by High triglyceride levels are common in the tests we do every year and often affect a large number of people.
It is a common type of fatty acid (fat) found in the blood. The remaining energy from the food we eat daily is converted into triglycerides, that is, lipid esters associated with lipoproteins.
For example, when we eat, our body converts the calories it doesn’t immediately use into triglycerides and stores them in fat cells.
However, if you regularly eat more calories than you use, especially carbohydrate-rich foods, you may develop high triglycerides or hypertriglyceridemia.
Additionally, smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, and poorly controlled diabetes also contribute to hypertriglyceridemia.
Healthstat.gr mentions some simple ways to control triglyceride levels:
1. Avoid too much sugar
Simple sugars, from table sugar and sweets, have little nutritional value, raise triglyceride levels, and add empty calories to your diet. Even people who don’t have hypertriglyceridemia experience increased triglycerides when they eat or drink too many simple sugars, such as alcohol and added sugars, according to the American Heart Association (AHA). You can lower your triglycerides by limiting candy, sugary drinks, cookies, and baked goods.
2. Resist refined foods
Carbohydrates come from plant foods and are the main source of energy in most people’s diets. The carbs you get from processed foods like white bread, rice, and pasta have been processed to remove their outer grains. By choosing whole-grain foods over processed foods, you can help lower triglyceride levels. Examples of whole grain foods include whole grain pasta, brown rice, whole grain bread, and whole grain cereal.
3. Add more fiber to your diet
Fiber is the part of your diet that is not digested and is important because it helps you feel full. According to one study, fiber may reduce the risk of high triglyceride levels in overweight or obese young middle-aged adults. “In general, high-fiber foods also have more complex carbohydrate content and may lead to more gradual absorption by the body, which may also help mitigate the rise in triglycerides that occurs after meals.” . Fiber is found in whole grains and nutrient-dense foods like fruits and vegetables.
4. Choose healthy fats over saturated fats
Another way to naturally lower triglycerides and cholesterol is to eat healthy fats. Omega-3 fatty acids reduce triglycerides and bad cholesterol by increasing fat metabolism. Omega-3 fatty acids are found in fatty fish like salmon and herring, olive oil, and dietary supplements. People with high triglycerides can take omega-3 fatty acid supplements at 4 grams per day, although getting it from food is always best. Saturated fat, which comes mostly from meat sources, should make up no more than 5-6% of your total daily calories.
5. Know the dangers of trans fats
Trans fats are dangerous for your heart because they raise low-density lipoprotein (LDL or “bad”) cholesterol and triglyceride levels. The main culprit you’ll see on product labels is partially hydrogenated oil. Trans fats are the result of adding hydrogen to liquid vegetable oils to increase shelf life. It may make fried foods taste better, but trans fats are very unhealthy, especially for people with high triglycerides. In fact, trans fats should make up less than 1% of your total calories, according to the World Health Organization. Check your food labels: if a food contains trans fats or hydrogenated oils, leave it on the shelf.
6. Reduce your alcohol intake
Although you don’t need to completely abstain from alcohol, avoiding excessive alcohol consumption is part of a heart-healthy lifestyle.
Alcohol is high in carbohydrates which your body converts into triglycerides. It can also affect your liver, which can affect your ability to metabolize fat. Even moderate alcohol consumption — typically one drink a day for women and two drinks a day for men — can significantly raise triglyceride levels.
7. Exercise
Regular exercise is important for everyone, but especially for someone with high triglyceride levels. Exercise increases your body’s ability to metabolize sugar, which lowers the amount of sugar in your blood and reduces the amount of sugar your body converts into triglycerides. One study found that moderate aerobic exercise significantly helped lower triglycerides in people with heart disease.
8. Control your weight
Being overweight reduces your ability to metabolize sugar and other carbohydrates, which leads to high triglyceride levels. To maintain a healthy weight and lower triglycerides, you need to eat healthy calories and eliminate excess calories. This means balancing your activity level and calorie intake until you are burning as many calories as you are taking in. A nutritious diet and a healthy lifestyle are your best defenses against high triglyceride levels.
Source: Healthstat.gr
