4 Ways Your Doctor Would Tell You To Lower Your Triglycerides
Your doctor would tell you to lower your triglycerides.
Triglycerides are free floating fats that are in your blood to be primarily used as energy. Your body converts a portion of the calories that you eat into triglycerides for a readily available energy supply. They become problematic as the levels in your blood stream rise and stay there. This triglyceride elevation is typically seen in individuals who are obese, have diabetes, eat a high sugar diet or don’t exercise often.
Fortunately for us, we can effectively manage our triglyceride levels and lower our numbers in four easy steps.
Control your carbohydrate intake.
I’m not suggesting that all carbs are the devil all the time. Merely we need to ensure that we are eating a lower amount of carbohydrates particularly in relation to how often we exercise or don’t exercise. The old term is “earn your carbs” and that’s true. Lower carb diets are linked to lower blood triglyceride levels and individuals who consumed a lower amount of carbohydrates had a more significant drop in their triglyceride levels when compared to higher carbohydrates levels. (1)
This specifically goes for sugar intake as well. The more sugar that you eat, the more inflammation that you create and this leads to elevated triglyceride levels. Reduce your sugar intake.
But don’t limit your fat consumption. I know it’s counter intuitive but lower carb diets will actually reduce your triglyceride levels more than lower fat diets. (2)
Up Your Fiber Intake
I’m not entirely certain why consuming more fiber leads to lower triglyceride levels (3). I know that fiber can decrease nutrient absorption speed while also improving digestion but I think that, by adding more fiber, you end up eating healthier foods and reducing your carbohydrate amounts. This is an under rated way to lower your triglyceride levels.
Watch Your Body Weight
Something that interests me about fitness minded people is that they are either losing fat or building muscle. Oh then there’s those who maintain.
All of those options are wrong.
If you monitor your body weight effectively and pay attention to fluctuations and try to stay around a given healthy weight then your triglycerides aren’t going to spike. Yet if you get on the scale after a month and notice that all of a sudden you’re 10 pounds heavier well then your triglyceride definitely increased as well.
Move. Exercise
Yes you can and should take fish oil supplements, curcumin and vitamin D3, all which help with your triglyceride levels but you have to move. Just a simple walk is effective at lowering triglyceride levels in your blood. You’ll see a greater drop in your triglyceride levels as your intensity increases but I’m not suggesting you have to do hardcore crossfit. Start consistently moving, start walking or lifting weight. Do some kettlebell swings.
If you want to lower your triglycerides this is the place to start.
References
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16685042
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4351995/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27229126/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6436502/