How do I decrease my Triglycerides?

[jrnunzio3]

I agree. I have congentially high lipids. I've been trying for literally years to get my numbers down, with and without drugs. Last spring I hit an all-time high of 497. Critical mass. I was already taking Niaspan, specifically for triglycerides and my doctor doubled that.

With high triglycerides comes the high risk of type 2 diabetes. There is a strong connection between higher than avg blood sugar and high trigs. Obviously, that means lose the sugar, desserts, white flour/potatoes/rice/pasta, lower your fat intake, eat more green leafies and lean meat. Learn to like water or sweeteners(in limited quantities.) If you aren't used to working out it might be worth a few $$$ to hire a trainer to get you started and oversee your program for a month or so.

In my case,I DID develop type 2 diabetes and that scared me worse than the high triglycerides. Together it puts me at much higher risk for heart disease. I started counting carbs & cals and have so far lost 47-lbs. At this point my trigs are 147, pretty impressive change I think. My LDL(bad chol.) is now normal, HDL(good chol.) is still very low. Total chol is about 150; I haven't been below 200 in 10 years. I work out 3 times a week, still not as much as I should but I'm doing 3 times better than I was. My blood sugars are in good control and I have more energy. Hope you will have the same results or better.

Congrats on getting your numbers down and your weight loss! Keep up the good work (and wish me luck). I hardly ever drink soda, I love ice water and drink that constantly. I have to admit, I eat a lot of Italian bread, pasta, sweets, etc. so I will have to cut down on that. Thanks to everyone for their input. I will have to look into the fish oil capsules when I go shopping tomorrow, and I am going to start taking vitamins. My husband won't let me get the good Flintstone ones, he says I am too old for those. (Do we have a smiley that sticks out his tongue at you)? I guess I will have to get some adult ones (but those aren't any fun)......
Jenny

 

[claudia]

Congrats on getting your numbers down and your weight loss! Keep up the good work (and wish me luck). I hardly ever drink soda, I love ice water and drink that constantly. I have to admit, I eat a lot of Italian bread, pasta, sweets, etc. so I will have to cut down on that. Thanks to everyone for their input. I will have to look into the fish oil capsules when I go shopping tomorrow, and I am going to start taking vitamins. My husband won't let me get the good Flintstone ones, he says I am too old for those. (Do we have a smiley that sticks out his tongue at you)? I guess I will have to get some adult ones (but those aren't any fun)......
Jenny

you can always buy the Gummies from One-A-Day!

 

[minkydog]

I eat a lot of Italian bread, pasta, sweets, etc. so I will have to cut down on that.

My husband won't let me get the good Flintstone ones, he says I am too old for those. (Do we have a smiley that sticks out his tongue at you)? I guess I will have to get some adult ones (but those aren't any fun)......
Jenny

Tell your hubby that plenty of adults take Flintstone vits.

About the bread, etc--not only do you need to "cut down", you really need to almost cut it out. Pasta, bread, potatoes, white rice, sweets, all those things need to be *planned* into your diet. A little bread now and then won't kill you. But eating the bread, plus the pasta, and a little dessert a few times a week just might. You can eat it but you need to really limit the portion size to no more than 1/2 cup and fill out the rest of the meal with veggies. I keep a 1/2 cup measure and a small weight scale on my counter at all times.
Weekends are my difficult time. So I try not to eat that stuff during the week and limit my splurges to Saturday OR Sunday. Then I don't feel so deprived ("See? I can eat cheesecake if I want--just not 4-lbs of cheesecake."

Good luck with the fish oil. I couldn't tolerate it--gave me bad diarrhea. However, you can get good omega-3s in a 1/4 cup of almonds or walnuts, so that's what I eat. Did your doctor draw a Vit D titer? That might be something to explore, also. Mine was critically low and I'm on a high dose now trying to get it up to normal. Also implicated in type 2 diabetes.

 

[matosfam]

This is an issue in our family as well. With the advise of a nutritionist, my husband's levels have come down significantly without medication. (YMMV)

Please note that I am not a doctor, these are just the nutritionist's suggestions which worked for us!

Biggest points to remember in changing diet patterns included :

1. Read labels! (This was a new one for us.)

2. Eat more fiber! (we were told that anything with less than three grams of fiber was "not worth the energy it takes for your body to digest it")
Some easy ways for us to do this was to change to whole wheat pasta (instead of white), brown rice (instead of regular white), and change-out all purpose flour in recipes for whole wheat pastry flour. (It must be pastry flour though or the recipe won't work out the same.)
There are also many good fiber choices for cereals. Whole grain doesn't mean the same as whole wheat though. (Did you know that regular Cheerios have 3 gr of fiber but Honey Nut and Apple Cinnamon have less than 1?! Frosted Shredded wheat has 6 grams!) We often mix high fiber cereals with other favorites to improve upon their nutritional/fiber value and still save some $.

3. Add more beans (any legume) to your diet! She said most americans only eat the occasional meal with any type of legume and that we should aim to have some type in our diet at least 3-4 times per week if not daily. She described that they act as "sponges" pulling cholesterol and fats out of the bloodstream.
Lentils are a nice change as a side dish (pm me if you'd like a couple great recipes! I never thought I could like lentils...but I do now!) and black beans can be added easily to many recipes and look beautiful mixed in with yellow corn as a side.

Hope some of that helps someone... Sorry so long-winded!