Cholesterol Management Health Center
Triglycerides and How to Lower Them
Good cholesterol, bad cholesterol, saturated fat, and unsaturated fat -- sometimes it seems like you need a program to keep track of all the fat players in the story of heart disease.
In some ways, the function of triglycerides in our body is the easiest to understand. Simply put, triglycerides are fat in the blood and are used to provide energy to the body. If one has extra triglycerides, they are stored in different places in case they are needed later. A high triglycerides level can increase the risk of heart disease. Just what your triglyceride levels mean and how much lowering triglycerides reduces heart disease risk is less clear.
What Are Triglycerides?
Triglycerides are important to human life and are the main form of fat in the body. When you think of fat developing and being stored in your hips or belly, you're thinking of triglycerides. Consider these things:
The fat we eat exists in relatively huge molecules inside food. Triglycerides are the end product of digesting and breaking down these bulky fats.
Any extra food we eat that's not used for activity right away -- carbohydrates and fats -- are also chemically converted into triglycerides.
Triglycerides are then bundled together into globules after they are eaten. These are transported through the blood to the liver. After they leave the liver, triglygerides are packaged inside a type of protein (called very low density lipoprotein) and then can be transported in the blood to where they are needed.
Excess triglycerides are taken up by adipose (fat) cells to be used for energy if food isn't available later -- or during your next diet.
Triglycerides are measured using a common test called a lipid panel. It's the same blood test that checks "good" and "bad" cholesterol levels. The American Heart Association recommends that everyone over the age of 20 should get a lipid panel to measure cholesterol and triglycerides and if normal should have the panel repeated every five years.
Triglyceride levels are checked after an overnight fast. Fat from a meal can artificially raise the triglyceride levels on the test.
WebMD Medical Reference
