Triglycerides: What Your Lab Result Means

Triglycerides are the storage form of fat. After a meal, calories your body does not immediately need are packaged as triglycerides and shipped through the blood to fat and muscle tissue.

Because they respond to your last few meals and to alcohol, triglycerides are usually measured after a 9–12 hour fast for the most comparable result.

Elevated triglycerides often signal that the body is handling carbohydrate and insulin poorly, and they commonly appear alongside low HDL and central weight gain.

Levels above 500 mg/dL raise the risk of pancreatitis, an urgent concern that is treated differently from ordinary cardiovascular risk management.

Dietary drivers include sugar-sweetened drinks, refined starches, alcohol, and very large meals. Fatty fish, fiber, and omega-3 fats tend to push triglycerides down.

A non-fasting draw, alcohol in the previous 24 hours, uncontrolled blood sugar, thyroid underactivity, kidney disease, pregnancy, and medications such as steroids and some diuretics can all raise the number.