You underwent blood tests for a simple routine check-up or because you always feel tired or your doctor prescribed a blood count to check if everything is normal.

On the other hand, Easter brought undesirable surprises together with the egg, including a bloated liver and some more pounds. Here we are! Outcomes may highlight high blood triglyceride levels (hypertriglyceridemia): Is there anything to worry about? What are the health risks?

Triglycerides, what are they? Precious fats, but watch your levels!

Triglycerides are fats circulating in the blood and synthesized by the intestinal cells and liver from foods consumed, mainly simple sugars, alcohol, and animal fats. They are transported in the plasma by lipoproteins, which release them to the muscles, heart, and liver to meet their energy needs.

Therefore, triglycerides are functional fats that provide energy to vital organs. But when they exceed energy needs, they are partly stored in the fat cells as a reserve and partly remain in the blood.

When these reserves are unused, excess triglycerides in adipose tissue promote overweight and obesity and, in the blood, can increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases. Indeed, triglyceridemia is used to calculate the cardiovascular risk of any individual because high blood triglycerides promote atherosclerosis, a condition in which arteries harden and narrow due to an accumulation of lipid plaques (atherosclerotic plaques), hindering blood flow and favoring the appearance of thrombi, strokes, heart attacks, and cardiovascular diseases.

Furthermore, excess triglycerides, if left unmanaged, can adversely affect liver health and cause a state of pancreatic distress.

Saturated and unsaturated fats, LDL and HDL cholesterol: not all fats are equal.

To understand the role of triglycerides in our health, it is good to remember that there are two types based on the fatty acid that binds to the glycerol molecules of which they are composed: Saturated fatty acids, mainly derived from animal fats, including meat, butter, cheese, whole milk, and dairy products, and unsaturated fatty acids, found mainly in vegetable oils, such as EVO oil, olive oil, seed oil, nuts, oilseeds, and fatty fish like salmon, mackerel, and tuna.

These latter are beneficial for our health as they contribute to reducing LDL cholesterol, which is called "bad" as a precursor of cardiovascular diseases, and increase HDL, the so-called "good cholesterol" that conversely performs protective and energetic functions in favor of some organs and tissues. Usually, the blood count includes HDL, LDL, and total cholesterol parameters. Desirable total cholesterol levels below 200, HDL levels above 40 (for men) and 45 (for women), and LDL below 100 reduce the risk for cardiovascular disease for the benefit of health.

Therefore, it is essential to know if we have too many blood triglycerides and the triglycerides/HDL cholesterol ratio: the lower it is, the less possibility we have to experience cardiovascular disease. To calculate it, divide the triglyceride level by the HDL cholesterol level: the ideal range is always less than 2.

Diet, triglycerides, and ideal weight.

An unbalanced diet, too rich in sugars and saturated fats, contributes to increased triglycerides, body weight, and fat mass distribution compared to lean mass: high triglyceride levels often combine with metabolic dysfunctions, such as overweight and obesity. However, the connection between excess weight and significantly high triglycerides in the blood (hypertriglyceridemia) is often underestimated - because excessively high levels of triglycerides do not present clear symptoms apart from a general feeling of tiredness and slight numbness in the limbs - at least until we decide to have a blood count or until our health is severely compromised.

However, excluding hypertriglyceridemia resulting from a genetic abnormality, the rise in blood triglycerides is due to consuming excessive calories - in the form of carbohydrates and fats - in our daily diet. Additionally, uncontrolled hyperglycemia can increase triglycerides because the liver converts excess glucose in the blood into fatty acids.

Indeed, high triglyceride levels (> 150 mg/dl) and low HDL cholesterol levels, together with high blood sugar levels (> 100 mg/dl) and blood pressure levels (≥ 130/85 mmHg), as well as a waist circumference of more than 102 cm for men and 88 cm for women contribute to defining the metabolic syndrome, a set of factors that lead to increased cardiovascular risks.

Therefore, the most immediate, simple, and effective way to correct these factors and lower triglyceride levels is to modify our diet and achieve our ideal weight.

Tips for lowering triglyceride levels by changing diet and habits

Easter with colomba, Christmas with panettone, and toasts to celebrate events and festivities often give us a surplus of calories and enlarge our waistlines. Getting back in shape and losing the kilos accumulated during holidays and celebrations, when heavy, fatty meals, wine, and traditional sweets abound, will be easy by following simple dietary and lifestyle guidelines:

• Always start meals with a plate of fresh, seasonal vegetables, preferably raw, which contribute to satiety and hydration;
• Consume fruit as a snack, between meals, preferring those containing less sugar: better to limit consumption of figs, bananas, and grapes;
• Prefer a whole grain dish instead of pasta;
• Combine vegetables with lean meat, fish, and vegetable proteins (lentils, for example, or beans);
• Minimize foods containing saturated fat: red meat, cheese and dairy products, and sausages;
• Avoid adding salt and sugar to food and replace them with spices and a drizzle of honey, rich in nutrients or a natural sweetener;
• Limit as much as possible the consumption of wines and spirits, which are very caloric;
• Abolish smoking because it contributes to stiffening the walls of the arteries, making them less elastic and thus favoring the formation of atherosclerotic plaques in the presence of high cholesterol and triglycerides;
• Try to do some healthy exercise every day because sedentariness is an enemy: reduced calorie consumption promotes the accumulation of triglycerides in the adipocytes and blood.

Controlling satiety to lose weight better: a help from natural supplements

In addition to good tips, to effectively lower triglyceride levels while losing weight properly, it is advisable to follow a specific course of action, such as a low-calorie, normoprotein diet under the guidance of a dietician or nutritionist, also supported by supplements that can help achieve the result.

There are nutraceuticals with natural phytoactives that act in combination to combat hypertriglyceridemia in different but synergistic ways.

How? First and foremost, we can support the functionality of the organs deputed to the disposal of toxins and involved in metabolic processes, such as the liver implied in the formation of triglycerides, thanks to detoxifying and hepatoprotective phytoactives, such as Milk Thistle, Moringa, Boldo, and Dandelion, purifying and antigerminative, such as Fennel, and promoting renal and biliary diuresis, such as Phyllanthus. An effective detox and draining action can help us make our liver and kidneys work better.

Following this, we can support our dietary pathway to make it easier and more effective thanks to supplements formulated with fibers that increase satiety and plant-based molecules with specific lipid-lowering properties: Berberine, which helps reduce triglycerides and cholesterol by increasing the number of hepatic LDL receptors, improves blood glucose stability; Glucomannan and certain probiotic fibers can slow the absorption of carbohydrates and lipids, enhance satiety, and aid in weight loss. The most innovative formulations, enriched with fruit-derived exosomes, can exert antioxidant and anti-inflammatory action that benefits our body.