High Triglycerides: What are triglicerides and how to lower triglyceride levels naturally?

Although many people know about dangers of high cholesterol levels, few people are aware of the importance of monitoring another type of fat that is very important for our health - triglycerides. Triglycerides are produced by our bodies and come from the foods we consume. Triglycerides make up a significant portion of the fat that occurs naturally in your blood. Elevated triglycerides can indicate an increased risk of heart disease. If yours are too high, you often don't know it until it's too late.

High triglycerides are usually diagnosed while testing cholesterol levels. All that is required is a quick blood draw. If yours are too high, your doctor should tell you, but if you want to review your test results yourself (which is - I think - always a good idea), here are the trigliceride ranges and what they mean: 

• Normal: Less than 150 mg/dL - The normal range indicates the lowest cardiovascular disease risk
  
• Borderline High: 150 up to 199 mg/dL - Signifies borderline high cardiovascular risk
  
• High: 200 up to 499 mg/dL - Signifies high cardiovascular risk
• Very High: 500 mg/dL and above - Signifies very high cardiovascular risk

The most common contributing factors of hypertriglyceridemia are obesity, undiagnosed or poorly treated diabetes, and excessive consumption of alcohol. Others risk factors include hypothyroidism, kidney disease and, sometimes, genetics. Certain medications may also caused elevated triglyceride levels. Among these are Tamoxifen, birth control pills, steroids, beta blockers, diuretics, and estrogen.

The good news is you can control your triglycerides levels - and significantly decrease your risk for heart disease (or other diseases, for that matter) if you make some important changes to your diet and lifestyle.

My best recommendation for healthy diet, that will help you not just with triglycerides, but with diabetes, obesity, allergies, and other problems that you may be experiencing are as follows:

• At least 60-80 percent of the foods you eat should be fresh raw fruits, vegetables, and leafy greens (very important!). Notice the word RAW. You should be eating plenty of salads (no fatty dressings!) and fresh fruits (satisfy cravings for sweets). If you dislike greens, or have trouble eating large quantities of salads (I think most people do) - get yourself a blender and start drinking green smoothies. Make yourself a quart of green smoothie every morning and drink it throughout the course of your day. Drinking freshly made green juices every day is also a good idea.
  
• The rest of your foods should be steamed or slightly cooked vegetables and fruits, legumes, and whole grains.
• It's best to eliminate completely or limit consumption of meats and diary to once or twice per week.

By eating this type of plant-based diet, you will give your body a much needed rest. These recommendations may seem harsh and difficult to achieve for most people living in the "real world". I know, because I live here too, and I love a slice of pizza from time to time, too.

However, my health is the first priority for me, as it may be for you too. Just do the best you can, and it gets easier as the time passes and your body gets more healthy, I promise. As a side-effect of eating a mostly raw diet, you will have more energy, feel younger, and lose weight naturally, without any special diets or pills!

It's always best to get educated and learn as much as we can. If you want to know more, I recommend the following resources: "Eating for Health" and "Fasting and eating for Health" by Dr. Joel Fuhrman,"80/10/10 Diet" by Dr. D. Graham, "Green For Life" by Victoria Boutenko, and "The Green Smoothies Diet" by Robyn Openshaw. These books are truly the best education you can get in the area of nutrition. They will help you not just with your high triglycerides problem, but with overall health of your entire family.