tailored. In general, people with hypertriglyceridemia
are typically advised to lose weight and limit the con-
sumption of processed foods, simple sugars, alcohol,
and saturatedfats. These fats are primarily found in
animal foods, such as meat, eggs, and dairy products,
and in tropical oils such as palm and coconut. Specific
dietary guidelinesinclude:
Total fat intake should be restricted if weight loss is
also required. If triglyceride levels are greater than
1000 mg/dL, allowing no more than 10% of total
calories from fat usually lowers levels quickly and
significantly.
If dietary intake of white flour products is significant,
restricting simple carbohydrates and increasing diet-
ary fiber can lower triglyceride levels substantially.
Alcohol should be avoided or limited to no more
than 1 standard alcoholic beverage per day.
Omega-3 fatty acids, found mainly in fatty fish and
some plant products such as flax seed have a signifi-
cant effect on triglyceride levels. In large amounts
(10g daily or more), they lower triglycerides by 40%
or more. To achieve this dose however, requires sup-
plements or eating very large amounts of fatty fish,
such as sardines, herring, and mackerel.
Refined sugars increases triglyceride levels, and peo-
ple with elevated levels should accordingly lower
their intake of sugar, sweets, and other sugar-con-
taining foods.
Individuals who consume a lot of tea and coffee
should change to decaffeinated products, as elimi-
nating caffeine has been shown to reduce triglyceride
levels.
Water-soluble fibers, such as pectin found in fruit,
guar gum and other gums found in beans, and beta-
glucan found in oats, may be particularly beneficial
in lowering triglycerides.
Most foods contain several different types of fats
and some kinds are better, not only to reduce fat
during a hypertriglyceridemia diet, but for improving
overall health. The four main types of fats are:
Saturated fats: These fats consist of fatty acid chains
that have no double bonds between the carbon atoms
of the chain. They are called saturated because they
are fully saturated with hydrogen atoms and cannot
incorporate more. They are solid at room temper-
ature and are most often of animal origin. Examples
are butter, cheese, and lard.
Monounsaturated fats: These are composed mostly
of monounsaturated fatty acids, meaning molecules
with one double-bonded carbon, with all the others
carbons being single-bonded. They are liquid at
room temperature. Examples are olive, peanut and
canola oil.
Polyunsaturated fats: These fats are composed
mostly of fatty acids such as linoleic or linolenic
acids which have two or more double bonds in each
molecule, as for example corn oil and safflower oil.
They are also liquid at room temperature and can be
further divided into the omega-6 and the omega-3
families. Fatty fish contain omega-3s, and they are
also found in walnuts and some oils like soybean and
rapeseed.
Trans fatty acids. Unsaturated fats come in different
chemical structures: a bentcisform or a straight
transform. When they adopt the trans form, they
are called trans fatty acids. They are produced by the
partial hydrogenation of vegetable oils and present in
hardened vegetable oils, most margarines, commer-
cial baked foods, and many fried foods.
Unsaturated, monounsaturated and polyunsatu-
rated fats are considered better than others to lower
your risk of heart disease since they lower the total and
LDL cholesterol levels.Omega-3 fatty acidsmay be
especially beneficial to the heart. They appear to
decrease the risk of coronary artery disease and may
also protect against irregular heartbeats and help
lower blood pressure levels. Saturated and trans fats
are considered less healthy because they can increase
the risk of heart disease by increasing total and LDL
cholesterol levels. Tips to limit fat in the diet are
accordingly focused on reducing foods high in satu-
rated and trans fats. For example, the Mayo Clinic
offers the following:
Cook with olive oil instead of butter.
Use olive oil instead of vegetable oil in salad dress-
ings and marinades. Use canola oil when baking.
Sprinkle chopped nuts or sunflower seeds on salads
instead of bacon bits.
Snack on a small handful of nuts rather than potato
chips or processed crackers.
Add slices of avocado, rather than cheese, to
sandwiches.
Prepare fish such as salmon and mackerel, which
contain monounsaturated and omega-3 fats, instead
of meat one or two times a week.FunctionThe function of a hypertriglyceridemia diet is to
bring triglyceride levels back to normal recommended
levels (less than 150 mg/dL).Hypertriglyceridemia