5 Tips on How to Lower Triglycerides

Authored by: Eric Venn-Watson, MD

Summary:

• Triglycerides are stored in your fat cells and later released as energy when your body needs it, with high triglycerides often being a marker for underlying conditions like diabetes. 
• You can lower your triglycerides by exercising, limiting carb intake, maintaining a healthy weight, limiting alcohol consumption, and choosing healthy fats. 
• Healthy fats like omega-3s, omega-6s, and C15:0 may help keep triglycerides at a healthy level.

With the new year already under way, many of us will head to our general practitioners to get our annual physical exams. Part of that exam will likely include a lipid panel. A lipid panel blood test measures your cholesterol and also your triglyceride levels. If your triglycerides have been  historically high, you can learn how to lower them, and lower your risk of certain associated health risks.

In this article we’ll discuss what triglycerides are, why they matter, and how you can lower them with certain diet and lifestyle adjustments. We’ll also consider how the use of a certain odd-chain saturated fatty acid may be the key in keeping your triglyceride levels within healthy range. 

What Are Triglycerides?

You’ve just met with your doctor to discuss your lipid panel and you’re told your triglyceride levels are too high. That likely wasn’t the news you were expecting, and you probably feel a little lost. What are triglycerides? Why do they need to be lower? 

Triglycerides are kind of like cholesterol, in that they’re a type of fat that is stored in your blood. Triglycerides are stored in your fat cells and later released as energy when your body needs it. Cholesterol is a type of fat that is stored in your blood that is not converted to energy. 

Triglycerides come from the foods you eat, mostly carbohydrates. That may sound confusing since triglycerides are a type of fat, but the biggest source of triglycerides in your body comes from taking in too many carbohydrates. 

When you eat an excess of carbohydrates (calories your body cannot burn away), your triglyceride levels increase. This is because your body turns those excess carbohydrates into fat which is later stored in your blood. 

The foods most commonly associated with levels of high triglycerides are:

• Starchy vegetables
• Fruit
• Alcohol
• Canned fish in oil
• Coconut
• Starchy foods like pasta and cereal
• Sugary foods

    
None of these foods are inherently bad on their own, but eating an excess of these foods can lead to higher triglyceride levels.

You’re at a higher risk of having high triglycerides if you are overweight, or if you have uncontrolled diabetes. That’s why maintaining a healthy weight and balanced diet are crucial for keeping your triglyceride levels under control.

Healthy Triglyceride Levels

What’s normal and what’s not? If you’ve been diagnosed with high triglycerides, you likely want to know what’s considered normal range. 

Normal
Under 150 ml/dL

Borderline High
150-199 mg/dL

High
200-499 mg/dL

Very High
500 mg/dL or above

Why Do Triglyceride Levels Matter?

High triglycerides might not seem like a big deal -- just a number, right? It’s not quite that simple. High triglycerides are associated with a wide range of health problems. High triglycerides can cause hardening of the arteries, called atherosclerosis, which leads to a much higher risk of heart disease and stroke. 

High triglyceride levels also lead to sudden pancreatitis, a condition that is particularly painful and can be life threatening. 
    
High triglycerides are often a marker for underlying conditions like:

• Type 2 diabetes or prediabetes. If you have type 2 diabetes or prediabetes that is unregulated, your triglycerides will likely test high. If you’ve gotten a high triglyceride lipid panel back and you aren’t currently under treatment for diabetes, your doctor can discuss whether or not you need to seek further treatment.

 

• Metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome is a group of health conditions that put a person at higher risk of heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. Metabolic syndrome includes high blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess body fat (especially around the waist), and high cholesterol and triglyceride levels. 

 

• Hypothyroidism. If your thyroid doesn’t produce enough of the hormones it should, you may receive a diagnosis of hypothyroidism. Hypothyroidism can also cause your triglyceride levels to spike. 

It goes without saying you want to avoid these negative health markers and lower your triglycerides. You can lower your triglycerides and improve your health by following a few simple lifestyle changes and incorporating healthy dietary fats into your diet. Here’s how.

5 Tips To Help Lower Triglycerides

When you get a high triglyceride diagnosis from your healthcare provider, you want to know how you can get back on track fast. 

Here are five tips on how to lower triglycerides quickly, and maintain a healthier lifestyle.

1. Exercise. You know you should exercise, and if you already have an exercise program in place, it might be time to reevaluate if it is adequately meeting your needs. Ideally, you’ll want to incorporate 30 minutes of heart-pumping exercise into your schedule every day. 

Not only will exercise improve your triglyceride levels, it can also help you manage cholesterol levels.

1. Limit your carbohydrate intake. We’re addicted to carbohydrates, especially sugar and starch. Unfortunately, the amount of carbohydrates we consume is much higher than our bodies can ever burn. Those carbohydrates end up as triglyceride fat in our blood.

 

1. Maintain a healthy weight. If you’re overweight, do your best to get back into your healthy weight zone. Losing weight is a challenge, but your health will improve and your triglyceride levels will decrease by maintaining a healthy weight. 

 

1. Limit alcohol consumption. Excessive alcohol consumption can spike your triglyceride levels. Limit your alcohol consumption to dietary guidelines, which is one drink per day for women, and two drinks per day for men.

 

1. Choose healthy fats. You heard us correctly. Consuming healthy fats can help you maintain your triglyceride levels. In fact, some healthy fats, like pentadecanoic acid (also called C15:0), may help to maintain healthy triglyceride levels due to its role as the first essential fatty acid to be discovered in 90 years.

Want to learn more about how using fat to battle fat actually works? Read on!

C15:0 and Your Triglycerides

We know what you’re thinking: “I’m supposed to be lowering the amount of fat in my blood, so how can consuming fat help me?” 

The first thing to know is that not all fats are bad. For instance, we know that omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids are beneficial and an essential part of our diet. Essential means our bodies need them to function healthfully, but they cannot and do not produce them. A good way to increase our omega-3 and omega-6 concentrations is to consume them in our diets. 

Pentadecanoic acid, also known as C15:0, is an odd-chain saturated fatty acid present in trace levels in butter and other whole dairy products. Unfortunately, because dietary guidelines recommend that we limit our intake of whole fat dairy products containing saturated fats, that means you likely aren’t getting much of it in your diet. 

During the late 1970s, the U.S. government released dietary guidelines that told us that all fats, especially saturated fats, were bad. We listened, and since that time the consumption of foods like whole fat milk and butter have been on the decline. Research suggests we got it wrong.

In fact, studies support that C15:0, as a healthy odd-chain saturated fat, can support healthy triglyceride levels, giving you a better chance of keeping your lipid panels within normal range once and for all.

What exactly does C15:0 do in terms of keeping your triglycerides lower? 

• Activate receptors that lower triglycerides. Studies have demonstrated C15:0 as a natural activator of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs, pronounced pee-pars). Molecules that activate PPAR alpha receptors, like fibrates, can effectively and safely lower triglycerides. Studies in the laboratory have demonstrated that daily C15:0 can lower triglycerides, likely due to its role as a partial PPAR alpha activator.

 

• Support cardiovascular health. A study of over 25,000 men and women over a period of 13 years showed that individuals with a higher circulating level of C15:0 had better cardiovascular health. People with high triglyceride levels are more likely to develop heart disease than those who have triglyceride levels in normal range.

 

• Support healthy weight and metabolism. Carrying excess weight can cause your triglyceride levels to rise. C15:0 supports healthy weight maintenance, and research shows that people with a higher level of circulating C15:0 are less likely to carry excess weight. 

~

Science supports that C15:0 is a fatty acid that can promote our health and may help maintain healthy triglyceride levels. Adding a C15:0 supplement to your health stack can be an important part of  obtaining a new level of health and wellness in the new year! 

Along with changing your diet and exercise habits, cutting back on your alcohol consumption and lowering your sugar intake, C15:0 may help keep your triglyceride levels lower, which will make your doctor happy and keep you healthier.

To learn more about how C15:0 can support your health for the long-run, click here!


Sources:


https://www.heart.org/en/health-topics/cholesterol/hdl-good-ldl-bad-cholesterol-and-triglycerides
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/17583-triglycerides--heart-health
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3234107/
https://health.gov/our-work/food-nutrition/2015-2020-dietary-guidelines
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-64960-y