Berries Particularly Blueberries Boost Your Good Cholesterol
Quite a few studies have been made on berries and their effect on cholesterol. The results of the studies are different but they are all POSITIVE.
Some studies say that berries lower your LDL cholesterol . Berries contain a compound called pterostilbene which has some of the same cholesterol lowering properties as one of the most effective antioxidants when it comes to lowering cholesterol, preventing heart disease and keeping your artery walls clean and flexible.
Other studies say berries raise your HDL cholesterol .
So I guess we can conclude that no matter what berries are fabulous for your cholesterol levels.
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.
Lowering Triglycerides Without Medication
Unless your triglycerides are extremely high, lifestyle changes are the best place to start. These simple steps can significantly lower triglyceride levels.
- Beware of bad fats. Cutting back on saturated fat and trans fats can lower triglycerides.
- Go for good carbs. Easily digested carbohydrates give triglycerides a definite boost. Eating whole grains and cutting back on soda can help control triglycerides.
- Check your alcohol use. In some people, alcohol dramatically boosts triglycerides. The only way to know if this is true for you is to avoid alcohol for a few weeks and have your triglycerides tested again.
- Go fish. Omega-3 fats in salmon, tuna, sardines, and other fatty fish can lower triglycerides. Having fish twice a week is fine.
- Aim for a healthy weight. If you are overweight, losing just 5% to 10% of your weight can help drive down triglycerides.
- Get moving. Exercise lowers triglycerides and boosts heart-healthy HDL cholesterol.
- Stop smoking. It isnt good for triglyceride levels or for anything else.
About the Author
Gregory Curfman, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Former Editor-in-Chief, Harvard Health Publishing
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Instead Eat Healthy Fats
Not all fats are created equal when it comes to triglycerides. Certain healthy fats actually make the body work better, according to the American Heart Association, so you do want to include them in your diet. Replacing saturated fat with monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat has been shown to help reduce TG levels, Palinski-Wade says, adding that the connection is quite direct: Research has shown that every percent you decrease your intake of trans fatsreplacing them with monounsaturated or polyunsaturated fatlowers your triglyceride levels by the same amount. Eating avocados and cooking with olive oil instead of butter are great ways to add these healthy fats to your diet. Olive oil also contains another fatty acid that can reduce your heart attack risk by 48 percent.
Lower Your Sugar Intake
In addition to starchy carbs like bread and pasta, added sugars can also be converted into triglycerides. This explains part of the link between increased added sugars in the diet and increased cardiovascular risk factors like insulin resistance .
A 2020 review in the Journal of the American Heart Association assessed data from a large cohort of nearly 7,000 people. It found that those who consumed sugary beverages regularly were 50% more likely to have high triglycerides than those who only drank them occasionally — a startling difference that highlights the importance of minimizing excess sugar in the diet. Regular consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages also had adverse effects on good cholesterol.
The American Heart Association recommends limiting sugar consumption to six teaspoons per day for women and nine teaspoons per day for men . That may not seem like much, but that this only pertains to added sugar. Sugars occur naturally in many unprocessed foods such as fruits, certain vegetables , and milk, but these foods don’t count toward your daily added sugar allotment . Still, given that a can of Pepsi has a whopping 39 grams of sugar, this isn’t much added sugar. If you get your sweet fix from natural sources like fruit and limit added sugars to the occasional treat, you’ll be more successful at staying in this range.
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Lecithin Great For Both Hdl And Ldl
If youre a fan of turmeric, I have good news for you. Turmeric contains curcumin . When lecithin is added the absorption of curcumin is even more efficient.
In Germany they are quite fond of lecithin as they have proved that people with too high cholesterol levels benefit greatly from lecithin. Not only does lecithin raise HDL cholesterol, it also lowers LDL cholesterol.
Therefore the Germans have formally introduced and approved of lecithin as a cholesterol lowering supplement.
How Are High Triglycerides Diagnosed
High blood triglycerides are diagnosed with a routine blood test called a lipid panel. A lipid panel measures total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and triglyceride levels in the blood.
Triglyceride level ranges are:
- Normal: Less than 150 mg/dL
- A little bit high: 150 to 499 mg/dL
- Very high: 500 mg/dL or greater
- Moderately high: 500 to 886 mg/dL
- Very high: Greater than 886 mg/dL
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Consider The Bigger Picture
Certain health issues can affect your triglyceride level. Type 2 diabetes, for instance, is a risk factor for high triglycerides. So are thyroid issues and kidney diseases like uremia.
If youre concerned about your triglycerides, it makes sense to see your doctor for a head-to-toe checkup to see if any underlying causes could potentially be at play.
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:
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Avoid Saturated Fat & Trans Fat
To keep your triglycerides low, avoid animal fat and trans fat. Animal-based food like red meat, butter, and cheese contain mostly saturated fat, which is linked to higher triglyceride levels. Plant fat, including vegetable and nut oils, doesnt raise blood triglyceride levels as much as animal fat. An exception to this rule? When vegetable oils are solidified through hydrogenation , they become trans fat and act similarly to animal fat in the body.
Most fried and packaged foods, such as potato chips and cookies, contain trans fat. The U.S. National Library of Medicine recommends making trans fat less than one percent and saturated fat less than 10 percent of your total fat intake. For the best results, avoid animal fat and trans fat altogether. Consume healthy fats, like extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil, or other plant-based options instead.
Establish A Sleep Schedule
Earlier I mentioned how high triglycerides are associated with a sluggish thyroid . This is because a lack of thyroid hormone causes lipids to hang out in the blood for longer periods of time.
One way to improve thyroid function, triglycerides levels, and energy levels at the same time is by prioritizing sleep. Make sure you are sleeping at around the same time every night and getting enough sleep .
If you have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep, turn off all lights and electronics at-least 30 minutes before bed time and meditate. By doing this, you will increase melatonin and decrease stress levels, making it easier to fall asleep and stay asleep throughout the night. Follow the same meditation and sleep schedule every week to wake up feeling more refreshed and healthier each morning.
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How To Reduce Triglycerides: Take Omega
Omega-3 fatty acids help lower triglycerides, even in patients with coronary artery disease. Sardines, salmon, flax seeds, and walnuts are excellent food sources of omega-3 fatty acids.
Most people, however, dont eat enough of these foods in order to get the amount of omega-3s needed to reduce high triglycerides. As such, supplementation is the only way to obtain the needed amount of omega-3s each day. When purchasing an omega-3 supplement, read the label to make sure the daily intake of DHA and EPA added together equals 1,000 mg, which is the amount recommended for cardio protection.
Address Underlying Health Issues
Remember, although triglycerides can be high due to bad lifestyle and dietary choices, they can also be high due to an underlying health condition. The most important thing is to work with your doctor to find out whats causing your high triglyceride levels and to treat any underlying conditions!
For example, triglycerides can be high due to liver disease, infections, underactive thyroid , autoimmune disease, or some genetic disorders just to name a few .
In these cases, simply changing your diet or lifestyle wont help address the underlying issue and may actually be harmful!
In addition, high triglyceride levels can be dangerous for your body. If necessary, your doctor will prescribe triglyceride-lowering medication.
Thats why, if your triglycerides are elevated, you should discuss the lifestyle and dietary changes listed below with your doctor. None of these strategies should ever be done in place of what your doctor recommends or prescribes!
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Find A Workout You Can Stick With
When you get your heart pumping, your muscles tap some of your triglycerides for energywhich is a good thing! In fact, the more you move, the greater the effect. Walking fast, climbing stairs, bicycling, it almost doesnt matter what it is. Its impossible to put a number to just how much exercise you need to reduce triglycerides, but a smart approach is to aim for some kind of moderately intense exercise for at least 2.5 hours each week, says the American Heart Association.
What’s also great? You dont need to shed weight to get the triglyceride-lowering magic going. All movement helps. Some of the assist is unrelated to triglycerides specifically, but good for cholesterol levels overall. For example, exercise helps increase levels of HDL cholesterol, which helps sweep away the plaque buildup that can harden in your arteries.
Is it any surprise that in a Stanford University study, the cholesterol levels of middle-age male runners were significantly lower than that of peers who didnt move their bodies much? The runners HDL cholesterol levels were higher, too.
This is all fine and good, you think. But how are you actually going to stick with it? The trick isn’t really a trick at all: It’s just about finding an exercise routine you actually like. As you explore what that might be, focus on making little changes like walking up the stairs instead of taking the elevator, or parking in the farthest spot from the entrance to your local mall.
Why Do You Have High Triglycerides
However, one big problem arises if we live in westernized societies there is an over abundance of food at all time. If you are reading this right now, you probably live in an area where many different varieties of food are always available. In this kind of food environment, our emotional and instinctual desires override all logical sense, so most of us eat more calories and carbohydrates than we need.
In response to this influx in calories, the cells become stuffed with so much energy that they reject the signal to take more energy in that they receive from insulin . This is otherwise known as insulin resistance, and this causes a cascade of hormonal changes that increase blood sugar and triglyceride levels.
On top of that, carbohydrate consumption stimulates hepatic lipogenesis independent of insulin signaling.
What all of this means is that eating excess calories increases your chances of having high triglycerides levels and eating excess carbohydrates increases triglyceride levels, especially if those carbohydrates are coming from fructose and other processed sugars.
Hold on. What about the fat?
We are talking about triglycerides a type of fat. How could I talk about calories and carbohydrates and neglect to mention fat as a contributor to high triglyceride levels as well? Well, there is a good reason for that.
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Outcome Trials With Epa
JELIS was a prospective, randomized, open-label, blinded endpoint trial of 18,645 patients with elevated serum total cholesterol , but notably relatively normal triglyceride levels, treated with EPA 1.8 g or placebo daily in addition to statin therapy. Treatment with EPA was associated with a greater lowering of triglycerides and a 19% reduction in the composite primary endpoint of any major coronary event, including sudden cardiac death, fatal or nonfatal myocardial infarction and nonfatal events, unstable angina pectoris, or need for coronary revascularization. Subsequent analyses revealed that EPA reduced cardiovascular events by 53% in patients with evidence of atherogenic dyslipidemia at baseline .71,72 Of particular interest, these findings were observed in a study performed exclusively in Japan, where the doses of background statin therapy were low, the dose of EPA was relatively modest, and general consumption of fish is higher. Accordingly, it is of interest to know whether similar findings could be observed in Western populations.
Triglycerides are a type of lipid, or fat, your body produces to store extra calories and provide energy. Cholesterol is another lipid that circulates in your blood. Your body uses cholesterol to build cells and produce hormones.
This article covers how triglycerides and cholesterol affect your health and how you can lower them naturally.
Luis Alvarez / Getty Images
Cholesterol Medication: Types Benefits And Side Effects
Elevated cholesterol levels affect millions of adults across the United States and Europe. While you may not feel any health effects of high cholesterol at first, over time it can lead to a host of health problems, especially heart disease. Fortunately, this condition is easily managed with diet, lifestyle changes, and medication. Your healthcare provider can help you decide which of the many types of cholesterol medications is right for you.
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What Are The Risks Of Having High Triglycerides
High triglyceride levels often go along with high cholesterol and come with the same elevated risk of chronic health problems. In fact, a high triglyceride level is one of the criteria for metabolic syndrome, a combination of health issues that leads to an increased risk of diabetes, heart disease, and stroke.
Are High Triglycerides A Common Problem
Experts recommend you keep your triglycerides below 150 milligrams per deciliter. About one-quarter of the people in the United States have high triglycerides. These numbers have declined since 2001, probably because more people take statin drugs and fewer people smoke cigarettes.
The U.S. FDAs ban on trans fats in food could be another reason triglyceride levels have dropped among Americans. Trans fats increase the levels of not only LDL cholesterol also called the bad cholesterol but also triglycerides.
Even though trans fats may be banned by the FDA, you should choose unsaturated fats over saturated ones.
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Fuel Up On Whole Foods
Eating a healthy diet rich in vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and lean sources of protein rather than fatty, sugary, and processed foods helps with weight and overall health, along with improving cholesterol levels.
Making all of these dietary changes may seem like a tall order, but adopting even one small change at a time can make a big difference. Once youve mastered one healthy diet tweak, move on to the next. If you need help putting all this advice into action, ask your healthcare provider to recommend a registered dietitian that you can work with to reduce cholesterol levels even more.
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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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.
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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 .