Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsDefinitionsLifestyle Risk FactorsLack of SleepHealth ConditionsGeneticsMedications
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
Definitions
Lifestyle Risk Factors
Lack of Sleep
Health Conditions
Genetics
Medications
Causes of high triglycerides (hypertriglyceridemia) include inactivity, foods high in fat and sugar, smoking, drinking too much alcohol, and being overweight.Non-modifiable risk factors include family history, menopause, and chronic conditions like thyroid, kidney, or liver disease.
Triglycerides are a type of lipid (fat) found in the blood that, when elevated, increases the risk of heart disease, stroke, andpancreatitis. By identifying the causes of high triglycerides that you can influence, you can takes steps to reduce your risk.
This article explains what hyperglyceridemia is and lists the the various causes and risk factors, including lifestyle, genetics, medications, and medical conditions.
Ariel Skelley/Getty Images
Triglyceridesare lipids or fats. They are, in part, what helps you sustain energy throughout the day. Your body makes triglycerides from unused calories, stores them, and releases them from fat cells into the blood when they are needed. They may also freely circulate in the bloodstream when introduced.
Levels are measured in milligram per deciliter (mg/dL). The American Heart Association notes the following designations:
Lifestyle choices such as what you eat play a major role in maintaining normal triglyceride levels. These choices are often the main causes of increased levels.
Diet
The type of food you eat affects your triglyceride levels.Two highly influential types of foods are carbohydrates and fats.
A lipid-lowering diet consisting of plenty of fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, and complex carbohydrates can help keep your triglyceride levels in check. In terms of foods to avoid when working to manage triglyceride levels, cut out or minimize your consumption of highly processed products, deep-fried foods, and high-calorie fats and carbohydrates.
Foods to Avoid If You Have High Triglycerides
Smoking Cigarettes
Smoking has a complex effect on triglycerides. It may cause insulin resistance, a condition in which your body doesn’t respond to insulin. While insulin is more closely associated with glucose metabolism, it also helps break down triglycerides. Therefore if insulin response is decreased, it can result in elevated levels of triglycerides.
Smoking cessation can not only lower your risk of developing high triglycerides but it can also help prevent other medical conditions, such as heart disease, emphysema, and lung cancer.
Quit Smoking—Successfully
Being Overweight
Some excess calories get converted to triglycerides and then stored in fat cells. This acts as your body’s reserves or energy storage it can call upon when needed. Other triglycerides circulate in the bloodstream. The more you weigh, the more your energy storage isn’t tapped and the higher your triglyceride levels are likely to be.
Lack of Exercise
Exercise uses energy. Stored and circulating triglycerides are broken down and used for this purpose. When you don’t use much energy, the triglycerides remain in the blood, leading to higher-than-normal levels.
Research shows that getting regular aerobic exercise lowers triglyceride levels.Even a moderate level of aerobic exercise, when consistent over the course of months, is enough to reduce your levels.
Sedentary Lifestyle
Physical activity helps lower your triglycerides. But a sedentary lifestyle adds to the harmful effects of not exercising and can even prevent you from getting the benefits of exercise, especially if you exercise infrequently.
A research study showed that people who normally sit for more than 13 hours per day or take fewer than 4,000 steps per day do not experience the expected decrease in triglyceride levels after doing a burst of exercise.
Drinking Too Much Alcohol
Limiting the amount of alcohol that you consume can help keep your heart—and triglyceride levels—healthy. Studies have shown that consuming alcohol can adversely affect your lipid levels in incremental amounts. It’s therefore suggested that you limit your alcohol intake to one drink per day if you are assigned female at birth, or two drinks per day if you are assigned male at birth.
Alcohol consumption affects triglyceride levels through its impact on the liver and pancreas, according to experts.
Although a direct link between the amount one sleeps and high triglycerides has not been established, consistent lack of sleep has been linked to medical conditions that can raise triglycerides.These include high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes.
Additionally, sleep disorders such as obstructive sleep apnea have been associated with unfavorable lipid levels which would include LDL cholesterol and triglycerides.TheCenters for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)recommends a minimum of seven hours of sleep per night for most adults.
Any condition that causes your body to produce more triglycerides than necessary or prevents their normal breakdown can increase the levels of this lipid in your blood.
Several medical conditions are associated with elevated lipids, including triglycerides. These illnesses may have a variety of other symptoms as well. Illnesses that cause high triglycerides include:
Drug Interactions of Lipitor (Atorvastatin) and Other Statins
Several genetic conditions can cause high levels of triglycerides, and even if you don’t have one of them, you may still have an inherited tendency towards hypertriglyceridemia.
Inherited conditions that cause high triglycerides include:
In addition to these genetic conditions, rare mutations affecting the genes that code for lipoprotein lipase (an enzyme that breaks down triglycerides) or apolipoprotein C2 can also cause increased triglycerides.
Combined EffectsWhen you have an inherited tendency, it is hard to maintain a normal triglyceride level with lifestyle adjustments alone, but lifestyle factorscanmake your condition worse.
Combined Effects
When you have an inherited tendency, it is hard to maintain a normal triglyceride level with lifestyle adjustments alone, but lifestyle factorscanmake your condition worse.
Certain medications can affect your lipid metabolism, resulting in high triglyceride levels. There are a number of different categories of medications associated with this side effect.
Medications that can raise triglyceride levels include:
Summary
There are multiple risk factors that can cause an increase in triglycerides and other lipids. These include lifestyle factors, health conditions, genetics, and medications. Triglycerides can be high on their own or in combination with high cholesterol. Alipid panel blood testcan help you determine your levels of triglycerides, total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL), and high-density lipoprotein (HDL). By working with your healthcare provider to determine the underlying cause, you can implement measures to reduce your risk of developing hypertriglyceridemia.
Causes and Risk Factors of High Triglycerides
17 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
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