Perhaps you have already heard about bad cholesterol and good cholesterol — bad cholesterol or low density lipoprotein (LDL) is bad for you because it can cause your arteries to become hardened and narrowed, and good cholesterol or high density lipoprotein (HDL) is good for you because it helps to lower the levels of bad cholesterol in your blood.
Are you aware that there’s also what doctors refer to as ugly cholesterol? Just like what the name says, having high levels of this in your blood can make your heart health look horrid.
This ugly cholesterol is more commonly known as triglycerides — they’re a type of fat that is found in your bloodstream. According to doctors, having high triglyceride levels is just like having high bad cholesterol levels — it can considerably increase your risk of dying from heart disease.
Triglycerides are in fact naturally produced by your body. However, it can also come from some of the foods you eat, in particular those that are high in sugar, carbohydrates and saturated fat. Doctors confirm that people who are overweight or obese and suffer from diabetes are at higher risk of having high triglycerides in their bloodstream.
It’s perfectly normal to have some triglycerides in your blood. It’s a completely different story, however, if there are more triglycerides in your blood than necessary.
Keeping your blood triglyceride levels to within the normal range means you have to lose excess weight and put your diabetes — if you are suffering from it — under control.
It’s also very important for you to carefully mind what you eat. Basically, you have to reduce your intake of anything that’s loaded with sugar, carbohydrates and saturated fat. Similarly, you should add the following triglyceride-lowering foods to your diet on a regular basis:
Whole Wheat Bread
The key is to reduce your intake of carbohydrates, not completely eradicate carbohydrates from your life. In fact, there are foods that contain carbohydrates but can actually help lower the levels of triglycerides in your blood.
A very good example is whole wheat bread. That’s because it is very high in fiber that helps lower everything in your body that can endanger your life, including excess triglycerides. Other than whole wheat bread, you may also opt for other food products that are out of whole grains or flour.
It’s certainly a wonderful idea for you to include lots of green leafy vegetables in your diet if your goal is to lower your triglycerides considerably. It’s for the fact that they are loaded with triglyceride-lowering fiber.
However, heart specialists say that you should particularly have more of spinach. Aside from fiber that can help sweep excess triglycerides out of your body, it also packs what’s referred to as alpha-lipolic acid which, according to numerous studies, can help lower triglyceride levels in the bloodstream by up to 60 percent.
Aside from spinach, you may also opt for others that are also rich in alpha-lipolic acid. Some superb examples are oranges, grapes, blueberries, lemons, limes and tomatoes.
Beans, Peas and Lentils
Experts also suggest for you to have more of legumes — beans, peas and lentils. That’s because they are packed with fiber that, as mentioned earlier, is very good at helping to keep high triglyceride levels at bay.
Especially if your doctor told you to shed off those excess pounds in order to reinstate an optimum level of triglycerides in your bloodstream, you should definitely add legumes to your diet. They help fend off overeating, plus they allow you to build lean muscles that can encourage weight loss.
It’s a fantastic idea for you to regularly add salmon to your diet. According to scientists, omega-3 fatty acids in salmon are capable of zapping excess triglyceride molecules in your body.
Aside from salmon, you can also obtain phenomenal amounts of omega-3 fatty acids from other types of oily of fatty fish. Some good examples include sardines, trout, mackerel and tuna. And by the way, you can also obtain omega-3 fatty acids from nuts, seeds and healthy types of oils such as olive oil.