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What are triglycerides? - The info you must have

When you ask your doctor: What are triglycerides?; he will simply answer “They are kind of fat?”. If you continue questioning him/her, he will go on telling you that triglycerides are insoluble fatty molecules.

Since they cannot dissolve in your bloodstream, they are transported via your blood circulation by lipoproteins (called very low density lipoproteins - VLDL).

You should know that fats stored in your body are mainly in the form of triglycerides. The amount of triglycerides carried through your blood represents a very small part of the total triglycerides stored in your body.

Hypertriglyceridemia (elevated triglyceride level in the blood) alone doesn’t essentially result in atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries due to accumulation of fatty debris and cholesterol).

That is because several lipoproteins which carry triglycerides, carry cholesterol too. Cholesterol definitely causes atherosclerosis .

High triglycerides levels are usually combined to other diseases like decrease in HDL “Good” cholesterol or diabetes , which increase the risk for cardiac diseases.

Any defect in lipoproteins which participates in the development of most heart diseases is manifested by high triglycerides in your blood. Prolonged hypertriglyceridemia can easily cause pancreatitis.

What are triglycerides normal levels?

Your doctor can check your blood triglycerides levels from the results of your lipid profile test.

Table

As you may probably see, your aim is to keep your triglycerides levels below 150 mg/dl. Otherwise, problems will come out.

What are triglycerides – What can cause elevated triglycerides levels?

Maladies like diabetes mellitus, overweight, renal failure or addiction to alcohol can elevate your triglycerides.

Usually, high triglycerides levels are accompanied with high cholesterol levels. Keep an eye to your cholesterol to be safe from triglycerides too.

But this is not enough. High triglycerides levels can be lowered by:

Proper medical treatment of the diseases causing high triglycerides.

Avoiding refined sugars and carbohydrates in your diet.

Your daily dietary intake of carbohydrate must not exceed fifty percent of your daily total calories consumption.

Despite carbohydrates increase triglycerides levels, they decrease HDL cholesterol. Instead, use monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats in cooking.

Having a regular physical activity.

If you fail with the above steps in lowering triglycerides levels, your doctor will start to give you medication. Especially in cases when your blood triglycerides level is more than 500mg/dl and you urge to use drugs.

What are triglycerides chemical properties?

Figure

Triglycerides (Triacylglycerols) are esters of glycerol (tri-functional alcohol) and fatty acids. Triglycerides have the same physical properties of oils and fats and the same chemical properties of fatty acids.

What are triglycerides functions in your body?

Triglycerides are chains of fatty acids with high-energy. They are very necessary to your body, and play an essential part in metabolism as an energy supply.

They have double energy (9 kcal/g) found in carbohydrates and proteins.

In your bowl and by the action of lipase and bile acids, triglycerides molecules will be divided into glycerol and fatty acids, which can be absorbed in your blood stream.

In your blood, they can easily form lipoproteins. Most tissues can utilize the free released fatty acids as an energy source.

Also adipose cells can store triglycerides. When your body needs energy to function, the following will occur:

Figure

What are triglycerides sources for our bodies?

There are two main sources for triglycerides:

1- Liver – which is the main source of synthesizing triglycerides.

2- Another important source is our daily diet.

Saturated fats as well as animal dairy products are rich in triglycerides. These fats are absorbed from your intestine and reach your liver to be processed through blood circulation.

I hope you got all the answers you need and have more clear ideas on what's happening to your triglycerides levels and your body well-being.

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