Metabolic Health

Why High Triglyceride Levels Matter and How to Optimize Them

Three practical tips to address hypertriglyceridemia, lower elevated triglycerides, and optimize lipid profile with healthy lifestyle habits

Purpose of the Article

This article introduces the medical condition hypertriglyceridemia and summarizes symptoms, root causes, risk factors, diagnostics, and treatment methods in simple terms.

In addition, I introduce practical ways to lower triglycerides with healthy lifestyle habits based on credible sources and my personal experience.

This article is for information, inspiration, and awareness purposes. It does not include health advice.

Inspiration for the Post

Subscribers reading my content related to metabolic health have shown interest in understanding the role of triglycerides in our health and how we can improve our lipid profile.

It appears that some readers confuse triglycerides with cholesterol, which I introduce in a previous article. Therefore, one of my goals is to add clarity to these two critical lipids for our metabolic health.

Instead of going into scientific and medical details, I focus on practical points and healthy lifestyle choices to address the risks of hypertriglyceridemia and optimize triglycerides sustainably.

What is Hypertriglyceridemia, and Why do Triglycerides Matter?

First, let’s understand triglycerides so that risk factors and the associated medical conditions make sense.

Triglycerides are fat molecules that mainly come from our food. They are energy sources for the body, like sugar. The body needs both triglycerides and sugar to energize cells.

As soon as the body digests foods from macronutrients such as carbohydrates, fats, and proteins, triglycerides from the calories of these foods circulate in the bloodstream. Then they are used as energy by our cells.

Even though the body can immediately use them when energy is needed by our cells, especially muscles, they are also stored as fat molecules when we have excessive calories.

Therefore, excessive triglycerides in the bloodstream after meals and accumulating amounts in the fat cells cause hypertriglyceridemia, which can cause severe health conditions such as heart disease, stroke, and pancreatitis.

Pancreatitis refers to the inflammation of the pancreas. Acute pancreatitis is a widespread and potentially fatal condition. The number of incidents seems to be significantly rising. For example, as documented in a paper on BMC, “Pancreatitis is a critical public health problem, and the burden of pancreatitis is increasing.”

Hypertriglyceridemia is a critical cardiovascular health risk. It refers to elevated triglycerides in the bloodstream for a prolonged time. High cholesterol (LDL) and elevated triglycerides are together known as high hyperlipidemia.

People often confuse triglycerides with cholesterol. They are two different lipids and play different roles in our metabolism. One is fuelling the body, and the other one serves as a building block.

For example, the body uses triglycerides as an energy source. However, the body uses cholesterol to build/maintain cells and hormones.

Interested readers might check my findings and experience with cholesterol in an article titled Here’s the Cholesterol Paradox and How It Impacted My Health Positively.

Symptoms, Diagnoses, Causes, and Treatment of High Triglycerides

Interestingly, high triglycerides might not show symptoms in some people. As informed in this paper, approximately 15% to 20% of patients visiting a medical practice are diagnosed with hypertriglyceridemia — frequently as an incidental finding.

However, there are some signs of hypertriglyceridemia associated with metabolic syndrome factors. For example, growing abdominal size is an indicator of elevated triglycerides. And high blood triglycerides are a risk factor for metabolic syndrome.

Triglycerides can easily be detected via blood tests ordered by our family doctors or specialists. Triglycerides are measured as nmol/L or mg/dL in different countries.

For example, in the medical literature, 1.7 mmol/L or lower is normal. Two to six mmol/L is considered high, and over six mmol/L depicts hypertriglyceridemia.

As informed in this paper, levels above 11.4 mmol/L (1000 mg/dL) can induce acute pancreatitis.

An outstanding study published in Jama Internal Medicine found that “In 116,550 individuals from the general population, nonfasting mild-to-moderate hypertriglyceridemia of 177 mg/dL (2 mmol/L) or higher was associated with a high risk of acute pancreatitis, with risk estimates higher than for myocardial infarction.”

Major causes of high triglycerides are excessive calories, especially from refined carbohydrates, excessive alcohol consumption, sedentary life, liver disease, kidney disease, hypothyroidism, side effects of medications, and genetic disorders.

As documented by Mayo Clinic, commonly known medications for increasing triglycerides are steroids, beta-blockers, diuretics, retinoids, some immunosuppressants, and medications used for HIV treatment.

Family doctors or specialists prescribe medications such as fenofibrate to reduce triglycerides for acute and urgent cases.

However, moderate or mild cases are usually treated by reducing calories in the diet, lowering alcohol intake, increasing exercise, and taking omega-3 fatty acids. Niacin is also believed to be effective in lowering triglycerides.

3 Healthy Lifestyle Choices to Lower Elevated Triglycerides and Optimize Them Sustainably

Even though some people with underlying health conditions such as metabolic syndrome, type II diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases might need medical supervision and prescribed medication, healthy people can lower elevated triglycerides with healthy lifestyle habits.

Millions of people reverse their condition and reduced risks via healthy lifestyle choices advised by qualified healthcare professionals.

Here are three lifestyle considerations to lower elevated triglycerides and optimize them.

1 — Reduce calories from refined carbs.

As the primary cause of elevated triglycerides for healthy people is excessive calories, especially from refined carbs, reducing calories from these foods is a viable option.

The problem with refined carbs is that when our muscle cells don’t accept the blood glucose signaled by insulin, the body stores these glucose molecules as triglycerides for future use.

However, if we keep eating more sugary products with frequent meals and sugary beverages, our blood glucose will keep increasing, and the body will never have a chance to use previously saved triglycerides and keep storing more.

Thus, reducing unnecessary calories from our diet is an effective way of lowering elevated triglycerides.

2 — Move after main meals.

The second option is exercise. When we move the body, we can use triglycerides as an energy source, just like glucose.

So, the more we move, the more triglycerides we can burn.

Sedentary life causes insulin resistance and hypertriglyceridemia. Both conditions put us in a metabolically disadvantaged position and increase the risks of type II diabetes, fatty liver disease, cardiovascular diseases, cancers, and neurodegenerative diseases.

I shared an inspiring story of an elderly couple who reversed their type II diabetes by increasing exercise. Here is the link to the story: Here’s How a Mature-Age Couple Reversed Diabetes and Trimmed Their Bodies with Lifestyle Habits.

3 — Reduce excess alcohol.

Excess alcohol consumption is also a known risk of elevated triglycerides

Alcohol is a high-calorie drink. It includes sugar and increases calories.

Excess alcohol consumption also has other metabolic risk factors, such as reducing Vitamin B1, which is a critical vitamin for the body and brain.

Conclusions and Takeaways

Triglycerides, like sugar, are a source of energy for the body, so we need them. However, excessive triglycerides can cause serious health issues, including metabolic and cardiovascular diseases.

For example, elevated triglycerides might contribute to the hardening of the arteries causing arteriosclerosis. This condition is one of the root causes of heart disease and stroke, as I explained in this article titled Here’s How to Lower the Risks of Heart Disease and Strokes in Five Steps.

In addition, excessive and prolonged hypertriglyceridemia might cause pancreatitis, which refers to the acute inflammation of the pancreas. I provided tips to improve the health of the pancreas in an article titled Make Your Pancreas Healthier via Lifestyle Choices.

Managing our triglyceride levels and keeping them within the normal range is critical for our health and well-being.

For underlying conditions, patients with hypertriglyceridemia need medical supervision, medication, and relevant therapies.

However, healthy people can manage their triglycerides with healthy lifestyle habits such as eating nutritional food with adequate calories, moving the body regularly, and refraining from excessive alcohol consumption.

Medical doctor Ken Berry highlights that triglycerides are mainly caused by eating high amounts of refined carbs in this video. He asserts that healthy fats do not cause elevation of triglycerides.

I agree with his view, as my triglycerides were problematic when I was on high-carb diets. My family doctor even considered giving medication.

However, when I replaced carbs with healthy fats, my triglycerides optimized. Even eating 200g of healthy fat daily does not cause a problem for me. However, excessive saturated fats can also raise triglycerides.

Regardless of my diet, I am meticulous in keeping my calories in the desired range with one meal a day and burn excessive calories with regular exercises such as calisthenics, weightlifting, HIIT, and trampoline. I also perform long-term fasting to reset my metabolism and intensify autophagy and initiate mitophagy for cellular cleansing.

Elevated triglycerides also have a genetic factor. However, it does not mean that we will have hypertriglyceridemia if we control our calories. Those with genetic conditions need to further reduce their calories, especially from refined carbs.

Some people tolerate carbs well, but some cannot. For example, I was diagnosed as a carb-intolerant. Therefore, I had to replace carbs with healthy fats to get my energy requirements from food.

Each person has a different metabolism. Some do well with carbs, and some with fats. Therefore, finding the right energy source with help from qualified healthcare professionals such as dieticians and certified nutritionists can be helpful.

Those who have a few minutes might check this short video by Mayo Clinic that makes it crystal clear to the public what to do to manage their triglycerides.

Thank you for reading my perspectives. I wish you a healthy and happy life.

As a new reader, please check my holistic health and well-being stories reflecting my reviews, observations, and decades of experiments optimizing my hormones and neurotransmitters. I write about health as it matters. I believe health is all about homeostasis.

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