Triglyceridesare a type of fat that makes up most of your body fat stores. They can also be found in various foods, such as butter, margarine and oils. Beyond consumption of triglycerides, what and how much you eat also affects your blood triglyceride levels. When you eat more calories than you need, whether from carbohydrates, protein or fat, your body stores the excess calories as fat in the form of triglycerides.
Hypertriglyceridemiais a condition where elevated levels of triglycerides are present in the blood. It is a risk factor for heart disease and diabetes. Luckily, making changes to your diet and lifestyle can help lower your triglycerides and improve your health outcomes. Here are six mistakes that you may be making when trying to lower your triglycerides.
How to Lower Triglycerides & LDL Cholesterol
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1. You are cutting out all carbs
2. You are not balancing your blood sugars
Eating too much food with added sugars can also lead to elevated triglyceride levels. Surprisingly or not,added sugarsmake up more than 13% of an average American’s daily caloric intake, well above theDietary Guidelinesrecommendation of less than 10% of total calories per day.
Added sugars can be present in prepackaged foods, in foods prepared away from home, as add-ins to your coffee and tea (such as sweetened creamers and table sugar) or as ingredients in your baked goods (such as sugar or molasses).
When you eat sugar, your liver breaks down its carbohydrates into glucose and transforms them into glycogen that is stored to use as energy later. The liver can only convert a limited amount of glucose into glycogen at one time; any excess will be stored as fatty acids. These fatty acids are then used to make triglycerides, which are stored in the fat cells and contribute to body fat.
Under normal conditions, your pancreas also makes the hormone insulin to respond to the influx of glucose present in the bloodstream. Insulin, which acts as a key to the body’s cells, aids glucose to pass into the cells for energy. When the key and the lock (the receptors on cells) do not fit well, glucose may not move into cells efficiently or at all, causing the pancreas to make more insulin. Eventually, the pancreas may become sluggish in producing insulin, which can lead to insulin resistance and diabetes over time.
All that is to say that keeping your blood sugar levels in a normal range is important for total body health, including heart health. Reducing your intake of added sugars, along with choosing your carbs wisely, may help manage your blood sugar levels and keep your triglyceride levels in a healthier range.
3. You are eating the wrong kind of fat
The low-fat diet trend of the ’90s has been replaced with just the opposite. Diets likeketoandWhole30encourage eating a lot of animal protein as well as full-fat versions of food, which might have many consumers eating more saturated fat. Overeating saturated fat is also associated with elevated triglyceride levels.
If you’re trying to lower your triglycerides, it’s best to ensure thatsaturated fatsmake up no more than 10% of your daily calories, replacing them with unsaturated fats, such as nuts and seeds, and omega-3 fats like those found in fatty fish and flax seeds.
4. You are drinking too much alcohol
While some research studies suggest that drinking alcohol, specifically red wine, may provide somehealth benefits, drinking alcohol excessively causes more harm than good. Alcohol has calories, and adding sweetened beverages and mixers to alcohol, like cola or syrup, can increase the calories even more. Alcohol is processed in the liver and, as with food, any excess calories consumed are stored as fat. Over time, these extra calories can also raise your triglyceride levels. Drinking too much can also put you at risk for unnecessary weight gain, heart and liver diseases, and more.
Given that the risks outweigh the benefits, there’s no need to start drinking if you don’t already. If you do drink, enjoy it in moderation, with no more than two standard drinks per day for men and one standard drink per day for women.
5. You are not moving enough
Being active for at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity every week is key to maintaining good health. You can also combine the two types of intensities throughout the week.
Look for small wins when you first start exercising, such as doing a 10-minute workout at home, taking your dog or family members out for your walk, taking the stairs instead of the elevator, and parking your car farther away in the parking lot.
6. You have not quit smoking
Using alternatives, such as e-cigarettes and vaping, is not any better either.Researchhas found that smoking e-cigarettes could be just as damaging to one’s cholesterol, glucose and triglyceride levels as smoking traditional tobacco products.
It is never too late to quit smoking to bring down your triglycerides to a healthy range. That said, it is easier said than done. If you need help quitting, reach out to your doctor or local health department for more information on tobacco cessation programs.
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