{"id":2037,"date":"2020-07-08T23:02:17","date_gmt":"2020-07-08T21:02:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dieticiansatwork.co.za\/blog\/?p=2037"},"modified":"2020-07-08T23:02:18","modified_gmt":"2020-07-08T21:02:18","slug":"triglycerides","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dieticiansatwork.co.za\/blog\/triglycerides\/","title":{"rendered":"Triglycerides"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>By Colette Dreyer RD (SA)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Triglycerides\nare one of the most common fats found in the bloodstream. The focus is usually\non the other blood lipids such as total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL)\ncholesterol known as your bad cholesterol, and high-density lipoprotein (HDL)\nknown known as the good cholesterol. However, triglycerides should also be\nfocussed on because a high level could indicate a higher risk for\ncardiovascular disease, whereas a very high level may increase the risk for\npancreatitis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Triglycerides\nconsist of three fatty acids and an alcohol named glycerol. Gut enzymes break\ndown fats into fatty acids from the foods you consume. These fatty acids can\nenter intestinal cells known as enterocytes. The enterocytes combine the fatty\nacids which will form triglycerides. They will then combine with cholesterol\nand protein to form chylomicrons, so that they can be released in the blood\nstream. The chylomicrons transport triglycerides to various tissues where they\nwill be stored or used as energy. Triglycerides can be stored by the liver in a\nlarge molecule known as very-low-density-lipoprotein (VLDL). When VLDL and\nchylomicrons give up the fats to the body cells, they become small and dense\ncholesterol rich particles. A result of high triglycerides will be that LDL\nwill form and will start building up in the artery walls. The higher the\ntriglyceride level the less your body produce HDL. HDL is necessary to remove\nthe LDL form the artery walls and the blood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Eating a\nvery fatty meal can result in a milky colour when taking a blood sample,\nhowever this may resolve in a few hours. Certain hormones will release\ntriglycerides between meals when you need the energy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Carbohydrates\ncan also be converted to triglycerides by the liver, especially when eating these\nfood in excess. Other factors that contribute to an increased triglyceride\nlevel include being overweight or obese, drinking high amounts of alcohol,\nsmoking and medical conditions affecting the liver, thyroid and kidneys.\nGenetics may also cause high triglyceride levels in some people which will\ncause familial hypertriglyceridemia or hyperlipidaemia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A recent\nstudy showed that a 5-10% of body weight lost could decrease triglyceride\nlevels with 25%, whereas making dietary changes by eating more plant proteins\nand focussing on unsaturated (healthier) fats by following a Mediterranean\ndiet, lowered triglyceride levels by 10-15%. Resistance training have shown a triglyceride\nreduction of 5%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lifestyle\nchanges are important to lower triglyceride levels to normal ranges. These\nlifestyle changes include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Aim\nfor a healthy body weight (BMI between 18.5-24.9)<\/li><li>Dietary\nmodification (lower carbohydrate and fat intake)<\/li><li>Choosing\nunsaturated fats rather than saturated fats<\/li><li>Exercise\nregularly<\/li><li>Eat\nwhole grain foods<\/li><li>Avoid\nrefined and processed foods<\/li><li>Eat\nfish at least twice a week to ensure an adequate amount of omega-3 intake. Fish\nsources include salmon, sardines and other fatty fish.<\/li><li>Stick\nto recommended alcohol intake if you are not willing to stop<ul><li>Male:\n2 units<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>Female:\n1 unit<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>1.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Sandesara PB, Virani\nSS, Fazio S, Shapiro MD. The forgotten lipids: triglycerides, remnant\ncholesterol, and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease risk. Endocrine\nreviews. 2019;40(2):537-57.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Colette Dreyer RD (SA) Triglycerides are one of the most common fats found in the bloodstream. The focus is usually on the other blood lipids such as total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol known as your bad cholesterol, and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) known known as the good cholesterol. However, triglycerides should also be focussed [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":2038,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/dieticiansatwork.co.za\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Triglycerides.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4CNFS-wR","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dieticiansatwork.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2037"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dieticiansatwork.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dieticiansatwork.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dieticiansatwork.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dieticiansatwork.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2037"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dieticiansatwork.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2037\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2039,"href":"https:\/\/dieticiansatwork.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2037\/revisions\/2039"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dieticiansatwork.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2038"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dieticiansatwork.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2037"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dieticiansatwork.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2037"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dieticiansatwork.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2037"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}