- Dietary changes can help lower triglycerides. The most obvious change should be to reduce your cholesterol intake. You can do this by reducing consumption of egg yolks, high-saturated fat meats and whole-milk products. Strive to keep your daily cholesterol intake under 300 mg and under 200 mg if you have heart disease. Instead of cooking with foods that contain saturated fats such as butter, replace those foods with unsaturated fats such as canola oil, olive oil and peanut oil. Increase your consumption of omega-3 foods such as flax seed, walnuts, almonds, and cold-water fish such as salmon and tuna.
Eliminate consumption of trans-fats which are often found in packaged snacks and cookies.
A diet with less sugar will also help lower triglycerides. Limit your intake of candy, desserts and sweetened drinks.
Alcoholic beverages are not only high in calories, but also sugar. For some individuals, alcohol can raise triglycerides. Follow your doctor's advice on alcohol consumption. - It's important to maintain a healthy weight to help keep your triglycerides at healthy levels. Increasing your physical activity may help lower your triglycerides. Try to get at least 30 minutes of physical activity on most days of the week. If you are overweight, increase your daily physical activity to about 60 to 90 minutes. Check with your doctor before starting an exercise program.
- If you smoke, quitting can lower triglycerides. Medications, such as certain high blood pressure medications, can sometimes be the cause of high triglycerides. Your doctor may want to try different types of medications to see their impact on your triglycerides levels.
- Sometimes dietary changes, exercise and weight loss are not enough to reduce triglycerides to healthy levels. At these times and certainly when triglycerides are very high (500 mg/dL or higher), medications are often prescribed to reduce triglycerides.
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