Triglycerides can harm your body. – By Dr Harold Gunatillake
Transcript:
Triglycerides are a type of fat (lipid) found in the blood. When you eat, your body converts any calories it doesn’t need to be used immediately into triglycerides, which are stored in your fat cells.
High levels of triglycerides in the blood can be caused by a few factors, with obesity and poorly controlled diabetes is the most common ones. If you have excess weight and are not physically active, your triglyceride levels maybe high, mainly if your diet is high in carbohydrates, sugary foods, or alcohol.
“You are concerned about cholesterol levels in your blood, including bad LDL and good HDL. It is also essential to consider your triglyceride levels, as they play an important role in your health but can also cause harm if they are too high.
Triglyceride levels usually fall into the following categories: Healthy: Below 150 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL) for adults; lower than 90 mg/dL for children and teens (ages 10-19)
Borderline high: Between 150 and 199 mg/dL. And High: Between 200 and 499 mg/dL Now, what causes high triglyceride levels? That is very important to know and control.
Excessive alcohol use. Unmanaged diabetes. A diet high in sugar, saturated fat and simple carbohydrates. The wrong diet is the main reason for most healthy people. Liver disease. Kidney disease.
Medications like diuretics, hormones, corticosteroids, beta blockers and some HIV medications can all raise your blood triglyceride level.
Another cause is a body mass index (BMI) greater than 25 or being overweight. Now, what is the chemical structure of triglycerides? Triglyceride is an ester derived from glycerol and three fatty acids.
Ester is an organic compound made by replacing the hydrogen of an acid with an alkyl or other organic group. Many naturally occurring fats and essential oils are esters of fatty acids.
Now that we know what triglyceride means, let’s check its normal function in the body.
Triglycerides, like sugar, are the body’s energy source. They are stored in adipose tissue and can be broken down to release energy. Triglycerides also help insulate the body and keep it warm, protect vital organs, and act like cushions.
The carbohydrates you eat in your food are converted into glucose in your gut before absorption.
Because glucose is water-soluble, excess absorbed glucose cannot be stored. So, the body has a mechanism to convert excess glucose into triglycerides for storage in your adipose tissue.
So, glucose is stored like fatty acids in the fat cells as triglycerides.
So, if you overeat carbohydrates, you gain weight as much as you do when you eat fatty food because, as I said, the excess glucose is stored as triglycerides.
When triglycerides are excessive, they can be stored in the liver or fat cells to supply the body with energy when required. This natural process provides a sustained energy source for the body, particularly between meals.
As mentioned, Triglycerides comprise three fatty acids and one glycerol unit.
Glycerol is a fatty acid component in fats released when stored fat is metabolised for energy. It then enters the bloodstream and is transferred to the liver, where it can be converted to glucose. So, repeating this, the glycerol part of the triglyceride is converted to sugar in the liver.
High triglyceride levels in your blood can raise your risk of heart disease and stroke. High blood triglycerides are a type of lipid disorder. This condition can develop independently, with other lipid disorders like high blood cholesterol or low HDL cholesterol, or as part of metabolic syndrome.
How do you know that the blood triglycerides are high clinically?
High levels of triglycerides don’t cause symptoms by themselves, but they can lead to more severe conditions. Very high levels of triglycerides can cause pancreatitis, an inflammation of the pancreas that causes abdominal pain, fever, nausea and vomiting, and loss of appetite.
Eating eggs does not raise blood cholesterol levels, and egg consumption does not appear to increase triglyceride levels.
Does eating two eggs daily cause too much cholesterol and blood triglycerides daily? Several studies suggest that about one egg a day has no adverse effect on health outcomes. A study in my lab found that eating two eggs daily for six weeks also had no harmful effects in healthy adults, and we are even seeing similar results in people with high cholesterol.
What foods cause high triglycerides?
Saturated fats can raise triglyceride levels. They can be found in fried foods, red meat, chicken skin, high-fat dairy, butter, lard, shortening, margarine, and fast food. Alternatives include Lean proteins such as skinless white chicken meat and fish.
Now, what Foods can help lower triglycerides -oily fish, like sardines and salmon; all vegetables, especially leafy greens, green beans, and butternut squash; all fruits, especially citrus fruits, and berries.
Low-fat or fat-free dairy products like cheese, yoghurt, and milk also lower blood triglycerides.
What food ingredients remove triglycerides from the body?
Studies show that monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats in foods like olive oil, nuts, and avocados can reduce blood triglyceride levels.
During the discussion, I emphasised the risks associated with high triglyceride levels in the blood and the importance of knowing one’s triglyceride levels.
So, until we meet again, goodbye for now.
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