Heart Health Pictures: How to Lower Triglycerides
What Causes High Triglycerides?
Have you put on a few extra pounds? Your yearly blood tests probably reflect an increase in triglycerides. These triglycerides are fats that are important for your body, but too many of them can hurt your heart and lead to other health problems.
Triglyceride fats can come from the food we eat. They are also made by the liver when we eat starchy or sugary foods. Whether you eat triglycerides or your body makes them, the energy is either used or stored. When your body can’t use all the triglycerides it consumes or produces, triglycerides are stored as fat cells.
Just like cholesterol, high triglycerides can clot arteries, which can lead to heart attacks and stroke. They can also lead to pancreatitis in high levels. The good news is that there are many ways to start lowering your triglycerides and bringing your body back to good health. In the following medically reviewed slides, we explain the role of triglycerides in the body and how you can work to reduce high triglyceride levels.
What Are Normal Triglyceride Levels? Triglyceride Ranges
Getting the right level of triglycerides is important to your sustained health. Doctors use the following triglyceride ranges found in the blood to make determinations about your overall health risks.
- Normal, healthy triglyceride levels: fewer than 150 milligrams per deciliter of blood (mg/dL)
- Borderline triglyceride levels: 150-199 mg/dL
- High triglyceride levels: 200-499 mg/dL
- High blood sugar
- Very high triglyceride levels: more than 500 mg/dL
Metabolic Syndrome
When triglyceride levels are high, one of the major dangers is the threat of metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome refers to several related metabolic disorders that, when found together, increase your chances of developing cardiovascular disease. About 23% of adults are affected by metabolic syndrome.
To assess metabolic syndrome, doctors look at several factors. When three or more of these factors are found together, the diagnosis of metabolic syndrome can be made:
- Greater than 150 mg/dL of triglycerides in the blood
- A fasting glucose level of 100 mg/dL or greater
- Increased or High blood pressure (130/85 mmHg or higher)
- Low HDL cholesterol (“good cholesterol”), less than 40 mg/dl
- Belly fat; a waist circumference greater than 40 inches in men and 35 inches in women
Metabolic syndrome greatly increases your chances of developing heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. It is usually attributed to a combination of
- inactivity,
- obesity,
- genetic factors, and
- aging.
Triglycerides and Diet
The foods you choose to eat play a big part in your triglyceride readings. Eating the right foods can cause triglycerides to drop in a matter of days. But the wrong foods can send those triglyceride levels soaring.
Triglycerides can start to inch up whenever you eat more calories than you burn. Some foods make that easier, including sugary foods and foods high in saturated fat like cheese, whole milk, and red meat.
We’ll take a detailed look at some of the foods to choose—and the ones to avoid - to make it easier for you to keep triglyceride levels in check.
What Causes High Triglycerides? Sugar.
That sweet tooth could be putting your heart at greater risk. Avoiding added sugars (sweet crystalline carbohydrates like glucose and sucrose) in foods is important to lowering triglycerides because excess sugar can be converted by the liver into triglycerides, but often these foods sneak into our diets without our knowing. Some sugary foods that are best avoided include:
- soda,
- baked goodies,
- candy,
- most breakfast cereals,
- concentrated fruit juices,
- flavored yogurt, and
- ice cream.
Hidden Sugar: What Is Its Name?
One tricky thing about avoiding added sugars in our foods is that these sneaky ingredients can masquerade under many different names on a nutrition label. In fact, there are nearly 100 different names for sugar on ingredient lists. Some common names for sugar compounds are listed below.
To help you learn to spot added sugars on food labels, look for these words, all of which mean sugar:
- anhydrous dextrose,
- cane crystals,
- caramel,
- corn syrup,
- diglycerides,
- disaccharides,
- erythritol
- evaporated cane juice,
- Florida crystals,
- fructooligosaccharides,
- glucitol,
- liquid fructose,
- malt syrup,
- maltodextrin,
- malted barley,
- nectars,
- pentose,
- sorbitol,
- sorghum,
- sucanet,
- xylitol, and
- xylose.
Notice that many of these are words ending in "ose," like
- dextrose,
- fructose,
- glucose,
- lactose,
- maltose, and
- sucrose.
Watch out for these and similar words that likely indicate added sugar.
How to Lower Triglycerides: Focus on High Fiber Foods
Fiber has many advantages. It helps fill your stomach without adding a lot of calories, and it slows the digestive process, leaving you feeling full longer. It also helps lower triglycerides.
Fiber is typically found in fruits, vegetables, and lentils, and in some types of grains. Some examples of high fiber foods are
- beans,
- ground flaxseed,
- pumpkin seeds,
- oat and rice bran,
- oatmeal,
- split peas,
- Brussels sprouts,
- broccoli,
- raspberries and blackberries,
- popcorn,
- wild rice, and
- whole wheat spaghetti.
Depending on what grains you’re eating, you could be giving your body a lot more fiber—or a much higher triglyceride count. Avoid refined white flour by trading it for whole grains.
Here are some ideas for swapping triglyceride-heavy foods for healthier fiber-filled options:
- For breakfast, have a bowl of steel-cut oats with berries (especially blackberries and blueberries) instead of a bagel or sweet cereal.
- At lunch, try a salad with plenty of veggies and garbanzo beans.
- For dinner, try brown rice or quinoa instead of potatoes or pasta.
How to Reduce Triglycerides: Eat the Right Kinds of Fat
Believe it or not, the right kind of fat is good for you. It’s those unhealthy fats you want to avoid to keep your triglyceride levels low.
The fats you want are mono- and polyunsaturated fats, like the ones found in
- avocados,
- walnuts,
- chicken without the skin,
- canola oil, and
- olive oil.
Stay away from trans fats, a man-made fat often found in
- processed foods,
- French fries,
- crackers,
- cakes,
- chips, and
- stick margarine.
Also, limit your consumption of saturated fat, which can be found in
- red meat,
- ice cream,
- cheese, and
- buttery baked goods.
