Add Flax To Your Diet
Flaxseed, a soluble fiber, is a source of high-quality protein and potassium. It also contains lignans, which help fight diseases like cancer and cardiovascular disease.
Eat your flax instead of taking it in pill or oil form, Dr. Cho advises. Non-food versions lack fiber, lignans and protein. Instead, aim for two to three tablespoons of ground flaxseed a day, putting it in cereal, yogurt or salad.
Know The Dangers Of Trans Fats
Trans fats are dangerous for your heart, because they raise low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglyceride levels. The chief culprit youll see on product labels is partially hydrogenated oil. Trans fats are the result of adding hydrogen to liquid vegetable oils to increase shelf life. This may make some baked and fried foods taste better, but trans fats are very unhealthy, particularly for people with high triglycerides. In fact, trans fats should make up less than 1 percent of your total calories, according to the World Health Organization. Check your food labels: If a food contains trans fats or hydrogenated oils, leave it on the shelf.
What Are Normal Triglyceride Levels
Triglycerides below 150 milligrams per deciliter of blood are considered normal. Anything above 150 mg/dL is considered elevated. To assess triglyceride levels, doctors typically do a standard cholesterol blood test, which includes your triglycerides, total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol.
- Normal: Lower than 150 mg/ dL, or 1.7 mmol/L
- Borderline high: 150 to 199 mg/dL, or 1.8 to 2.2 mmol/L
- High: 200 to 499 mg/dL, or 2.3 to 5.6 mmol/L
- Very high: Greater than 500 mg/dL or above, or 5.7 mmol/L
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Get Down And Dirty With Running Jogging And Exercise
- Did you know that a high level of healthy cholesterol in the bloodstream is good for lowering the level of triglycerides? Well, yes. Healthy cholesterol or HDL bears an inverse relationship with the level of triglycerides in the blood.
- Aerobic exercise, walking, running, jogging, bicycling, swimming, and even freehand exercise can enhance the level of HDL cholesterol in the blood, which helps in lowering the level of triglycerides effectively.
- Exercising is not only good for making the triglyceride level dip to an average index but is also excellent for weight loss.
What Causes High Cholesterol
Some causes of high cholesterol include:
- High intake of foods containing unhealthy fats such as fatty meats and deli-style meats, butter, cream, ice cream, coconut oil, palm oil and most deep-fried takeaway foods and commercially baked products .
- Low intake of foods containing healthy fats healthy fats tend to increase the good cholesterol. Foods containing healthy fats include avocado, nuts, seeds, olives, cooking oils made from plants or seeds, and fish.
- Low intake of foods containing fibre foods that are high in dietary fibre, particularly soluble fibre, can reduce the amount of bad cholesterol in your blood. Include fibre-containing foods in your diet by choosing vegetables, fruits, wholegrains, legumes, nuts and seeds every day.
- Low levels of physical activity and exercise.
- Being overweight or obese and having too much body fat around your middle.
- Smoking can lead to high cholesterol levels.
- Genetics your family history may affect your cholesterol level. In some families, several people might be diagnosed with high cholesterol or heart disease at a relatively young age . This type of pattern can be caused by genetics, including a genetic condition called familial hypercholesterolaemia. Its best to speak to your doctor as soon as possible if you think you might be affected.
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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.
Increase Your Intake Of Unsaturated Fats
Studies show that monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats can reduce blood triglyceride levels, especially when theyre replacing carbs in your diet .
Monounsaturated fats are found in foods like olive oil, nuts, and avocados. Polyunsaturated fats are present in vegetable oils and fatty fish, as well as nuts and seeds such as walnuts, flaxseeds, and chia seeds.
A 2019 review of 27 studies reported that while olive oil consumption does decrease triglycerides levels, it does so significantly less than other types of plant oil .
One older study analyzed the diets of 452 adults in a specific population of Indigenous people in Alaska over the previous 24 hours.
It found that saturated fat intake was associated with increased blood triglycerides, while polyunsaturated fat intake was associated with lower triglyceride levels .
To maximize the triglyceride-lowering benefits of unsaturated fats, pick a heart-healthy fat like olive oil and use it to replace other types of fat in your diet, such as trans fats or highly processed vegetable oils .
Summary
Monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats can decrease blood triglyceride levels, especially when theyre consumed in place of other fats.
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What Are Triglycerides And Why Do They Matter
Triglycerides are a type of lipid, or fat, in the your blood. Any calories that arent needed when you eat are converted into triglycerides and stored in your fat cells. Then your hormones release triglycerides for energy in between meals. This cycle only becomes problematic when you eat more calories than you burn, which leads to high triglycerides, also called hypertriglyceridemia.
The National Cholesterol Education Program labels triglyceride levels in the following way:
- Normal less than 150 milligrams per deciliter
- Borderline high 150199 milligrams per deciliter
- High 200499 milligrams per deciliter
- Very high 500 milligrams per deciliter or higher
Triglycerides and cholesterol are different types of lipids that circulate in the blood. While triglycerides store calories that arent used and provide the body with energy, cholesterol is used to build cells and produce certain hormones. High-density lipoprotein helps remove fat from the body by binding with it in the bloodstream and carrying it back to the liver for disposal. Low-density lipoprotein carries mostly fats and only a small amount of protein from the liver to other parts of the body.
Sugar Can Become Your New Fat
It would only make sense for fats to increase triglycerides more than carbs, but the science shows us that just the opposite occurs.
In one study, people with high triglycerides and normal triglycerides were put on a 15% fat, whole-food diet after eating a high-fat diet . After only one meal of the low-fat diet, their triglyceride levels were elevated for higher and longer than during the high-fat diet.
Fasting triglyceride concentrations also increased by 60% and the production of atherogenic LDL cholesterol increased as well. This occurred in people with normal and high triglycerides in response to a whole-food based low-fat diet.
Do these findings mean that we should avoid carbs if we want to reduce our triglycerides?
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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:
Ask Your Doctor About Natural Supplements
Several natural supplements could have the potential to lower blood triglycerides. Always speak with your doctor before starting any supplements, as they can interact with other medications.
Note especially that the Food and Drug Administration does not regulate supplements in the same way as it regulates pharmaceuticals, and supplement quality can vary widely.
Below are a few of the main supplements that have been studied:
- Fish oil. Well known for its potent effects on heart health, fish oil is rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which have been shown to decrease triglycerides and several other risk factors for heart disease (
Summary
Several supplements have been studied for their ability to lower triglyceride levels, including fish oil, fenugreek, garlic extract, guggul, and curcumin.
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Coriander Seed Powder Can Be Beneficial
Coriander seeds are a popular traditional treatment for high triglycerides.
According to a 2008 study published in the Journal of Environmental Biology, feeding coriander seeds to animals resulted in a significant decrease in their triglyceride and cholesterol levels. This was traced back to the significant hypolipidemic action of coriander seeds on the metabolism of lipids.
How to consume:
Cholesterol And Triglycerides: What Is The Difference
While triglycerides and cholesterol are both types of lipids that circulate in the body, what cholesterol is and what triglycerides are and what they do is where the difference lies. While cholesterol is a waxy lipoprotein that is produced in the liver, triglycerides are a type of fat that mostly come from ones diet. Cholesterol also comes from the food one intakes and is responsible for several functions like hormone production, digestion, cell building, and the generation of vitamin D. Triglycerides on the other hand are used to store unused calories and provide the body with energy when required. High triglycerides and cholesterol levels are both associated with the increased risk of certain medical conditions.
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/11lower Your Carb Intake
Just like the added sugar, extra carbs in your diet also get converted into triglycerides. Low carb diet has been linked to lower triglyceride levels.
Studies have found that people getting a lower number of calories from carbs had lower triglyceride levels as compared to people who received more calories from carbs.
People who were kept on a low carb diet for one year lost more weight and had lower triglyceride levels as compared to people who had a high carb diet, finds a study.
Health Conditions Related To Triglycerides And Cholesterol
High blood lipid levels may increase your risk for plaques to develop in your arteries or thicken the walls of your arteries .
Other health conditions related to high triglycerides or cholesterol include:
- High blood sugar levels or diabetes
- Metabolic syndromea cluster of conditions that increase your risk for heart disease
- Genetic conditions
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Diet Advice: How To Lower Triglycerides Naturally
So how can you lower triglycerides naturally? First, try eating your way to better heart health.
A healthy triglyceride diet should include a combination of foods with specific nutrients, including those that are rich in antioxidants, like cranberries. And until you learn how to lower triglycerides below 150 mg/dL, you may also want to augment your diet with nutritional supplements that provide therapeutic levels of these same nutrients. Drinking tea is another beneficial habit for reducing triglycerides.
Most important, make sure the following trio of key nutrients are in your diet.
How to lower triglycerides naturally? Get your omega-3 fatty acids salmon is a top source.
Cut Back On Sugar And Refined Carbs
Different carbohydrate-loaded foods also contain very different nutritional levels.
Dr. Nissen recommends scaling back or eliminating:
Dr. Nissen advises that increasing your fiber intake may lower triglyceride levels. If you have high triglyceride levels, theres a good chance you dont ingest close to the recommended 25 to 30 grams of fiber a day, he says.
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Healthy Eating Tips To Lower Cholesterol
As well as sticking to a varied and healthy diet, try these tips to help you manage your cholesterol:
- The Heart Foundation recommends that people follow a heart-healthy eating pattern, which is built on eating mostly plant-based foods. Eating more plant-based foods like vegetables, legumes, fruit, wholegrains, nuts and seeds is good for heart health.
- Include legumes , beans in at least two meals a week. Check food labels and choose the lowest sodium products.
- Beans make a great alternative to meat in tacos, or snack on hummus with vegetable sticks. You can also add legumes to soups, pasta sauces, curries and stews.
- Use tofu or lentils instead of meat in stir fries or curries.
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.
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How To Lower Cholesterol Naturally In 28 Simple Steps
There are tons of natural remedies out there for how to lower cholesterol levels, often promising quick results with next to no effort required on your part. But while its true that there are tons of options to keep cholesterol levels in check, it can actually be as simple as swapping out a few foods in your diet for healthier options, switching up your workout routine or adding a supplement or two into the mix.
Ready to get started? Lets take a look at 28 simple methods for how to lower cholesterol and how it can impact your health.
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Reduce Your Sugar Consumption
It is well understood that excess sugar can lead to more calories and high triglycerides. The foremost step that you must, hence, take is to cut down your sugar intake. Maintain healthy levels of sugar in your body. Try to avoid as much sugar consumption as possible by limiting your intake of added sugar.
Since you cannot and should not completely avoid sugar consumption, it is advised that you should make healthier choices by choosing natural sweeteners over artificial ones.
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Symptoms Of High Triglycerides
There are no specific symptoms of high triglycerides until they reach extremely high levels. Undergoing a lipid profile test for triglyceride level monitoring is the only way to detect abnormal levels.
At extremely high levels of triglycerides, symptoms of pancreatitis may appear, like pain in the upper abdomen or nausea. By the time triglyceride levels reach a point that is considered to be excessively high, they may have affected several organs, and the symptoms of extremely high triglycerides may include:
- Shortness of breath
- Painless nodules on the thighs, hip, elbows, knees, and torso
- Yellowish-coloured palms
- Raised yellowish spots around the eyeballs
- Nervous system-related symptoms like dementia, depression, memory loss, etc.
These symptoms of high triglycerides must not be ignored as they require immediate attention and treatment by a medical practitioner.
Additional Tips To Raise Triglyceride Levels
- Limit fructose by avoiding corn syrup and dried fruits, such as raisins and dates.
- Follow a moderately low-fat diet.
- Replace your regular dairy products with low-fat products.
- Cut back on saturated fats found in red meat, poultry, butter, cheese, milk, and coconut and palm oils.
- Avoid refined and processed foods that can cause a sudden rise in your bodys insulin, which can lead to a spike in triglycerides.
- Up the intake of tree nuts such as almonds, pecans, cashews, walnuts, etc., as they are rich sources of fiber, omega-3 fatty acids, and unsaturated fats.
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