Triglycerides

The basics

Triglycerides are the most common fat in your body, carried through the blood inside lipoprotein particles. They come from the food you eat and from fat your liver makes, and act as a major energy store. A blood test captures how much is circulating at the moment you collect your sample. CHIRAYOU samples are taken without fasting, which current European guidance accepts for routine lipid testing - it simply shifts the threshold your value is read against.

Why this marker matters

Triglyceride levels track how well your body handles carbohydrate and fat. Persistently high values point to insulin resistance, non-alcoholic fatty liver, and a higher cardiometabolic risk profile - often alongside low HDL and raised blood sugar. Very high levels also carry a risk of acute pancreatitis.

Where the typical ranges sit

Optimal < 150 mg/dL; borderline 150–199; high 200–499; very high ≥ 500 mg/dL.

Widely used fasting thresholds are: normal below 150 mg/dL (1.7 mmol/L), borderline-high 150–199, high 200–499, and very high at or above 500 mg/dL. Because triglycerides rise after a meal, the European consensus on non-fasting lipid testing flags a non-fasting sample from 175 mg/dL (2.0 mmol/L) rather than 150 - so a CHIRAYOU result slightly above 150 may simply reflect that you ate beforehand. Your report is interpreted against the range the analysing laboratory reports. A value at or above 500 mg/dL raises the risk of acute pancreatitis and warrants prompt medical attention regardless of when you last ate.

Reference ranges differ between laboratories and guidelines. Your CHIRAYOU report uses the range reported by the analysing laboratory, and your interpretation should be discussed with a physician.

Common influencers

• Recent meals and alcohol (values rise sharply after eating or drinking)
• Refined carbohydrate and sugar intake
• Body weight and visceral fat
• Insulin resistance and type-2 diabetes
• Physical activity (regular exercise lowers triglycerides)
• Genetics and some medications (e.g. certain diuretics, beta-blockers, oral oestrogens)

If your value is outside the range

A single raised reading is common and, on a non-fasting sample, often reflects a recent meal or drink rather than a lasting problem - a fasting repeat is the usual way to settle it. Persistently high values should be reviewed with a physician alongside the rest of your lipid and metabolic picture, since lifestyle change is often the first and most effective step.

Where this comes from

• 2019 ESC/EAS Guidelines for the management of dyslipidaemias (European Heart Journal)
• Miller M. et al. - Triglycerides and Cardiovascular Disease: A Scientific Statement from the American Heart Association (Circulation, 2011)
• Nordestgaard B. G. et al. - Fasting is not routinely required for determination of a lipid profile (EAS/EFLM joint consensus, European Heart Journal, 2016)