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How To Cut Down On Triglycerides

Changing Your Diet To Lower Triglycerides

How To Lower Your Triglycerides Fast And Naturally

Summary

Limiting sugars, refined carbs, and alcohol is crucial to get the best results.

Diets higher in fiber and fish may also help to lower triglycerides. Those with severely elevated levels may respond better to low-fat diets, but this is not a universal finding.

When attempting to lower triglyceride levels, many find success through altering their eating habits. Here are the dietary approaches worth trying, according to science.

How Your Healthcare Provider Can Help

Your healthcare provider can help you get your triglyceride levels under control by ruling out possible causes like medications, thyroid issues, unmanaged diabetes and liver or kidney disease. They can then formulate an effective management plan with you. This might include medication and lifestyle changes like losing weight and eating smaller portions.

As mentioned before, a healthy, fiber-rich diet can help in the matter. Exercising regularly can also play a huge part in managing triglyceride levels. By cleaning up your existing routine, you could see changes in your triglyceride levels within a few months.

This article was adapted from Cleveland Clinic Heart Advisor.

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Limit Your Added Sugar

You know that too much of the sweet stuff is bad news, and thats definitely the case here. When youre eating sugary foods, its easy to end up chowing down on more calories than your body needs.

The excess will be turned into triglycerides, which can lead to serious trouble:One 15-year study found that people who got 25 percent of their calories from sugar were twice as likely to die from heart disease as those who ate significantly less.

The American Heart Association recommends that women consume no more than 6 teaspoons and men consume no more than 9 teaspoons of added sugar per day.

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/11have More Unsaturated Fats

Studies have shown that consumption of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats can reduce the blood triglyceride levels.

Monounsaturated fats are found in nuts, olive oil and avocado.

Polyunsaturated fats are found in vegetable oils and fatty fish.

Studies have found that intake of saturated fats is associated with increased blood triglyceride levels while consumption of polyunsaturated fat is linked with lower blood triglyceride levels.

In another study, participants were given extra virgin olive oil for six weeks. There was a significant decline in the triglyceride levels, total cholesterol levels and LDL levels of these people.

To lower the triglyceride levels, pick a healthy fat like olive oil and use it to replace other types of fats like trans and other highly processed fat.

Possible New Treatment For High Triglycerides

Elevated triglycerides level

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.

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/1110 Simple Ways To Lower Your Triglyceride Levels

Triglyceride is a type of fat in your blood. When you eat, your body converts the calories you do not need into triglycerides and stores them in the fat cells to be used as energy later.

Triglycerides are important for the body as they provide us with energy but too much of triglyceride can increase one’s risk of heart disease.

Conditions responsible for high triglyceride levels include uncontrolled diabetes, too much alcohol intake, sedentary lifestyle and too much consumption of processed and sugary food items.

Here are 10 ways to lower your triglyceride levels naturally.

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:

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What Other Lifestyle Changes Help Lower Triglycerides

Lifestyle strategies are a way to lower triglycerides naturally.

Weight loss has a positive effect on triglycerides. For every 5% to 10% weight reduction, triglycerides may be lowered by 20%. Another way to look at this: For every kilogram lost, triglycerides may be reduced by 2%.

Increasing physical activity lowers triglycerides.

  • Aerobic activity of any kind, especially when done after a meal, uses up triglycerides that are in the blood ready to be used as fuel. This not only lowers triglycerides but also helps with abdominal obesity.
  • Exercise is most effective for lowering triglycerides when they are very elevated. If triglycerides are optimal , exercise will not further lower the level.

All together, intensive lifestyle strategies can reduce triglycerides by 50% or more over a year. Lifestyle strategies can enable people to effectively reduce triglycerides without medicine or drugs, plus there are many other positive effects on other aspects of health and well-being. This is the recommended approach of the American Heart Association for anyone with triglycerides greater than optimal .

How Quickly Can I Lower My Cholesterol

How EXACTLY Do I Lower My Triglycerides? | Dr. Don Clum

Your cholesterol levels may lower as quickly as a few weeks to a few months, depending on your treatment plan.

If your levels are very high, your healthcare provider may recommend taking medications at the start of your treatment plan. This may help lower your cholesterol levels more quickly. The sooner you can lower your bad cholesterol levels, the sooner you can lower your risk for plaques to form.

You can also lower your cholesterol through lifestyle and diet changes alone, but it may take three to six months to see results. Talk with your healthcare provider to figure out the best treatment plan for you.

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What Can You Do To Lower High Triglyceride Levels

Because your body can get triglycerides from the food you eat, it makes sense that changing your diet can help if you’re concerned with your triglyceride levels. In general, according to Ash, it’s important to reduce your intake of refined flour, processed and packaged foods that contain trans fats, high fructose corn syrup, and excess carbs and sugars that are bad news for your health.

One key nutrient to keep in mind is fat. According to Ash, switching out the types of fat you eat can make a huge difference. “Trans fats and polyunsaturated fats, like the fat in canola oil, are going to be the biggest offenders because they burden the liver, which is going to manufacture more triglycerides in order to make more LDL. So what we’re eating and how we’re supporting the liver is really what’s going to matter when it comes to triglycerides,” she says.

That said, fat is only one factor to consider when it comes to food. “Specific to food, fat itself is often not the culprit,” says registered dietitian Amanda Archibald, founder of The Genomic Kitchen. “Excess calories from alcohol or starchy/sugary foods are often more complicit in producing high triglycerides.”

If your doctor has told you your triglyceride levels are on the high side, it’s worth asking them what foods to avoid and what lifestyle changes could help. Chances are, you’ll want to exercise more and go easy on trans fats and simple carbs.

Establish A Regular Meal Pattern

Insulin resistance is another factor that can contribute to high blood triglycerides.

After you eat a meal, the cells in your pancreas send a signal to release insulin into the bloodstream. Insulin is then responsible for transporting sugar to your cells to be used for energy.

If you have too much insulin in your blood, your body can become resistant to it, making it difficult for your body to use insulin effectively. This can lead to a buildup of both sugar and triglycerides in the blood.

Fortunately, setting a regular eating pattern can help prevent insulin resistance and high triglycerides. For instance, research shows that not eating breakfast can lead to decreased insulin sensitivity .

An American Heart Association statement suggested that irregular eating patterns seemed less likely to achieve healthy cardiometabolic levels. They recommended intentional eating at regular times .

However, the evidence is mixed when it comes to meal frequency.

A 2013 study demonstrated that eating three meals per day significantly decreased triglycerides compared with eating six meals per day (

36 ).

Regardless of how many meals youre eating daily, eating regular meals can improve insulin sensitivity and lower blood triglyceride levels.

Summary

While studies are mixed on how meal frequency affects blood triglyceride levels, research suggests that sticking to a regular meal pattern can decrease many heart disease risk factors and prevent insulin resistance.

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What Are Triglycerides And What Is Considered A Healthy Level

Triglycerides are sort of like cholesterol: Both are types of fat found in your blood. But while cholesterol is used to make cells and certain hormones, the job of triglycerides is to store unused calories to give your body energy between meals.

Triglycerides get stored after you eat. If you take in any calories that arent needed for energy right away, theyre converted into triglycerides and transferred to your fat cells for later use.

Eating more calories than you need on the reg can lead to high triglycerides over time, which can up your risk for heart disease. Triglycerides are usually measured along with cholesterol, and numbers over 150 mg/dL are usually considered high.

How Do Triglycerides Get Into The Blood

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When we eat foods containing triglycerides, such as meat, dairy products, cooking oils and fats, they are absorbed by our intestines and packaged into parcels of fats and protein called chylomicrons . These carry the triglycerides in the blood stream to our tissues to be used for energy straight away, or stored for later.

The body also makes its own supply of triglycerides in the liver. This form is carried in a different type of lipoprotein known as VLDL cholesterol.

Read Also: How To Lower Hdl Cholesterol

/11limit Your Sugar Intake

Most people consume double the daily recommended amount of sugar every day. Not many know this, extra sugar in your diet can turn into triglycerides, increasing your risk of heart diseases.

Studies have found that people who consumed 25 per cent of their daily calories from sugar were twice more likely to die from heart disease as compared to people who consumed only 10 per cent of their calories from sugar.

Replacing your sugary drinks with water can lower the triglyceride levels by 28 mg/dL.

/11make A Workout Routine

Good cholesterol, HDL has an inverse relationship with triglyceride levels, which means adequate levels of HDL can lower the triglyceride levels.

Regular aerobic activity has been linked with lower triglyceride levels. Some common aerobic activities include jogging, walking, bicycling and swimming.

Studies have also found that exercising at a higher intensity for less time is more effective than exercising at a lower intensity for a longer time.

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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:

Finding Out Your Triglycerides Levels

Lowering Triglycerides – Mayo Clinic

Triglycerides are measured with a simple blood test. Triglyceride levels should be measured when you have a cholesterol test as they can also contribute to your risk of developing heart disease, and other disease of the heart and blood vessels. The triglyceride test measures the triglycerides carried in chylomicrons and VLDL cholesterol. National guidelines in the UK no longer recommend a fasting blood test .

What should your triglyceride levels be?

HEART UK experts state that we should aim for a non-fasting triglyceride level below 2.3mmol/L.

If your doctor has asked you to fast for a test then your triglyceride level should be below 1.7mmol/L. This fasting test number is lower because only the triglycerides made by the liver and carried in the VLDL cholesterol will be measured not the triglycerides you get from food. As you have not eaten, there will be no chylomicrons present in your blood.

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How To Lower Triglycerides With Lifestyle Changes And Medication

  • You can lower triglycerides by exercising, losing weight, and drinking less alcohol.
  • If your triglycerides levels are very high like over 500 milligrams per deciliter your doctor may also recommend medication to lower triglycerides.
  • Triglycerides, like cholesterol, are associated with a higher risk of heart disease if your levels are too high, though many people effectively lower these levels with lifestyle changes and medication.
  • This article was reviewed by Jason R. McKnight, MD, MS, a family medicine physician and clinical assistant professor at Texas A& M College of Medicine.
  • Visit Insiders homepage for more stories.

Like cholesterol, triglycerides are a form of fat, or lipid in fact, theyre the most common form of fat in a persons body. After you eat, fat and calories that arent immediately put to use by your metabolism are stored as triglycerides in your bodys fat cells.

You need triglycerides in the body for an energy source, says Sanjiv Patel, MD, a cardiologist at MemorialCare Heart & Vascular Institute at Orange Coast Medical Center. The issue becomes if you have too much.

Heres what you need to know about cholesterol and triglycerides, and how to lower your triglyceride levels if they get too high.

Weight Loss And Triglyceride Levels

Weight loss is an important tool to get to a healthy triglyceride level. Because triglycerides are essentially fat stores, reducing the total amount of fat in the body will result in a lower triglyceride level in blood tests.

Even modest weight loss of 5% to 10% of total body weight helps to lower your triglyceride level. This means that going from a body weight of 300 lb to between 270 lb and 285 lb makes a big difference and lowers your risk of heart disease, stroke, and pancreatitis.

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Foods That Lower Triglycerides

Your diet is the main contributor to your overall triglyceride levels, with high calorie, high-fat foods being the main culprits. Eating in excess amounts contributes to this problem as well, as when you take in more calories than you need, the body changes those calories into triglycerides, getting stored as fat. Following some of these tips can help you choose calories wiser and help lower your triglyceride levels:

  • Reduce saturated fats and trans fats. These are commonly found in animal products, fast food, baked goods, and other prepackaged and processed foods
  • Use healthy mono- and poly-unsaturated fats. Found in olive or canola cooking oil
  • Eat more fruits and vegetables. Getting the majority of your calories from these sources make it satisfies hunger and keeps you away from unhealthy alternatives
  • Alcohol in moderation. May be full of empty calories
  • Avoid refined sugars. Typically found in processed foods
  • Eat fish protein once or twice a week. Omega-3 fatty acids found in fish can help lower triglyceride levels
  • Eat plenty of fiber. Fiber increases satiety, and also aid in decreases cholesterol absorption in the gut
  • Limit total dietary cholesterol to 200mg per day

The following is a list of well-known natural foods that lower triglycerides:

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Eat Fatty Fish Twice Weekly

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Fatty fish is well known for its benefits on heart health and ability to lower blood triglycerides.

This is mostly due to its content of omega-3 fatty acids, a type of polyunsaturated fatty acid that is considered essential, meaning you need to get it through your diet.

Both the Dietary Guidelines for Americans and American Heart Association recommend eating two servings of fatty fish per week to reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke .

Whats more, one study showed that eating salmon twice a week significantly decreased blood triglyceride concentration .

Salmon, herring, sardines, tuna, and mackerel are a few types of fish that are especially high in omega-3 fatty acids.

Summary

Fatty fish is high in omega-3 fatty acids. Eating two servings per week may lower triglyceride levels and decrease the risk of heart disease.

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