Although genetics can play a role in how high your triglyceride levels are positive diet and lifestyle changes can drastically affect triglyceride levels for the better. High triglycerides (levels above 200mg/dL) put a person at greater risk for heart disease.

So what are triglycerides? When you eat more calories than you need, these calories are converted into triglycerides and stored in your fat cells until your body needs them for energy. Triglycerides are also transporters of dietary fat. They serve useful functions in the body; however, having levels that are too high is not healthy. Triglycerides are derived from fats in food or are made in the body from other sources like carbohydrates. Check out the following actions that you can take to lower your triglycerides naturally without medication so you can reduce your risk of heart disease.

Greatly Reduce Your Intake of Sugar and Other High Glycemic Carbohydrates: In my opinion, reducing your sugar and unhealthy carbohydrate consumption is the best and surest way of lowering your triglycerides naturally. High glycemic carbohydrates are foods like white flour, white rice, juice, pulverized whole wheat, instant oatmeal, high fructose corn syrup, and white potatoes to name a few. Sometimes even healthy whole grains like whole grain brown rice, quinoa, steel cut oats may need to be eaten in moderation versus other lower glycemic carbohydrates like green leafy vegetables.

Exercise: Get some aerobic exercise most days of the week. If you aren’t getting much of anything now, start just by moving more. Walk wherever and whenever you can. Start a garden. Cook more at home. You’d be amazed at the increase in movement when you cook your own meals from scratch instead of buying already prepared meals, eating out, or purchasing microwaveable meals. You get lots of lifting, bending, and stretching. Eventually, start including more aerobic exercise into your routine.

Increase Omega-3 Fatty Acid Consumption: Omega-3 fatty acids are thought to lower triglyceride levels. In addition, fish is often a normal part of the diet in populations that are long-lived and that have a lower incidence of heart disease. The best source of omega-3 fatty acids comes from such fatty fish as wild Alaskan salmon and sardines but omega-3 fatty acids can also be found in walnuts, flax seeds, purslane (a leafy, green vegetable not that common in the US), meat from grass fed animals, and omega-3 fortified eggs.

Decrease Alcohol Consumption: It just takes just a little bit of alcohol to raise triglyceride levels in susceptible people. Alcohol can often be a source of excess calories that will be converted to triglycerides and stored as fat. If you have high triglycerides try eliminating alcohol altogether and see what happens.

Do Away with Trans Fats: Trans fats are found mostly in such packaged foods as crackers, cookies, cakes, pies, pretzels, pancake mixes, popcorn, some margarines, and crackers. When dining out, you are likely to stumble upon trans fats in your food when eating out at fast food restaurants or ordering desserts in any restaurant. Look for hydrogenated, partially hydrogenated or shortening on the ingredient label if you want to identify if there are any trans fats in the food you are purchasing. Trans fats raise LDL cholesterol (the “bad” cholesterol) and triglycerides while lowering HDL cholesterol (the “good” cholesterol). Added trans fats have absolutely no place in a heart-healthy diet.

Sometimes making all the changes just mentioned can be difficult. The changes often require a change in habits and patterns of living. Typical reasons why implementing these changes can be difficult are as follows: too little time, cravings for sweets and alcohol are hard to control, not sure how to prepare healthier foods, too tired to exercise. The best way to succeed with diet and lifestyle changes is to have time and support to make your new health goals a reality.

Author Bio: Sandra is The Heart-Healthy Food Coach. She received her nutrition and coaching training from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition in NYC. Visit www.cutcholesterolnow.com to receive a free audio recording “Top 3 Secrets to Lower Your Cholesterol Fast without Drugs or Drastic Dieting”.

Category: Wellness, Fitness and Diet
Keywords: triglycerides,lower triglycerides,lower triglycerides naturally,high cholesterol,heart disease