Heart Health
Triglycerides
What This Marker Tells Us
Measure fat particles in your blood that transport dietary fats and store energy; elevated levels indicate metabolic dysfunction, insulin resistance, and significantly increased cardiovascular risk.
Why It Matters
Triglycerides are the most diet-responsive lipid marker, rising dramatically with high carbohydrate intake (especially refined sugars), alcohol, and obesity. They're a core component of metabolic syndrome and powerful predictor of insulin resistance; elevated triglycerides often appear years before diabetes develops. High triglycerides (especially above 150 mg/dL) indicate your body is overproducing VLDL particles due to excess carbohydrates, insulin resistance, or liver dysfunction. Very high triglycerides (above 500 mg/dL) increase pancreatitis risk. Triglycerides are extremely responsive to lifestyle; they can drop 50% within weeks of carbohydrate reduction, making them excellent markers for tracking metabolic improvement. The triglyceride/HDL ratio (optimal below 2) is one of the best predictors of insulin resistance and small dense LDL particles.
How to Interpret Your Trends
Optimal triglycerides are below 100 mg/dL, indicating excellent metabolic health. Levels of 100-150 mg/dL are acceptable but warrant attention. Triglycerides of 150-199 mg/dL are borderline high, indicating developing insulin resistance. Levels of 200-499 mg/dL are high, indicating significant metabolic dysfunction. Very high triglycerides (above 500 mg/dL) dramatically increase pancreatitis risk requiring immediate intervention. Triglycerides should be measured fasting since they rise dramatically after eating. Falling triglycerides indicate improving insulin sensitivity, while rising levels signal metabolic deterioration requiring urgent intervention.
What Influences This Marker
Triglycerides increase dramatically with high carbohydrate intake (especially refined sugars and fructose), alcohol consumption, obesity, physical inactivity, uncontrolled diabetes, insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, hypothyroidism, kidney disease, and certain medications (steroids, beta-blockers, estrogen). Triglycerides decrease rapidly with carbohydrate restriction, weight loss, exercise, alcohol reduction, omega-3 supplementation (high-dose fish oil), fibrate medications, and improved insulin sensitivity. Diet modification produces the fastest triglyceride reductions.
How Your Team Uses It
Your coach prioritizes triglyceride reduction through carbohydrate quality and quantity management, reducing refined carbs and sugars, emphasizing protein and healthy fats, implementing strategic carb timing around workouts. Triglyceride response provides powerful feedback on dietary interventions.
Related Signals We Also Review
HDL (calculate triglyceride/HDL ratio), fasting glucose, insulin, HbA1c, LDL, non-HDL cholesterol, apoB, liver enzymes, and body composition for complete metabolic assessment.