Is Triglycerides Good Or Bad

How Do Triglyceride Levels Compare With Cholesterol Levels

If you have high triglycerides, you are more likely to also have high total cholesterol and high bad cholesterol levels. Many people with high triglycerides also have low good cholesterol levels.

Both triglycerides and cholesterol are measured in mg/dL. However, the guidelines differ for what normal levels are for each of them.

What Is Considered Low Triglycerides

There isnt an official cutoff for low triglycerides. Most labs will consider any value below 150 mg/dL normal and values below 90 mg/dL as optimal.

If you are healthy and your values are lower than normal, you probably have nothing to worry about on the contrary.

But based on the studies above, in certain conditions, levels that are 50-70% lower than the average healthy persons might signal a more serious course of disease or higher levels of inflammation .

Ldl And Hdl: What Are Triglycerides

Triglycerides are chemical compounds digested by the body to provide it with the energy for metabolism. Triglycerides are the most common form of fat in the body. They are the main ingredient in vegetable oils and animal fats.

The triglyceride molecule is a form of the chemical glycerol that contains three fatty acids. To be absorbed, these parts are broken apart in the small intestine, and afterwards are reassembled with cholesterol to form chylomicrons. This is the source of energy for cells in the body. Fat cells and liver cells are used as storage sites and release chylomicrons when the body needs the energy.

Elevated triglyceride levels are a risk factor for atherosclerosis, the narrowing of arteries with the buildup of fatty plaques that may lead to heart attack, stroke, and peripheral artery disease. Markedly elevated triglyceride levels may also cause fatty liver disease and pancreatitis.

Certain diseases and conditions may cause elevated triglyceride blood levels, for example:

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About Your Cholesterol Result

A cholesterol test can measure:

• total cholesterol the overall amount of cholesterol in your blood, including both “good” and “bad” cholesterol
• total cholesterol to HDL cholesterol ratio the level of good cholesterol in your blood compared to your overall cholesterol level
• good cholesterol this makes you less likely to have heart problems or a stroke
• bad cholesterol this makes you more likely to have heart problems or a stroke
• triglycerides a fatty substance similar to bad cholesterol

When you get your result, you may just be told your total cholesterol.

You might be able to get separate results for your good and bad cholesterol, triglycerides, and your total cholesterol to HDL ratio. Ask your doctor or nurse.

The Source Of Triglycerides

Food is one source of triglycerides. Your liver also makes them. When you eat extra calories especially carbohydrates your liver increases the production of triglycerides.

When you consume or your body creates excess triglycerides, theyre stored in fat cells for later use. When theyre needed, your body releases them as fatty acids, which fuel body movement, create heat and provide energy for body processes.

For good health, your triglyceride level should be less than 150 mg/dL. Borderline high levels are 150 to 199 mg/dL. High is 200 to 499 mg/dL. Very high is 500 mg/dL and greater.

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How It Is Done

The health professional taking a sample of your blood will:

• Wrap an elastic band around your upper arm to stop the flow of blood. This makes the veins below the band larger so it is easier to put a needle into the vein.
• Clean the needle site with alcohol.
• Put the needle into the vein. More than one needle stick may be needed.
• Attach a tube to the needle to fill it with blood.
• Remove the band from your arm when enough blood is collected.
• Put a gauze pad or cotton ball over the needle site as the needle is removed.
• Put pressure on the site and then put on a bandage.

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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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.

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.

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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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What Is Vldl And How Does It Relate To Triglyceride

Very low-density lipoprotein is one of the major lipoprotein particles. Others include high-density lipoprotein and low-density lipoprotein . Each one of these particles contains a mixture of cholesterol, protein, and triglyceride but in varying amounts unique to each type of particle. LDL contains the highest amount of cholesterol. HDL contains the highest amount of protein. VLDL contains the highest amount of triglyceride. Since VLDL contains most of the circulating triglyceride and since the compositions of the different particles are relatively constant, it is possible to estimate the amount of VLDL-cholesterol by dividing the triglyceride value by 5. At present, there is no simple, direct way of measuring VLDL-cholesterol, so the estimate calculated from triglyceride is used in most settings. This calculation is not valid when the triglyceride is greater than 400 mg/dL. Increased levels of VLDL-cholesterol have been found to be associated with increased risk of heart disease and stroke.

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How Do Triglycerides Circulate In The Blood

Pure cholesterol cannot mix with or dissolve in the blood. Instead, the liver packages cholesterol with triglycerides and proteins called lipoproteins. The lipoproteins move this fatty mixture to areas throughout the body.

Types of these lipoproteins include very low-density lipoproteins , high-density lipoproteins and low-density lipoproteins .

Understanding Cholesterol: Hdl Ldl And Triglycerides

There are two types of grocery shoppersthose who race in with a list in hand and meticulously grab every item on the list before checking out and leaving, and those who meander up and down every aisle, not sure what they want until they see it on the shelf.

But within those two types, theres another shopper you may have seenthe label-reader. This person is health-conscious and examines the nutrition labels of food items before placing them in the cart.

One of the most important categories to check for on a food label is cholesterol.

Cholesterol is a waxy, fat-like substance found in your blood. Your body needs some cholesterol, but too much can build up on the walls of your arteries and can lead to heart disease and stroke. Checking your risk for heart disease and stroke is as simple as getting a lipid panel, which tests your blood cholesterol.

There are four important things checked in a lipid panel:

• Total cholesterol
• Low-density lipoproteins

HDL is known as the good cholesterol because it helps remove cholesterol by carrying it back to the liver where it can be eliminated from the body. Its good to have a high HDL number. LDL is known as the bad cholesterol because having too much LDL may cause a buildup of plaque in your blood vessels. Triglycerides are also a type of fat found in your blood. High triglycerides, low HDL, and/or high LDL numbers can increase your risk for heart attack and stroke.

Generally speaking, normal lab values are:

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Dangers Of Low Triglycerides

Low triglyceride levels are generally not dangerous. In fact, research supports the idea that low triglyceride levels can offer certain health benefits.

In one 2014 study, researchers found that lower non-fasting triglyceride levels were associated with a reduction in all-cause mortality in almost 14,000 study participants.

Another smaller 2017 study found that low triglyceride levels were linked to improved brain function in older adults without dementia.

However, incredibly low triglyceride levels may be linked to other conditions, as mentioned above. Some of these conditions in and of themselves may be dangerous, so it becomes important to treat the underlying condition thats causing low triglycerides.

Test To Check Your Triglyceride Levels

A panel of blood test known as lipid profile is recommended to find abnormalities in your lipids such as triglycerides. It is a simple blood test that may need you to fast for twelve hours to get a precise reading. The triglycerides level test also helps your health care provider determine whether you are at risk of a heart disease or not. They can recommend a diet according to the results.

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When Is It Ordered

Adults

A lipid profile, which includes triglycerides, is recommended every 4 to 6 years to evaluate risk of heart disease in healthy adults. Children should have a lipid profile screening at least once between the ages of 9 and 11 and once again between the ages of 17 and 21.

Testing may be ordered more frequently when people have identified risk factors for heart disease. Some risk factors for heart disease include:

• Cigarette smoking

• Acceptable: Less than 90 mg/dL
• Borderline high: 90-129 mg/dL
• High: Greater than 130 mg/dL

For young adults older than 19

• Acceptable: Less than 115 mg/dL
• Borderline high: 115-149 mg/dL
• High: Greater than 150 mg/dL

Note: These values are based on fasting triglyceride levels.

When triglycerides are very high ), there is a risk of developing pancreatitis in children and adults. Treatment to lower triglycerides should be started as soon as possible.

Are Triglycerides Always Bad

If some fats are good fats, are all triglycerides bad and, if so, why? Shouldnt there be some good triglycerides as well?

Andrew Weil, M.D. |January 9, 2009

Triglycerides are the chemical form in which fat moves through the bloodstream to your bodys tissues. They are derived directly from fats in your diet and are also made in the body from other energy sources such as carbohydrates. When calories you consume are not used immediately, they are converted to triglycerides and stored in fat cells. Hormones then regulate their release to meet energy needs.

Whenever your LDL cholesterol is measured, triglycerides are checked, too. Levels lower than 150 milligrams per deciliter are considered normal and levels above 200 mg/dL are considered too high.

Although they contribute to the calculation of total cholesterol, triglycerides themselves are neither bad nor good. Theyre either too high or theyre not. This is in contrast to cholesterol where high levels of LDL cholesterol suggest an increased risk of heart disease while high levels of HDL cholesterol mean a low heart disease risk.

In my opinion, the conventional medical recommendation for a low-fat, high carbohydrate diet to lower triglycerides and bring down cholesterol is dead wrong. Instead you want to be on a healthy carbohydrate diet, such as my anti-inflammatory diet. Familiarize yourself with the concept of glycemic load and choose carbohydrate foods that rank low on that scale.

Andrew Weil, M.D.

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What Affects The Test

Many conditions can affect cholesterol and triglyceride levels, including:

• Medicines, such as diuretics, corticosteroids, male sex hormones , tranquillizers, estrogen, birth control pills, antibiotics, and niacin .
• Physical stress, such as infection, heart attack, surgery.
• Other conditions, such as hypothyroidism, diabetes, or kidney or liver disease.
• Alcohol use disorder.
• Liver disease , malnutrition, or hyperthyroidism.
• Pregnancy. Values are the highest during the third trimester and usually return to the pre-pregnancy levels after delivery of the baby.

Your doctor will talk with you about any abnormal results that may be related to your other health problems.

Foods That Can Lower Triglycerides

Some studies suggest that essential fatty acids, such as omega-3 fatty acids, can help lower triglyceride levels.

This type of fat is found in:

Fish oil or omega-3 supplements may be a helpful addition to your diet. However, before taking supplements, you should speak with your healthcare provider.

Also make sure to eat plenty of vegetables, which help lower triglycerides in part because they don’t contain a lot of calories, sugars, or bad fats. Certain vegetables like Brussels sprouts, broccoli, and spinach contain an antioxidant called alpha-lipoic acid that may lower triglycerides.

Also, choose foods made with soy, which is a healthy source of protein. Some research suggests that regular soy protein consumption can lower triglycerides.

Adding foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids to your diet may help lower triglyceride levels. If possible, aim to eat wild-caught fatty fish at least twice a week. You should also try to get three to five servings of veggies daily, particularly non-starchy ones.

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More Information About A Triglycerides Level Of 80

Triglycerides are the main component of body fat in humans and also serve to enable the transference of adipose fat and glucose from the liver.

A triglycerides level of 80 may be written on a lab report as 80 mg/dL, or milligrams per deciliter. This means there would be 80 milligrams of triglycerides per deciliter of blood. For reference, 1 deciliter is equal to 100 milliliters, or approximately 3.38 US fluid ounces.

What To Think About

• Chylomicrons are another type of lipoprotein that are measured in a different test. Chylomicrons are in the blood and carry fat from your intestine to your liver. They carry triglycerides to your muscles for immediate use. Or they carry triglycerides to fat tissue for storage.
• Having a high cholesterol level increases your chances of having a heart attack. The higher your cholesterol, the greater your chances. An elevated total cholesterol level in younger people is particularly significant, since the narrowing of the coronary arteries usually takes many years to develop.
• Lifestyle changes may help lower blood cholesterol levels and increase HDL cholesterol. Some people have better responses to diet and lifestyle changes than do others. Lifestyle changes might include:
• Quitting smoking.
• Eating healthier by reducing saturated fats and cholesterol in the diet while increasing fibre and complex carbohydrate.
• Losing weight. An improvement may occur if you lose as little as 2.5 kg to 5 kg .
• Being active on most, preferably all, days of the week.

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What Is A High Triglyceride Level

High triglycerides can be dangerous to your health. Unfortunately, high triglycerides, like high cholesterol, rarely causes symptoms. Its vital to get routine lipid blood tests to check cholesterol numbers.

Your healthcare provider determines total cholesterol by looking at a combination of triglycerides, HDL and LDL numbers. If your triglycerides and LDL cholesterol are high, but your HDL is low, you have an increased risk of heart attack and stroke.

For the most accurate reading, you should fast 8 to 12 hours before a lipid blood test. A healthy number for triglycerides is below 150 milligrams per deciliter .

Your healthcare provider classifies high triglyceride levels as:

• Mild: 150-199 mg/dL.
• Severe: Greater than 500 mg/dL.

Is There Anything Else I Should Know

If you are diabetic and your blood sugar is out of control, triglycerides may be very high.

Triglycerides change dramatically in response to meals, increasing as much as 5 to 10 times higher than fasting levels just a few hours after eating. Even fasting levels vary considerably day to day. Therefore, modest changes in fasting triglycerides measured on different days are not considered to be abnormal.

Certain drugs such as corticosteroids, protease inhibitors for HIV, beta blockers, and estrogens can increase blood triglyceride levels.

There is increasing interest in measuring triglycerides in people who have not fasted. The reason is that a non-fasting sample may be more representative of the âusualâ circulating level of triglyceride since most of the day blood lipid levels reflect post-meal levels rather than fasting levels. However, it is not yet certain how to interpret non-fasting levels for evaluating risk so, at present, there is no change in the current recommendations for fasting prior to tests for lipid levels.

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