How do you lower your triglycerides? Found out today mine were over 400. Not good. My cholesterol was mildly high but not near as bad. Don't really know what to do and haven't found that much info on it.
No, my cholesterol levels are great. My HDL is a tiny bit elevated but that's the good one to have elevated, all the others are all in the normal range. How is your carb intake? Do you watch your diet and exercise?
Getting your bs in good control, exercising, and eating a relatively low carb diet is key in lowering triglycerides. I don't go as low as Dr Bernstein recommends with my carb intake...but I think there is a lot of wisdom in his book and how to acheive good blood sugar control along with lowering your other risk factors. Def worth a read I think. "Diabetes Solution-The Complete Guide to Achieving Normal Blood Sugars"
Yes triglycerides are often indicative of blood sugar control. The higer your blood sugars run, the more likely you are to see elevated triglycerides.
I apologize that I can’t give you full details on this because it was so long ago but I was working with a doctor once who told me that high cholesterol levels also point to an autoimmune process going on in the body. I can’t remember which type of cholesterol it was though 
I have T 1 and hashimotos so it made sense in my case. I definitely agree with the other comments on your post- eating right and exercising fix a multitude of problems!
Seems like a problem I can't solve either. My trigs were 150 in September and 201 in January. Doc says lose weight (30 lbs since Sept) and lay off pizza and alcohol. I did and A1C went from 6.4 to 6.0. I am now my normal weight. I actually lost four pounds during the holidays. No heart disease and at very low risk. Since I don't eat red meat or fried foods, I can't explain why trigs went up. I don't remember what I had for dinner the night before the bloodwork. For many years trigs were always normal as well as the other lipid profiles. Go figure.
I am doing everything recommended, except exercise. I retired 18mos ago and find myself siting on the couch too much. I have a treadmill too, I just look at it and say "NOT TODAY". That is going to change starting today. I have to walk or die, its simple. My sugars aren't that bad and will really improve now that I am back on levemir- Metformin just kept me bouncing up and down. I only have an occasional drink when we eat out,maybe once or twice sometimes in one week. I have the diabetic manual memorized from the classes I went to 4 yrs ago. Maybe I should repeat as the Dr. suggested. Thanks for all your replies. OH- I have lost 13lbs since Christmas. Have will have an endo in Feb.
I think to like so many things...its going to vary per individual...i had HORRID control for years...ate a horrid diet, but my cholesterol has always been perfectly normal. Funny given my family history for heart disease, high blood pressure, etc. I guess that's one part of the family gene's that skipped past me.
Often our high blood sugars can cause high triglycerides (tris). The extra sugar is converted to tris by your liver to enable you to store that extra fuel as bodyfat. Many people find that measures to reduce their blood sugars help. This involves getting your overall blood sugar down, eating a low carb diet, more medication, more exercise, etc. There is also a strong argument that low carb diet's also directly help tris.
Above and beyond that you can take fish oil, a number have studies have found that fish oil helps reduce tris. I take 6-8 1.2gram gelcaps of fish oil a day. And the fish oil also helps raise your HDL.
Doc told me the same about fish oil tabs. My skin is very soft and no dry spots. Hope I can say the same about me pipes. We'll see.....
Ok I really don’t like fish but do the fish oil pills have a fishy taste to them? I really think there are a lot of health benefits to fish I just can’t eat it.
Christy, I take fish oil..was recommended by my eye doctor (dry eyes) what she recommended to me is Omega-3 Purified Fish Oil (lemon taste) by Nordic Naturals. I bought them from Amazon...they're kinda expensive, they're huge..but they're really good for skin, eyes, body, etc...I have excellent cholesterol levels too but was told this could even help with that, if needed!
sea bass, scallops, salmon, sword fish...OH, how can you not love that...???? crab or lobster..do you like those, they're not supposed to taste 'fishy' really. :)
1 Like
Ok, despite everything you have been told you really should not chew the fish oil gelcaps. Believe me. Now, my experience is that fish oil can go bad, so keep it in the fridge and use it within three month. Oils can go rancid and if they do, the fish oil burps can kill a viking at 30 yards. Other than that, I am a big fan of fish and fish oil.
not sure if you're commenting back to me :) but, i don't chew them - was never told to chew them, swallon them whole..
Thanks for the info. Maybe my tris were so high because of my higher sugars. I really ate anything and everything with my grandchildren last summer and I think I'm paying for it now. I do have fish oil caps and I will start on them next week. Dr. wanted my body to adjust to the insulin first. I did actually walk on the treadmill today, only 15 min, but hope to do 30 tomorrow.
I was actually commenting to Christy and I would heartily recomend swallowing them whole, just as you have been doing.
I am not sure about the triglycerides either but I know I am concerned about my HDL. When I started mostly eating vegetarian (not rice/pasta/potato vegetarian but like kale as my main course vegetarian) my total cholesterol dropped like 40 points. So my LDL was 140 and my HDL was 25 or 30. I have been incorporating more flax into my diet and I have been taking omega 3/6 pills I got from whole foods, I have never experienced the fish burp, lol. We will see where my LDL is in a couple weeks.
If anyone is interested in the flax muffin recipe, I found it on here and it's really easy to make.
1/4c flax
1 egg
1tsp oil
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking powder
and I added 1 packet splenda
Microwave in a coffee mug x45 seconds
pops out of the mug perfect and it's warm :)
I had great success following dr. bernsteins low carb diet carbs 30-40 grams per day. Before Bernstein's my levels were:
Cholestrol 185
Triglycerides 293
HDL 32
After 6 months following Dr. B's
Cholestrol 169
Triglycerides 67
HDL 43
My Trig's dropped more than 200 points and HDL went up. Exactly what you want to happen.
My doctor was so impressed with my numbers that he didn't find it necessary to test at my last 6 month visit. So won't have another set of tests for 6 months.
In my case low carb definately worked for me. Hoping my HDL is even higher next time.
I will eat crab and Lobster's ok, but they are SOOO messy and a lot of work for a little bit of meat. Hahaha sad too I live right along the ocean and I wont touch seafood if my life depended on it.
Kelly that sounds really good, approx how many carbs?