High triglycerides increase your risk of developing heart disease. Other factors that increase your vulnerability include high levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, smoking, excess alcohol consumption, obesity, advancing age, a sedentary lifestyle and gender. You cannot control all risk factors for heart attacks and strokes, but you can lower your triglycerides through diet and lifestyle changes.
Dangerous Triglyceride Levels
Triglycerides that measure 600 mg/dl -- milligrams per deciliter -- put you at very high risk of developing cardiovascular disease. Levels between 150 mg/dl and 200 mg/dl put you at borderline high risk, levels between 200 mg/dl and 500 mg/dl put you at high risk. Levels below 150 mg/dl are generally considered safe, but the American Heart Association lowered its recommendations to 100 mg/dl in April 2011, based on a review of 500 studies about triglycerides and heart disease.
Sugar, Fat and Triglycerides
Some of the food you eat -- meat and margarine, for instance -- contains triglycerides. Excess sugar in your diet also converts to triglycerides in your bloodstream. So, if you eat too much saturated fat, trans fat and sugar, your triglycerides can elevate to dangerous levels. Fortunately, you can reduce triglycerides in your arteries by reducing the amount of fat and sugar in your diet. The American Heart Association states that you can reduce your triglycerides by 20 percent through diet alone and up to 50 percent through a combination of diet and exercise.
American
The diet recommended by the AHA is similar but stricter than dietary guidelines proposed by other medical organizations such as the Cleveland Clinic and MayoClinic.com. If your triglycerides top 600 mg/dl, it might make sense to follow the AHA guidelines: limit saturated fat to 16 g daily, trans fat to 2 g daily, sugar to 5 percent to 10 percent of your daily calories and fructose to 50 g to 100 g. This means eating leaner, smaller portions of meat, avoiding margarine and shortening, drinking no more than 36 oz. of regular soda per week and favoring fruit such as peaches and cantaloupe over sugar-dense varieties such as raisins and watermelon.
Lifestyle Changes
Engage in moderate exercise such as brisk walking for 30 minutes a day most days of the week. Aim for at least 150 minutes weekly. Other lifestyle changes include moderating your intake of alcohol. The general guideline is 1 drink a day for women and men older than 50 and 2 drinks daily for younger men, but anyone with levels higher than 500 mg/dl may need to make further modifications. If you drink alcohol, ask your doctor about how much you can safely consume as you work toward lowering your triglycerides. If you smoke, stop.
References
- MayoClinic.com; High Cholesterol; June 24 2010
- American Heart Association; Diet, Lifestyle Changes Can Significantly Reduce Triglyceride; April 18 2011
- Cleveland Clinic; Heart and Vascular Health and Prevention; How Foods Affect Triglycerides
- MayoClinic.com; Healthy Diet: End the Guesswork With These Nutrition Guidelines; February 2011
