Some Notes on Triglycerides

Someone asked me the other day about triglycerides. First, you should understand that triglycerides are the form that fat takes in the body. If you eat a high fat meal, you can expect that your triglycerides will elevate. Good example of this, my husband had some fasting lab work drawn. Right before he began fasting for his blood work, he ate a jar of peanuts. When his lab work came back his triglycerides were much higher than they had ever been. I asked him if he had eaten anything after dinner and he admitted to the jar of peanuts. Then I knew the cause for the elevation. He also got to see first hand what happens when you eat high fat. He has eaten a jar of peanuts since then.

Triglycerides that are not used immediately for energy, are stored in the fat depots in the body. Some individuals have a genetic predisposition that makes them have high triglyceride levels all of the time. Medications do not lower the triglycerides in those individuals.