How To Reduce Triglycerides Level

When Should I Get My Triglyceride Levels Checked

If you are aged 45 years or older, you should have your cholesterol and triglycerides checked every 5 years. Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people should start regular triglyceride checks from age 35.

The level of triglycerides in your blood is higher after you eat, so you will need to fast for 9 to 12 hours before the test.

Talk to your doctor about your results and what to do if your levels are high.

Some People May Respond Best To A Low

For those with severely elevated triglycerides , there is a case for low-fat diets being equally good if not better than low carb in some situations.

One study finds that those with triglycerides below 400 mg/dL respond best to low-carb diets, but those with triglycerides greater than 400 mg/dL respond best to low-fat diets.24

However, case reports document a decrease in severely elevated triglycerides with low-carb, high-fat diets.25

Its important to understand the cause of elevated triglycerides, as that may impact the proposed dietary treatment. If someone has a genetic cause, such as familial chylomicronemia or lipoprotein lipase deficiency, a low-fat diet may be more effective.26

Aside from these extreme examples, there is no evidence to support a low-fat diet as being better than a low-carb diet for reducing elevated triglycerides.

Natural Ways To Lower Your Cholesterol Levels

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Cholesterol is made in your liver and has many important functions. For example, it helps keep the walls of your cells flexible and is needed to make several hormones.

However, like anything in the body, too much cholesterol creates concerns.

Like fat, cholesterol does not dissolve in water. Instead, to move around the body, it depends on molecules called lipoproteins. These carry cholesterol, fat, and fat-soluble vitamins in your blood.

Different kinds of lipoproteins have different effects on health. For example, high levels of low-density lipoprotein results in cholesterol deposits in blood vessel walls, which can lead to (

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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.

Ways To Reduce Elevated Triglycerides

: Simple sugars are the primary ingredient of triglycerides and hence excess intake of sweets or drinks can raise triglycerides. Eliminate intake of food items loaded with sugars like cookies, pastries, sweet desserts, and fruit juices.

: Drinking alcohol raises triglyceride levels. For people who are sensitive, a small amount of alcohol can trigger it.

Reduce intake of refined carbohydrate-containing foods: Intake of refined cereals like white rice, bread, pasta made from white flour, or cornflakes can significantly raise triglycerides in sensitive individuals. Instead choose whole grains such as multigrain chapatti, and other grains such as quinoa, barley and millet.

Choose foods rich in omega 3 fatty acids, the “good” fats! Omega 3 fatty acids have been shown to significantly reduce the elevated triglycerides level. Hence include foods high in omega-3 fatty acids such fatty fish , flax seeds, flaxseed oil, Almonds and legumes. Checkout 25 foods and 7 days diet to lower triglycerides.

Maintain a healthy weight: You may be surprised to discover that a modest weight loss of 5-6 kg can reduce your triglycerides, cholesterol level, and decrease your risk of heart disease. Eat a healthy diet to lose weight and prevent lifestyle diseases like diabetes, CVD, etc.

Eat more plant foods! Vegetable proteins such as beans, peas, nuts and lentils are excellent ways to improve your health and will have a direct effect on lowering your triglycerides and cholesterol.

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Limit Your Alcohol Intake

Heavy drinking is associated with many health issues, including high triglyceride levels. Too much alcohol leads to cholesterol problems by adding extra calories, carbs, and sugar to your diet.

When youre trying to curb your drinking, it helps to avoid triggers that cause alcohol relapses. This includes people, situations, certain foods, and places that increase the urge to drink.

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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Why Do Triglycerides Matter

Knowing your triglyceride numbers and lowering triglycerides matter to prevent or control the following conditions:

• Hardening of the arteries and thickening of the artery walls: The higher your triglyceride levels, the more susceptible you are to heart disease. Clogged arteries can lead to a heart attack and stroke.
• Prediabetes and diabetes: These are strongly associated with poor blood glucose control. Additionally, high triglycerides may be a sign of metabolic syndrome a cluster of factors including high blood sugar, high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels, and excess body weight.
• Acute pancreatitis: Although rare, hypertriglyceridemia triglyceride levels of over 1,000 mg/dL increase a persons risk and severity of pancreatitis.
• Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease : High triglycerides indicate the possibility of NAFLD, a condition in which triglycerides accumulate in liver cells. A diet high in carbs and fructose and a lack of physical activity contribute to this disease. NAFLD is also associated with other health problems, such as diabetes and kidney disease.

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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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.

Hyperlipidemia High Cholesterol High Triglycerides How To Treat

The treatment of hyperlipidemia, high cholesterol, and high triglyceride is mainly divided into two parts: drug treatment and adjustment of daily eating habits.

If the necessity of medication is not reached, most doctors will generally recommend starting with non-medication.

Improve by adjusting the patients life and eating habits. If the blood lipids do not return to normal after 3-6 months, medical treatment should be performed.

The general treatment drugs are Statins, cholic acid-binding resin, nicotinic acid, and fibrate derivatives four kinds, to achieve control to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease caused by arteriosclerosis.

The treatment of drugs still needs to be discussed with the doctor, so in the next paragraph, I will mainly focus on the second focus of treatment, which is also the root of the daily diet and life maintenance.

Note. Taking the relevant therapeutic drugs requires taking the medicine according to the instructions of the doctor. All kinds of drugs have side effects.

You should discuss with the doctor and design a prescription label according to your own situation. Do not judge the consumption by yourself.

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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.

Medications May Be Needed For High Triglyceride Levels

Sometimes, healthy eating and regular exercise cant lower high triglyceride levels. This may be the case, for example, if you have familial hypertriglyceridemia or if you already have heart disease. Your doctor may prescribe medication such as fibrates or nicotinic acids. Drugs to help lower high blood cholesterol may also be prescribed, if necessary.Suggestions for managing high triglyceride levels with medication include:

• Always take prescription medications exactly as instructed.
• See your doctor if you are having side effects from the medication. Known medication side effects may include indigestion, diarrhoea, fever or muscle problems.
• Dont assume that medications will somehow overcome the hazards of an unhealthy lifestyle. A healthy diet, regular exercise and maintaining an appropriate weight for your height are the most important management strategies for high triglycerides.

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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.

Pancreatitis Is A Unique Risk Of High Triglyceride Levels

You may not have heard of it before, but pancreatitis is the name for extreme inflammation of the pancreas, which is one of your vital organs. Pancreatitis is a serious disease with a high rate of hospitalization and sometimes even life-threatening complications.

When the pancreas becomes inflamed, the symptoms typically include nausea, vomiting, and severe upper abdominal pain. The two main causes are gallstones and heavy alcohol use though, many times, the exact cause cannot be identified. High triglyceride levels can be a trigger in up to 7% of acute episodes of pancreatitis. Other causes include:

• Some medications

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A Promising New Treatment For High Triglycerides

• By Gregory Curfman, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Former Editor-in-Chief, Harvard Health Publishing

When you think about fat circulating in the bloodstream, you might immediately think of cholesterol. But theres another type of fat you shouldnt ignore: triglycerides. As with cholesterol, high triglycerides can also increase the risk of having a heart attack. Existing drugs for lowering triglycerides arent that good at reducing heart attack risk. Thats why a report on a new way to lower triglycerides, New England Journal of Medicine, is generating some excitement among cardiologists.

Limit Sugar Refined Carbohydrates And Too Much Alcohol

Do you have to eat a keto diet to lower triglycerides? Not necessarily. Reducing sugars, refined carbohydrates, and alcohol may be enough to lower your levels.

As we mentioned, any caloric excess can increase triglycerides. However, the most likely sources of extra calories are excess sugar, refined carbs, and alcohol.19

One reason carbs and sugars commonly increase triglycerides may be that carbs and sugars are two of the most commonly overconsumed foods. However, another reason could be that fructose and alcohol are more likely to cause fatty liver, which can raise triglycerides.20

One study reports that simply replacing sugar-sweetened beverages with water reduced triglycerides.21

And another reports that decreasing alcohol consumption lowered fasting triglycerides.22

Other factors, such as baseline obesity and insulin resistance, may make it more likely that eating carbs would cause an individuals triglycerides to rise.23

If youre overweight or have insulin resistance, the evidence shows its important to reduce carbs. However, the data suggests that most people with high triglycerides even people with normal weight would benefit from reducing sugar, refined carbs, and alcohol.

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Metabolic Syndrome Risk Factors

High triglyceride levels are associated with a collection of disorders known as metabolic syndrome. A person with metabolic syndrome has an increased risk of developing diabetes, stroke or heart disease.A person is classed as having metabolic syndrome when they have any three of the following factors:

• Central obesity excess fat in and around the stomach
• High blood pressure
• Higher than normal blood glucose levels
• Low HDL cholesterol
• High blood triglycerides.

How Are Triglycerides Connected To Cholesterol

Cholesterol is another type of fatty substance. It has many uses in your body, including producing hormones, building cells and helping you digest food.

There are good and bad types of cholesterol. ‘Bad’ cholesterol is known as low-density lipoprotein or LDL. It can stick to the sides of your blood vessels and block them. ‘Good’ cholesterol is known as high-density lipoprotein or HDL. It transports the bad cholesterol away from your blood vessels to your liver, which gets rid of it.

If you have a high level of triglycerides together with a high LDL level or a low HDL level, you have a higher risk of fat building up and blocking your blood vessels. This increases your risk of having a heart attack or a stroke.

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Stay Wary Of Trans Fats

Another category of unhealthy fats include trans fats which increase the levels of LDL in your body. A variety of food products that you pick from the shelf are rich in trans fat and is labelled hydrogenated oil. This type of oil is made by adding hydrogen to vegetable oils in an effort to increase the shelf life of the product.

It is thus important that you read the labels of the products you buy and avoid the ones that contain trans fat.

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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Add More Fiber To Your Diet

Fiber is the part of your food that isnt digested, and its important because it helps you feel full. According to a study published in February 2019 in the journal Current Developments in Nutrition, dietary fiber can reduce the risk of high triglycerides in young to middle-aged adults who are overweight or obese. In general, fiber-rich foods also have carbohydrate content that is more complex and can lead to more gradual absorption by the body, which can also help temper the triglyceride increase that occurs after meals, says Michael Wesley Milks, MD, a cardiologist and assistant professor of clinical medicine at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus. Fiber is found in whole grains and nutrient-rich foods such as fruits and vegetables.

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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