Diagnosed with High Triglycerides? 6 Things That Help

When it comes to heart health, cholesterol gets all the attention. But there is another blood test that speaks volumes about her heart health: triglycerides.

Triglycerides are a kind of fat in your bloodstream. We get them from eating fatty foods such as butter and oils. However, you can also increase additional calories or a lot of sugar due to consumption. While triglycerides are an energy source for your body, you can suspend health problems with increased values. “Increased triglyceride levels increase the risk of developing atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases, including heart attacks, strokes and chronic inflammation of the blood vessels,” says cardiologist Khanh-van Tran, MD, Ph.D. Very high triglyceride levels can also increase your risk of acute pancreatitis, which can be life -threatening. “Due to these risks, patients should seriously treat the diagnosis and work on reducing their triglyceride levels.”

As alarming as this may sound, high triglycerides are extremely common. According to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, 1 out of 4 American adults have this condition. So we asked cardiologists what to do to lower triglycerides, and they told us.

1. Minimize sugar -containing foods

Although there are triglyceride fats, it can also raise too much sugar. If you have high triglycerides that are defined as 150 to 500 mg/dl, your health service provider may ask you to reduce your consumption of additional sugar. Ideally, someone with high triglycerids would keep their additional sugar “to nothing”, says cardiologist Gregory Katz, MD. Additional sugar can be found in large quantities in cookies, cakes, donuts, sweets, soda, sweet tea and sugar -containing lattes and coffee drinks.

If you are surprised How In order to minimize the added sugar, a great first step is to read the Nutrition facts panel on food packages. Also try some simple swaps such as drinking simple or sparkling water and unsweetened tea or coffee instead of sugar -containing drinks. You can also select simple yogurt via flavored versions or choose unsweetened muesli.

What about natural sugar from fruits? The answer depends on how high your triglycerides are. If your triglycerides are less than 500 mg/dl, you can certainly eat three to four servings of fruit per day. You can also eat this amount if your numbers fall between 500 and 999 mg/dl, provided you avoid high glycemic index fruits such as bananas, watermelon, mangoes and pineapple. However, if your triglyceride exceed 1,000 mg/dl, the ACC recommends limiting the fruits to one portion per day and working with a registered nutritionist to develop an individual meal plan to reduce your numbers.

2. Avoid alcohol

One of the best things you can do to reduce triglycerides is avoiding alcohol, says Katz. If your numbers are between 150 and 500 mg/dl, your health service provider may give you the start page to drink moderately depending on the general health. Moderately means that women should not exceed one drink a day, and men should not have more than two drinks. However, if you have a very high triglyceride level (defined as defined as over 500 mg/dl), experts advise you to completely avoid alcohol.

That means it can be difficult to cut or give up alcohol. So speak to your health service provider, who can refer to resources that you support on the trip to drink or cut back.

3. Try the Mediterranean diet

If there is a eating pattern that recommends the tran, it is the Mediterranean diet. In addition to the reduction of triglycerides, this heart-healthy nutrition plan has shown that it reduces the “harmful” LDL cholesterol level and increases the “good” HDL cholesterol level. It was also associated with more stable blood sugar levels that can protect against diabetes. In addition, research has shown that it can promote weight loss and help to reduce stubborn belly fat (also known as visceral fat).

The Mediterranean diet is surprisingly flexible. It is rich in vegetables, fruit, whole grains, legumes, nuts, seeds and olive oil. It also contains small amounts of fish, eggs and dairy products with a little poultry. At the same time, it limits ultra-processed food, red meat, sugar and sodium. Despite its name, you can adjust it so that you match cultural food prices and traditions. So there are many options for it to work for you.

4. Work in aerobic training

All movement is good for your heart. However, if you want to lower triglycerides, think with moderate to violent aerobic training. This type of exercise consumes triglycerides to the fuel, which naturally removed them from their bloodstream.

The combination of aerobics movements with a nutritious, balanced eating pattern can have an additional advantage, and this helps you to achieve a healthy body weight. “It was also shown that aerobics movement and weight loss reduce the liver triglyceride content and improve insulin sensitivity, which contributes to the fact that the circulating triglyceride levels further reduce,” says Tran. The combination is so strong that the loss of 5% to 10% of its body weight in combination with movement can reduce triglycerides by 20%.

The key is a regular, consistent exercise. Effort for 150 minutes a week with medium intensity activity such as walking quickly, cozy cycling, gardening or dancing. Alternatively, you can carry out strong aerobics exercises such as running, swimming, jumping part or fast cycling 75 minutes a week.

5. Treat the underlying health problems

Various health states can increase your risk of high triglycerides. “In addition to weight loss, healthy nutrition and regular exercise, it is crucial to identify and remedy secondary causes such as uncontrolled diabetes, hypothyroidism, certain medication and excessive alcohol consumption,” says Tran. Management of this can lead to significant improvements in her triglycerides, she says. For example, if you live with diabetes or metabolic syndrome, better blood sugar treatment can reduce your triglycerides and at the same time improve blood sugar levels.

6. If necessary, take medication

If your fasting triglyceride levels are at or over 500 mg/dl, your health service provider will probably consider medication in addition to changes in the lifestyle, says Tran. For values ​​over 1,000 mg/dl, medication can be recommended even more. Before your health service provider writes a recipe, you would usually like to determine whether an underlying disease contributes to your increased figures, such as: B. uncontrolled diabetes or kidney diseases, says Tran. If medication is displayed, you can include statins, fibrates or prescription omega-3 fatty acids.

It can be encouraging to know that you may not always need medication. Katz points out that changes in the lifestyle have a profound influence on their need for triglyceride -reducing medication. “Sometimes drugs are needed for life, sometimes people from the medication can (through) adapt their diet, alcohol consumption and activity level,” he says.

Our expert

If you find out that you have high triglycerides, this can be a surprise. However, high triglycerides are extremely common. Since this blood fat can increase the risk of heart disease and stroke, it is important to do what you can do to reduce your numbers. Cardiologists say that changes in the lifestyle, such as B. the limitation of sugar, after a Mediterranean diet, avoiding alcohol, obtaining regular aerobic movement and taking prescribed medication, can help reduce triglyceride levels. The treatment of underlying health problems that can contribute to increased triglycerides such as type -2 diabetes is also essential.

However, the goal is not to reduce your triglyceride level for your next blood test. It leads to changes in the lifestyle that you can follow every day. That is why extreme diet and training programs that are best avoided are not sustainable, says Katz. “Even if you temporarily lower the levels, you are difficult to stay in the long term,” he says. Instead, the trick is to find these small, sustainable changes that work for them in the long run.