MONDAY, April 18 (HealthDay News) -- Healthy lifestyle changes can significantly lower elevated levels of triglycerides, a type of blood fat associated with heart disease and other health problems, says an American Heart Association scientific statement released Monday.
About one-third (31 percent) of adults in the United States have elevated triglyceride levels, defined as more than 150 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL).
These levels can be lowered 20 percent to 50 percent by replacing unhealthy saturated fats with healthy unsaturated dietary fats, being physically active and losing excess weight, according to the statement authors, who analyzed more than 500 international studies from the past 30 years.
"The good news is that high triglycerides can, in large part, be reduced through major lifestyle changes," statement committee chair Dr. Michael Miller, director of the Center for Preventive Cardiology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore, said in an AHA news release.
Clinically, the new guidelines recommend lowering optimal triglyceride levels to less than 100 mg/dL and using non-fasting triglyceride testing as an initial screen.
"In contrast to cholesterol, where lifestyle measures are important but may not be the solution, high triglycerides are often quite responsive to lifestyle measures that include weight loss if overweight, changes in diet and regular physical activity," said Miller, who is also a professor of medicine in epidemiology and public health at the university.
The statement outlines recommended dietary changes for people with high triglyceride levels. These include limiting:
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