High triglycerides are common in the tests we do every year and are often a concern for many people.
They are a common type of fatty acid (fat) found in the blood. The excess energy from the food we consume on a daily basis is converted into triglycerides, that is, lipid esters combined with lipoproteins.
For example, when we eat, our body converts calories that it doesn’t use immediately into triglycerides and stores them in fat cells.
However, if you regularly eat more calories than you use, especially from carbohydrate-rich foods, you may develop high triglycerides or hypertriglyceridemia.
In addition, smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, and poorly controlled diabetes also contribute to hypertriglyceridemia.
Healthstat.gr mentions some simple ways to keep triglyceride levels under control:
1. Avoid excess sugar
Simple sugars, from table sugar and candy, have little nutritional value, raise triglyceride levels, and add empty calories to your diet. Even people who don’t have hypertriglyceridemia experience an increase in triglycerides when they eat or drink too many simple sugars, such as alcohol and added sugar, according to the American Heart Association (AHA). You can lower your triglycerides by limiting sweets, 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 foods over processed foods, you can help lower triglyceride levels. Examples of whole foods include whole wheat pasta, brown rice, whole wheat bread, and whole grain cereals.
3. Add more fiber to your diet
Fiber is the part of food that is not digested and is important because it helps you feel full. According to a study, fiber may reduce the risk of high triglycerides in young and middle-aged adults who are overweight or obese. “In general, high-fiber foods also have carbohydrate content that is more complex and can lead to more gradual absorption by the body, which can also help mitigate the rise in triglycerides that occurs after meals.” “. Fiber is found in whole grains and nutrient-dense foods, such as fruits and vegetables.
4. Choose healthy fats over saturated
Another way to lower triglycerides and cholesterol naturally is by eating healthy fats. Omega-3 fatty acids lower triglycerides and bad cholesterol by increasing fat metabolism. Omega-3 fatty acids are found in fatty fish such as salmon and herring, olive oil, and dietary supplements. People with high triglycerides can take omega-3 fatty acid supplements at a dose of 4 grams per day, although it’s best to get them from food. Saturated fat, which comes primarily from meat sources, should be limited to no more than 5 to 6 percent of your total daily calories.
5. Know the dangers of trans fats
Trans fats are dangerous for the 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. This can make fried foods taste better, but trans fats are very unhealthy, especially for people with high triglycerides. In fact, trans fats should account for less than 1% of 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 alcohol consumption
While you may not need to completely abstain from alcohol, avoiding excessive alcohol consumption is part of a heart-healthy lifestyle.
Alcohol is high in the type of carbohydrate that your body converts to 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 triglycerides. 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 to 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 get healthy calories and get rid of excess calories. This means balancing your activity level and calorie intake until you burn as many calories as you take in. A nutritious diet and a healthy lifestyle are your best defenses against high triglyceride levels.
Source: Healthstat.gr
