Lowering Triglycerides through Diet Intervention

High plasma triglycerides may play a role in disease states such as coronary heart disease (CHD) as well as a person’s overall mortality. Methods of lowering plasma triglycerides (TG) are therefore an important area of research. One method that has been researched in the battle against high TG levels is omega-3 fatty acid consumption. Omega-3 fatty acids, also known as n-3 fatty acids, are found in foods such as flax seed, walnuts, and fatty fish. It has been shown that omega-3 fatty acids can induce lower TG levels. The beneficial effects of n-3 fatty acids may include lower TG levels, increased high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) concentrations, increased low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) size, decreased platelet aggregation, decreased blood pressure, and inhibition of coagulation. N-3 fatty acids may reduce TG levels by decreasing the rate of TG synthesis or by increasing the rate of clearance. Both of these possible mechanisms will be discussed. One possible negative side effect of higher intakes of omega-3 fatty acids is an increase in bleeding. Specifically, when looking at studies observing the relationship of omega-3 fatty acids and stroke, the data is hard to interpret. Though they may decrease the incidence of cerebral atherosclerosis, omega-3 fatty acids may increase the risk of death from hemorrhagic strokes. In this mini-review, data from several clinical and animal studies have been reviewed and summarized. There appears to be a general negative correlation between omega-3 fatty acid intake and plasma TG levels, even though the mechanism by which this occurs is still being investigated.