Does your test say you have high triglycerides? It is more common than you think … The common foods that many people tend to eat have high doses of sugar, one of the elements that, as you will see, causes these undesirable fats to rise.

The diet to lower triglycerides should reduce the consumption of sugars, saturated or trans fats, replace refined flours with whole grains and eliminate alcohol consumption. It is also recommended to increase the consumption of mono and polyunsaturated fats and omega 3.

What are triglycerides?

Triglycerides are a type of fat found in the blood . Excess this type of fat increases the risk of cardiovascular disease. As I explain in the cholesterol and triglycerides course ,  cardiovascular diseases continue to be the main cause of death in the Spanish population 

INE report : Deaths by cause of death. Advance January-May 2020.It should be said that triglycerides are the most efficient way for the body to store energy  in the form of fat. Thus, what is stored by the cells that make up adipose tissue, which are what make up “fat”, are triglycerides.

What are healthy triglyceride levels?

To know if your triglyceride levels are high, you only need to do a blood test. One is considered to have hypertriglyceridemia (high blood triglyceride levels) when these are above 200 mg / dL.  Normal triglyceride levels are below 150 mg / dL.

Factors that can raise your triglyceride level include:

• Being overweight
• Lack of physical activity
• Smoke
• Excessive alcohol consumption
• Very high carbohydrate diet
• Some genetic disorders

How to prevent and treat high triglycerides?

When your triglyceride levels are 150 mg / dL or above, you need to start taking care of yourself.

To improve these levels and consequently prevent cardiovascular diseases (hypertension, coronary heart disease, stroke or cerebrovascular accident, rheumatic heart disease or heart failure), you must follow a diet to lower triglycerides, perform daily or regular physical activity and maintain a healthy weight.

You should also stop smoking if this is the case.

You have all this detailed and expanded information in the  cholesterol and triglycerides course , in which I teach you to manage your diet to reduce these serum levels so harmful to your body. You can also schedule a nutrition consultation with me in the consultation button on the top bar.

Diet to lower triglyceride levels

There are two foods that are the main causes of triglycerides to rise: simple sugars and alcohol. 

For this reason, the diet to lower triglyceride levels will have completely restricted alcohol and must limit simple sugars . 

Also, since we are talking about a type of fat, these will also be limited. So we must:

Eliminate alcohol consumption completely

Not a beer for vermouth, not a glass of wine ( which I remember is not healthy, quite the opposite ), not a gin and tonic on Saturday night.

No alcohol, zero.

If a family event, commitment or similar coincides, you can try a beer without  or some sweetened or light  drink  but only as an exception and consuming it occasionally.

Avoid simple sugars 

The following foods are rich in simple sugars and therefore should be avoided :

• Sweets (chocolates with less than 70% cocoa, sweets, chocolates …), pastries (including all cookies) and pastries in general.
• Commercial sauces
• Sugary drinks or soft drinks : cola, orange, lemon, tonic …
• Juices and smoothies , even homemade ones
• Breakfast cereals
• Processed and pre-cooked meals
• Soluble cocoas (except pure without sugar)
• Flavored yogurts and other dairy desserts (custards, puddings …)
• All kinds of sugars and sweeteners (syrups, honey, brown sugar …)

Replace refined cereals with whole grains

All refined cereals (white rice, white pasta …) should be replaced by their integral version , which keep the whole cereal grain, providing more vitamins and minerals and, what is more important, fiber .

The fiber present in whole grains will slow down the absorption so it will also decrease the absorption of fats.

In addition, the glycemic index (the measure of how quickly a food can raise blood sugar) of whole grains is lower.

Reduce saturated and trans fats 

All sweets and pastries that are already excluded due to their high sugar content, are once again excluded due to their saturated fat content.

The vegetable fats, coconut and palm particular, should also be avoided. To do this, you must read the labeling very well.

Trans fats are produced during the hydrogenation process of vegetable fats, and their proportion depends on the efficiency of the hydrogenation process. Hydrogenated vegetable fats are used to increase the shelf life of packaged products, such as vegetable margarines or processed foods.

Eat leaner meats or trim visible fat and increase fish consumption.

Avoid or reduce the consumption of fatty sausages and fatty cheeses.

Increase mono and polyunsaturated fats, omega 3

These types of fats are not only healthy, but also improve the lipid profile . It is advisable to preferably consume olive oil and use cooking oils, instead of butter or margarine.

The seeds are a food that provide unsaturated fats and omega3 (w-3) and omega6 (w-6) fats , so you should start introducing them into your diet: sunflower or pumpkin seeds, sesame, flax … you will see that they combine very well with almost all dishes.

Finally, to get more w-3 fats in your diet, eat oily fish at least 2 times a week. Walnuts and oats contain w-3 and also soybeans and their derivatives (tofu, tempeh).Other considerations

By discarding we have all those  fresh and natural foods (which I have not named) which are fruits, vegetables, legumes, and nuts that are fully indicated and that will promote and improve our cardiovascular health and our general health .

In addition, basing your diet on these foods (along with the whole grains that I mentioned above) will promote a healthy weight. An aspect of great relevance for our triglyceride levels, as we have already seen.

conclusion

Request a general blood test from your GP (in fact, you should have at least one control a year) where the lipid profile appears.

If your cholesterol levels are high, follow the advice on  how to lower cholesterol , and if your triglycerides are 150 mg / dL or higher, follow the advice in this post .

If you also want help from a professional or a personalized diet, contact us from the top menu of this website.