There are ingredient in your food that could increase your triglyceride without you knowing…
Just like double-crossing spies in movies, there are foods on your plate that wreck your plans to reduce triglycerides.
Yes, there are spies on your plate.
Do you know which foods contain them?
If you’ve purchased OmegaVia, you know that we send you a detailed Dosage Instruction sheet. This sheet contains not just how many fish oil pills to take, but other dietary tips and suggestions as well.
Three essential techniques for maintaining healthy triglycerides:
- Health Diet & Proper Nutrition
- Daily Exercise
- 3000 mg of Omega-3 from Fish Oil*
Combining all three techniques will help support healthy triglyceride levels.
Fish Oil & Triglycerides
The fish oil part is easy – you need at least 2000-4000 mg of Omega-3 per day.* So 3 to 4 concentrated fish oil pills like OmegaVia (or about a dozen pills for regular fish oil) will do the trick.
Just remember that 3000 mg of regular fish oil may only have about 1000 mg of Omega-3. Don’t fall for that trap.
Exercise & Triglycerides
Exercise…well, some people love it. Most people hate it and no one has the time. But it must be a part of your healthy triglyceride plan.
So I have nothing new to add about that.
Diet & Triglycerides
I normally write about fish oil on this blog. But this time, let’s talk about diet.
Most people know that triglycerides and cholesterol are fats. So does that mean giving up greasy, fatty foods? Not exactly!
I’m not saying it’s OK to eat like you’re at the State Fair every day.
What I’m saying is: your triglycerides are mostly coming from sweet beverages and starchy foods.
That’s right, it’s sugar that you need to watch out for.
When you drink a can of Coke or glass of fruit juice, here is what happens:
- Burn it. You burn some of the sugar puttering around the house. If you’re Lance Armstrong or run marathons, most of it gets burned. We’ll assume that you don’t run marathons, so points 2 and 3 apply to you.
- Store it for later use. Some of that sugar gets broken down into glucose and stored in your liver and muscles as glycogen. This is for later use. Humans have very limited capacity store sugars and carbohydrates in our bodies. But we can store fat all day long – especially around out waist.
- Make triglycerides. Because you can’t store a lot of sugars in your body, most of the sugar gets converted to triglycerides in a process called de novo lipogenesis. That fancy word literally means ‘new fat creation.’
You drink a glass of orange juice in the morning because you think it’s good for you but – BINGO! – your triglycerides just shot up!
Fruit juices may have some Vitamin C, but mostly, they have sugar. Tons of sugar!
Your body does not know the difference between a can of Coke or a glass of orange juice. Your taste buds might! But your body does not.
Read the LA Times article about it here.
Eating meat or eggs does not spike your triglycerides quite like this.
Neither do salmon, olive oil, butter or broccoli.
Or Lard!
What happens after Triglycerides are generated
Once the triglycerides are generated, they enter the blood stream as VLDL particles. This then interacts with LDL and HDL – you know, the alphabet soup of good and bad cholesterol – and it makes your HDL (good cholesterol) smaller and less protective over time.
‘All because I drink OJ with my breakfast?’ Yup, if you drink it every day, certainly.
Don’t let me pick on just OJ.
All of the following foods derail and sabotage your triglyceride reduction:
- fruit juice
- soda
- bagel
- bread (all kinds)
- cookies
- dessert
- chips
- pretzels
- crackers
- and (gasp!) yes, even ‘healthy whole grains.’
There’s more!
- wheat
- high fructose corn syrup
- cornstarch
- flour
- maple syrup
- and honey
They all trigger the powerful de novo lipogenesis process.
Wheat (bread, flour etc.) is really powerful at jacking up your triglycerides.
End result? Your triglycerides go through the roof and your doctor puts you on medication.
Read Part II here.
* These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Clinical research suggests the omega-3 dosage needed to help maintain healthy triglycerides is 2000-4000 mg per day when used as part of healthy diet and exercise regimen.
You said all breads were bad when trying to lower triglycerides…I was wondering about sour dough bread? Once in a while…not every day…I am going to go off sugar, starchy foods, and fried foods… but I like tuna and salmon so I would like to make a sandwich with sour dough bread….will this be OK now and then…. thanks…Patricia
Hi Patricia – all grains and flour eventually get converted to sugar. This will increase both your blood sugar and triglycerides. Fried foods are OK if the oil used is olive (lightly fried or sauteed.) If you are not sensitive to gluten, then occasional bread consumption is probably OK.
Hi ,Thank you for your good explenation,what If I eat corn with avacado together ,Does it make lower triglyceride?
Hi Cyrus – avocado is great, but most of that corn will convert to sugar after you eat it. And sugar will increase your triglycerides.
Hi my triglycerides is high – 323. How I can reduce it?
Hi Muhammad – diet, exercise, and fish oil. Those are your three tools for reducing triglyceride. Please read the article above again for details on which foods to reduce and eliminate.*
* These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Clinical research suggests the omega-3 dosage needed to help maintain healthy triglycerides is 2000-3000 mg per day when used as part of healthy diet and exercise regimen.
Hello.i quit drinking sodas 7 months ago I used to drink about two 2 liter sprites a day. I don’t usually drink but when I do, I would binge drink slipped up and drank twice. going to be retested for my blood work this Thursday. do you think me cutting out the soda should make a difference. Also since I drank last week should I wait another week to do my blood work.
Hi Charles – the real difference would have been if you had a blood test from 7 or 8 months ago when you drank all that Sprite and compared it to now. I’d bet a million bucks your triglyceride numbers are lower now. May not be low enough, but you’ve probably come a long way. Could your recent drinking affect your results, yes, most likely. Go ahead and do the blood test now. If you abstain from drinking for a few weeks, your numbers may drop temporarily and give you a false sense of comfort. I’d rather my numbers look more realistic (scary?) so it could serve as an additional motivator.
My husband has a high triyglicerides. After learning about this I started low oil diet and include more fruits. but I also include a natural orange juice which made by home without sugar last 2 month. Now I know orange juice also spikes up triglycerides. What can I do?
Hi Vinit – the increased triglycerides from orange juice will automatically reduce itself over a few weeks. Eliminate all sugar, juices, grains, and flour. Exercise daily. Eat mostly vegetables with a lot of health oils like olive oil. Eat seafood regularly for Omega-3. Some eggs and meats, and nuts are fine too.
Hello Vin
My triglycerides are well over 550 and I’m wondering is there a more thorough list of foods I can eat to help lower my levels?
Hi Red – dropping your triglycerides from the current to 550 to about 250 will be easy if you eliminate all sources of sugar (soda, juices, junk food, and candy), followed by grains, cereals, and anything made with flour. This is where you will get your biggest bang for the buck. Please don’t go looking for a more thorough list. This is all the list you need to drop your triglyceride in half. Once you are in the 200 to 250 range, THEN, you can start looking at replacing fruits with vegetables and other secondary dietary changes. But the primary changes are to eliminate all sources of sugar. Limit your food intake to stuff that was alive last week – plants, fruits, leaves, fish, eggs, meat. All cooked generously in olive oil. In addition to that, add daily vigorous exercise and about 3000 mg of Omega-3 daily.
Please come back and let us know how you did on your next blood test.
Hi Vin,
Does a vegetable juice like V8 help high triglycerides?
Hi Charles – no. It may increase triglycerides a little because each serving (8 oz) contains 6 grams of sugar. That’s a little more than a teaspoon of sugar.