My Triglycerides Are Thru the Roof.

I see a physician regularly, and get a comprehensive blood test regularly too. I highly recommend it. Talking to your doctor isn't enough. A blood test can uncover hidden problems.

Anyways, my family physician recently told me my cholesterol was relatively good. Not surprising. I take a lot of fiber supplements, and I think it helps (fiber is another thing I strongly recommend BTW--I digress). But he said he was surprised to learn my triglycerides are thru the roof. He asked me what I am doing differently. I said nothing, of course.

I like to think I am as well-versed about medical things as anyone else. But I confess I don't know much about triglycerides. What are they? What do they prove? And are they as important as cholesterol?

 

Triglycerides are similar to Cholesterol in that they are a type of fat in the blood which is necessary for life. High levels are a bad thing, though. Very bad. But not unfixable!

What is your daily diet like? What would a typical breakfast/lunch/dinner be? Snacks?

A diet high in sugars, bad fats and cholesterol can cause Triglyceride levels to spike. The general advice would require you to cut out bad fats (trans fats, factory farmed meats, things containing nitrates such as commercially produced bacon, sausage, etc.). Stock up on good fats: Salmon, avocado, coconut oil, flax seed. Limit sugary foods! Candy, processed junk food. Those aren't helping!

I know that not everyone would agree with this, but I have an alternative-type physician who says that a vegetarian diet is the single best thing that one can do for their heart. I couldn't agree more. Cutting out red meat and pork as well as being aware of the source of your eggs and butter can do a body good.

There isn't a one size fits all diet, and I would do some research and play around a bit before you find something that works for you! Also, you can't go wrong with getting more exercise!

 

The fact is that "high cholesterol" is overhyped (and in many ways made up) to put people on dangerous statin drugs. The body needs cholesterol, and plenty of it, to function properly, and the allowable numbers have been lowered drastically over the years to get more people on drugs that are far more harmful than high cholesterol, which, in and of itself has little to do with heart disease. The fact is, inflammation is what really causes heart disease -- not high cholesterol. In fact the cholesterol scare is one of the biggest health ruses being perpetrated on the general public, and many people have cholesterol that is too low because of it, which sets them up for all kinds of health problems, including, go figure, HEART DISEASE!!! (And cancer, decreased immunity, dementia, depression... among other things.) Having cholesterol that is too low is far worse than having cholesterol that is "too high," and what is "too high" has been set by drug companies which have little more than profits in mind.

So I would say that cholesterol is more of a good thing than a bad thing, yet most people simply hear the word cholesterol and think it's bad, when our brains are made almost entirely of it.

However, if your numbers are extremely high, you might want to start by eliminating sugars and starchy carbs and see how your numbers improve. High cholesterol in most people is a product of insulin resistance. My opinion (and that of many people, including a growing number of doctors and scientists) is that meat, eggs and butter have little to nothing to do with a person's cholesterol, since most of the cholesterol in the blood comes from the liver -- not dietary sources. I eat a diet high in fat, and if fat caused high cholesterol, then my numbers would be through the roof. But they're not. My numbers are actually better than they've ever been since eliminating carbs and replacing them with fat.

Great article on cholesterol myths here:

http://articles.***********/sites/a...making-sense-of-your-cholesterol-numbers.aspx