As the most common type of fat in your body, they are certainly beneficial. But elevated they are bad for health, so discover why is it necessary to monitor your triglycerides and how to do it!
Think about your latest blood test. It probably looked at your cholesterol, blood sugar, and triglyceride levels. You likely know that high cholesterol and blood sugar are bad, but do you know the importance of triglycerides?
They are a key component of your heart – and general – health, so let’s fill the knowledge gap and learn about this energy-storing fat.
What are triglycerides, and why do we need them?
If three fatty acids (saturated or unsaturated fats) bond with one molecule of glycerol (sugar alcohol), you get a triglyceride.
Triglycerides are fats – the most prevalent fats in our body. They are energy-rich molecules stored in our fat cells. When our body needs energy, they are released into our bloodstream.
We get them from:
- Food: triglycerides are present in butter, oils, and other fats you eat.
- Our liver: human bodies create triglycerides from the calories we eat but don’t use, and store them in our fat cells.
Health complications from high triglycerides
Why is it important to keep them in check? High triglycerides are a risk factor for several serious health conditions:
- Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), including stroke, especially in combination with low HDL (good) and high LDL (bad) cholesterol.
- Pancreatitis, inflammation of the pancreas.
- Diabetes.
- Fatty liver disease, a build-up of fat in your liver. It can lead to serious liver damage, including cirrhosis.
- Metabolic syndrome, a group of metabolic factors increasing your risk of CVDs. Other risk factors include prominent abdominal fat, low HDL cholesterol, high blood pressure, and high fasting blood sugar.
Seeing how many serious conditions can arise due to elevated triglycerides, you should monitor your levels and employ healthy lifestyle changes to keep them within optimal levels. Let’s see how to achieve that.
