Key takeaways:
Your body needs fats, including triglycerides. But if your triglyceride level is too high, it puts you at a higher risk of health issues, like heart disease, stroke, and pancreatitis.
Losing excess weight, exercising, and eating less sugar, alcohol, and saturated fat can help lower your triglyceride level.
Medications can help lower your triglycerides to a healthy range if diet and exercise aren’t enough.
Triglycerides are an essential fat that the body needs to function properly. They come from food, oils, and other fats in your diet. They also come from stored fat in your body. When you need energy, triglycerides are released from fat cells and used by the body.
Triglycerides are essential, but too many increase the risk of health problems. So, it’s a good idea to keep your triglyceride level in the normal range.
How to lower triglycerides naturally
If you get a routine blood test and discover that you have high triglycerides, there are a lot of options to help you get to a healthier place. Lifestyle changes can improve triglyceride levels by up to 70%, so they’re the best place to start. Experts recommend the following steps.
1. Reduce weight
If you have excess weight, weight loss is an important tool to get to a healthy triglyceride level. Triglycerides are essentially stored fat. So, reducing the total amount of fat in the body will lower your triglyceride level.
Even modest weight loss of 5% to 10% of your total body weight helps to lower your triglyceride level. This means that going from a body weight of 300 lbs to 285 lbs can make a big difference in your risk of heart disease, stroke, and pancreatitis.
2. Exercise
Moderate to vigorous aerobic exercise can help significantly reduce triglyceride levels. And there are exercise options for people in just about every circumstance. Some examples of aerobic exercise are:
Experts also recommend adding resistance exercise a couple of times per week.
3. Avoid certain foods and drinks
Simple sugars and saturated fat are linked to higher triglyceride levels. These can be hard to avoid, especially when some sugars go by different names. So it’s important to know about them and to look for them in ingredient lists.
Some of the foods and beverages linked to high triglycerides include:
High-fat meat, like beef or pork ribs, pepperoni, and sausage
Desserts, like candy, cakes, cookies, ice cream, pastries, and pies
White bread and rice
Pasta
Cereal
Chips and crackers
Condiments like salad dressing and ketchup
Sugar-sweetened drinks, like sodas, fruit juices, and coffees with syrup
Alcohol (more on this below)
Alcohol is another simple sugar to avoid when you’re trying to reduce your triglyceride level. This is because alcohol affects how your body breaks down fats, especially after eating. The relationship between alcohol and triglycerides seems to be more impactful in people with high or very high triglyceride levels.
Does coffee raise triglyceride levels?
Studies have shown that unfiltered coffee can raise your total cholesterol levels. The main cause for this are oils called diterpenes (cafestol and kahweol). Using a filter while brewing removes a lot of the oils in coffee. But they’re likely still present in other coffees and brewing types, such as French press, Turkish, and espresso.
There’s mixed evidence regarding coffee’s effect on triglyceride levels. One study found that drinking 3 or more cups of coffee per day was linked to an increase in triglycerides. But another study found lower triglyceride levels in women who drank 3 or fewer cups per day.
The effect of coffee on triglycerides may depend on which type of coffee you drink, as well as how much. But experts agree that it’s best to avoid adding sugar and cream to your coffee if you’re concerned about your triglyceride level.
4. Eat foods that can help lower triglycerides
The way you prepare food can also have an effect on triglycerides. One way to lower your triglycerides naturally is to choose healthy fats — like extra virgin olive oil — instead of saturated fats like butter and lard.
According to the American College of Cardiology, some foods that can help lower triglyceride levels are:
Nuts and seeds
Fish
Vegetables, like broccoli, kale, and cauliflower
Fruits, like berries
Lean meats, like chicken, turkey, and fish
Foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids, such as salmon, flaxseeds, and chia seeds
5. Go for checkups
High triglyceride levels can sneak up on you without symptoms. Usually, the only way to know if your level is getting into the unhealthy range is a routine blood test. Make sure you go in for your regular visits. This allows your healthcare team to get the necessary blood tests and screenings to monitor your health.
How are triglycerides measured?
A simple blood test can be done to see if your triglyceride level is in the healthy range. The test is usually done after you’ve fasted for at least 12 hours. It’s part of a standard lipid panel that also checks your cholesterol levels.
What triglyceride levels are healthy?
There are no obvious symptoms if you have a high triglyceride level, so doing a routine screening test is the only way to know. The ranges for triglycerides are as follows:
Normal: less than 150 mg/dL
Borderline: 150 mg/dL to 199 mg/dL
High: 200 mg/dL to 499 mg/dL
Very high: over 500 mg/dL
If you have high triglycerides, talk with a healthcare professional about how this may affect your risk for other conditions.
What are the risks of having high triglycerides?
High triglyceride levels often go along with high cholesterol. And they come with the same higher risk of chronic health problems. Having high triglycerides can put you at an increased risk for conditions like:
Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD), which can lead to heart attack and stroke
These risks are greater with a triglyceride level of 500 mg/dL or higher.
What kind of medications treat high triglycerides?
Your healthcare team will guide you on when it’s time to consider medication for high triglycerides. It often depends on a few factors, like:
Your triglyceride level
Your age
Other health conditions that increase your risk for ASCVD (like diabetes)
Experts often recommend cholesterol-lowering medications called statins for people with high triglycerides. These medications lower triglycerides a little bit and also help reduce the risk of ASCVD.
In rare cases when triglyceride levels remain very high, additional medication can help lower triglycerides and reduce the risk of pancreatitis. Some examples include:
Omega-3 fatty acids: Lovaza and Vascepa are prescription-strength omega-3 fatty acids. Vascepa is a good option if you’re 45 or older with diabetes or heart disease. Evidence shows that it also reduces the risk of heart attack or stroke.
Fibrates: Medications like fenofibrate help slow down production of triglycerides and remove triglycerides from the bloodstream.
Niacin: Niacin isn’t often a first-choice medication, but it still may be effective for some. It prevents the release of triglycerides from the fat cells.
If your triglyceride level remains high despite diet, exercise, and weight loss, your healthcare team may recommend testing for a genetic condition as a cause.
Frequently asked questions
In cases of pancreatitis, your triglycerides can be lowered quickly at a hospital with treatments like:
Fluid replacement
Nutrition support
Filtering blood plasma (plasmapheresis)
Specific medications
Aside from that, high triglycerides can be lowered within weeks with diet changes and exercise.
There isn’t one specific drink that can lower your triglycerides. The better approach is avoiding certain beverages, like sweetened drinks and alcohol. Instead, choose water, soda water, and unsweetened tea.
In many cases, diet changes and exercise can improve your triglyceride level in as little as 4 to 12 weeks. Clinical trials on medications to lower triglycerides typically measure levels at 12 weeks as well. Your healthcare team will guide you on the right testing intervals, depending on your situation.
In cases of pancreatitis, your triglycerides can be lowered quickly at a hospital with treatments like:
Fluid replacement
Nutrition support
Filtering blood plasma (plasmapheresis)
Specific medications
Aside from that, high triglycerides can be lowered within weeks with diet changes and exercise.
There isn’t one specific drink that can lower your triglycerides. The better approach is avoiding certain beverages, like sweetened drinks and alcohol. Instead, choose water, soda water, and unsweetened tea.
In many cases, diet changes and exercise can improve your triglyceride level in as little as 4 to 12 weeks. Clinical trials on medications to lower triglycerides typically measure levels at 12 weeks as well. Your healthcare team will guide you on the right testing intervals, depending on your situation.
The bottom line
Lowering your triglyceride level to keep it in the normal range is important. That’s because high triglyceride levels can increase the risk of heart disease, stroke, and acute pancreatitis. The good news is that you can lower your triglycerides naturally — through diet, exercise, and weight loss. If you have high triglycerides, talk with a healthcare professional about your treatment options to lower it.
Why trust our experts?
References
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Virani, S. S., et al. (2021). 2021 ACC expert consensus decision pathway on the management of ASCVD risk reduction in patients with persistent hypertriglyceridemia: A Report of the American College of Cardiology Solution Set Oversight Committee. JACC.
Wang, Z., et al. (2023). Icosapent ethyl therapy for very high triglyceride levels: a 12-week, multi-center, placebo-controlled, randomized, double-blinded, phase III clinical trial in China. Lipids in Health and Disease.
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