams of fat to aim for: ____________grams per day
Fat should be spread out throughout the day, rather than all eaten at one mealtime. Just one large, fatty meal can increase your risk of developing pancreatitis . A meal should not contain more than 15g of fat at one time.
If your triglycerides are severely raised then it will be suggested that you follow a very strict low fat diet to bring the levels down as quickly as possible .
How do you know how much fat is in foods?
Fat is found in many different foods and drinks for example dairy products, meats, oils, nuts and cakes.
If you have a packaged food then reading the food label is the best way to identify how much fat it contains. When you look at the back of a food label, the nutritional information is often given on a table similar to below. Food labels provide information about many different nutrients found in foods including the amount of fat.
When looking at food labels per 100g you should aim for:
How To Lower Triglycerides Fast Without Medications
Unlike many illnesses, much of the treatment centered around how to lower triglycerides actually has a lot to do with lifestyle factors like diet and physical activity. In fact, moderate to slightly high levels of triglycerides may be managed in this way alone, without the use of prescription medications. Since what raises triglycerides in the first place is often the foods that we eat, it is not a wonder that a mere change in ingestibles can provide long term benefits in the form of lower triglycerides levels. And, the long term management of the amounts of these fats circulating in the blood can often be well managed with a diet to lower triglycerides combined with an increase in moderate exercise.
Fats are also best left alone as much as possible for anyone trying to stave off ever rising levels of the manufactured blood fats. As such, fried foods and those that contain trans fat or saturated fat should be eliminated from diets entirely. Not only does this decrease the likelihood that triglycerides will remain on the rise, a low fat diet also contributes to a reduced risk of obesity. Being overweight or obese is a major contributing factor to the increase of triglycerides in the blood, and adhering to a low fat diet can reduce this risk dramatically.
References:
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How To Lower Triglycerides And Cholesterol Naturally
Your genes, diet, and lifestyle all affect your triglyceride and cholesterol levels. Some people naturally produce more triglycerides and cholesterol than others. This is based on their genetics and family history. Still, these levels are just part of your overall lipid levels, and lifestyle changes are one of the best ways to keep your numbers within a healthy range.
Top Foods To Help Lower Triglyceride Levels
3 ).
Diet plays a major role in the production of triglycerides in your body. Certain foods may even help lower your blood levels.
Here are 8 top foods that may help lower triglyceride levels.
5 ).
Daily intakes of at least 25 grams of soy protein were most effective at lowering these fats in the blood .
Soybeans, edamame, tofu, and tempeh are excellent sources of isoflavones, a health-promoting compound linked to reduced triglycerides, weight management, and improved menopause symptoms .
Fermented soy products like natto and tempeh have a higher nutritional value than unfermented soy. When used to replace sources of animal protein, they have a potent triglyceride-lowering effect .
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What Are The Causes And Symptoms Of High Triglycerides
Causes include obesity, eating too much unhealthy food, genetics, certain illnesses including poorly controlled diabetes, kidney disease, and underactive thyroid . Some drugs, such as steroids and birth control pills, and drinking a lot of alcohol can also cause it.
Most people have no symptoms. Very high levels can cause small fat deposits under the skin and a painful inflammation of the pancreas called pancreatitis.
Do High Triglyceride Levels Affect Hdl And Cholesterol Levels
Triglycerides are involved in the transport of fatty acids to muscles and tissues for energy.
- HDL particles are involved in the transport of excess fatty acids from the periphery back to the liver for elimination. Because of these competing roles, it is very difficult to increase HDL, the healthy good cholesterol, without first addressing triglycerides.
- HDL not only transports excess lipid to the liver for disposal, but it also transports cholesterol to organs such as the adrenals, ovaries, and testes for steroid hormone synthesis.
- Many of the strategies discussed here that lower triglycerides are also known to raise HDL.
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Triglycerides And Hdl Whats The Link
When triglycerides are consistently elevated, a whole load of that excess fat and sugar ends up stored in the liver. This compromises liver function, which means the liver is less able to create high-density lipoprotein . This condition is known as diabetic atherogenic dyslipidemia.
As the name suggests, when this condition arises lipids are so out of balance that they contribute to undesirable changes in arteries. This primarly means atherosclerosis, which increase the risk of heart attack and stroke.
High-density lipoprotein is commonly called good cholesterol. This larger lipid picks up excess cholesterol in the blood and transports it to the liver, where it is broken down and removed from your body. So, it stands to reason that youll want more HDL than you do TGs circulating in your blood.
Lowering your TG levels has more than just a direct benefit for cardiovascular health, then. It can also indirectly benefit your arteries by supporting better HDL production. Indeed, coronary artery disease was twice as likely to be extensive in those with an abnormal TG:HDL ratio in one study. 1
Even in a person who seems neurologically healthy, a poor TG:HDL ratio may raise the risk of stroke. In one 2019 study, for example, 8.3% of more than 3,000 healthy participants had silent brain infarcts . Those with a high TG:HDL ratio were 16% more likely to have an SBI. This is a subclinical pathology commonly seen prior to ischemic stroke, especially in older adults. 7