Treatment Overview
You can use diet and lifestyle
changes to lower triglyceride levels. These changes may be especially good at
lowering borderline-high levels (150 to 199 mg/dL) back to normal levels (less
than 150 mg/dL).
Diet and lifestyle changes include:
- Staying at a healthy weight.
- Limiting fat and
sugars.
- Being more active.
- Limiting alcohol.
You may also take medicines to lower triglyceride levels.
Medicines may be used if you have risk factors for
(CAD). In this case, your
doctor may first want to lower your
("bad") cholesterol level and raise your
("good") cholesterol level before adding medicine
to lower your triglycerides.
For more information on target
levels and treatment for high cholesterol, see the topic
High Cholesterol.
Use this
Interactive Tool: Are You at Risk for a Heart Attack?
to calculate your risk of a heart attack based on your cholesterol levels and
other factors.
Initial treatment
Diet and lifestyle changes are the first steps you will take to lower
levels.
Diet and lifestyle
changes include:
- Staying at a healthy weight or
to lose weight.
- Limiting
the amount of carbohydrate and unhealthy fat that you eat.
- Being
more active.
- Limiting alcohol.
- Not smoking.
- Keeping blood sugar in a target range if you have
diabetes.
Adding fish oils (omega-3 fatty acids)
to your diet may lower triglyceride levels. You can add fish oil by eating fish
at least 2 times a week or by taking supplements. Oily fish with lots of
omega-3 fatty acids include salmon, tuna, and mackerel.
You may
want to try
Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes (TLC) and the
. TLC is a
combination of diet and lifestyle changes that can lower your cholesterol. The
following information can help you get started with the TLC diet:
To reduce carbohydrate in your diet, you may want to
learn about the
amount of carbohydrate in various foods.
Alcohol has a particularly strong effect on triglycerides. Regular,
excessive use of alcohol or even a one-time drinking binge can cause a
significant increase in triglycerides.
Binge drinking can cause a spike in your triglycerides that may trigger
. Your doctor will want you either to stop
or to limit the amount of alcohol you drink.