Are Low Triglycerides a Problem?

Nutrition
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I recently had a lipid panel done because I wanted to just see where I was at. I have recently increased my red meat consumption to daily, and wanted to see if there was any change in my lipids.

My Cholesterols were perfect.

My Triglycerides were low! They were 22 and the bottom of the scale was 40. (sorry I can get better ranges and numbers if needed)

Is this a concern? Am I not eating enough? I read that excess calories get stored as triglycerides for energy later on.

I am wary of weight gain as I have been on the higher end of weight a few times in my life, so I watch what I eat, but I also workout with heavy weights, and recently I have been feeling more hungry all the time. My workouts have increased in intensity, but I feel like I am eating enough.

Typical diet for a day.

0630 Breakfast : 30g Protein shake with cup of powdered oats
0830: Half slice of wheat bread with tablespoon of peanut butter
1000: 15 gram protein Oikos triple zero yogurt Or ONE protein Bar
1200: Large steak, broccoli, beans (always feel full afterwards, stay full for about 2+ hours)
1400: Protein shake/ or yogurt
1600 1645: Protein shake before gym with Apple or Banana
1800: Post workout protein shake with Low fat milk
1900: Dinner (lean meat, veggies, very rarely will I eat carbs, wheat toast, wheat noodles)
2030: Snacks (Greek yogurt with protein powder, spoon full of peanut butter, or cottage cheese)

I know I don’t have amounts, and its not super specific. But if you guys don’t mind taking a look.

I also notice, I feel an insatiable hunger before bed. Even if I eat a half cup of cottage cheese, ill still feel hungry, and I will peruse the fridge over and over.

( I guess any ideas for snacks besides protein shakes will help too.)

Thanks for any insight guys.

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Height/weight?

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My wife is a cardiologist and she has not heard of any problem indicated or caused by low triglycerides.

Triglycerides tend to rise with intake of fructose/sucrose, alcohol, and with insulin resistance. They also make insulin resistance worse. Low sugar/low alcohol diets, as well as low body fat, active lifestyle and caloric restriction decrease triglycerides.

Fat intake does not cause high fasting triglycerides but it can temporarily raise them after a meal.

1 Like
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5’11 181 lbs

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That’s good info, thanks.

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22 dam that is awesome. Congrats.
I noticed lots of dairy in your diet are you getting any bags under the eyes?
Just asking. I had to quit all dairy because of fat in the lower eyelid and it worked. Finding other protein sub was a bit-ch though.

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By the way, you said that your choleresterols were perfect. Where were they? Cholesterol and even LDL can be “too low”. If you don’t have risk factors for heart disease, being in the higher end of the cholesterol range tends to produce healthier individuals than being in the low end. Also really low LDL can be a sign that you have been fighting off infections. Your saturated fat intake looks really low (depending on the fat content of the steak), and there also doesn’t look like a lot of opportunities to add sodium to your diet. Sodium is a good thing, if everything else is good. Do you take vitamin D suppliments?

Just curious, did you get a fasting blood sugar with the lipid panel, and what about magnesium.

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Can confirm. Had a bad 2017 with work stress, too much alcohol and 15lb weight gain. In 2016 my trigs were below the range (like yours) and in Q4 2017 they were above the range. Big wake up call moment.

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I’ll get the exact numbers up Monday. They’re at my job, and I’m off today.

I do take vitamin D 5000 + 2000 in my multi, a day. Vitamin d is always midrange. I believe the bottom value is 30 and top is 120. and I’m at like 60-70. So I keep that in check.

I add salt to my lunch meals. I do agree that it could use more. I was always worried it would raise my BP (on TRT) but since I have started adding it more, I haven’t had any BP issues. I know now that it was really stupid to cut my salt so much, but I’m working on it.

Try and eat the fat with my steak. Didn’t use to but I realize my fat intake is low. Try and eat some avocado throughout the week. Will try and add more throughout the week.

Didn’t Check fasting BS this time,
But whenever I get my glucose checked and A1c they’re always normal.

Bs fasting was like 106, and my A1C was close to the top of the range. Not close to over though.

I use to supplement with magnesium daily but haven’t lately. There is some in my multivitamin. But I could start taking it again. Never tested though.

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Nothing like that.

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Cholesterol 145 mg/dl <200 range

Triglycerides 26 mg/dl 40-160

HDL 54 mg/dl >40 range

LDL Cholesterol Calc 86 mg/dl < 130 range

Chol/HDL ratio 2.7 Range 2.8-5.0 (doesn’t mention its low)

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OK. Everything is good as I understand it, except that I personally would not want my total cholesterol to be that low since it can reduce testosterone. You can get a total and free testosterone test out of pocket usually for $40-$50 if you want to .

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On TRT, regularly do labs. I’m in good ranges.

Thanks for taking a look.

So you think my Cholesterol is a little low? Total or LDL?

Less than 200 is the range, I thought 145 would be decent!

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From a clinical point of view 145 is great, but those standards where developed when it was believed that cholesterol caused heart disease. Your LDL and HDL ratios are super. Given that you are on TRT it might not matter. You could afford to have your cholesterol rise (in a balanced way concerning HDL and LDL) quite a bit though. I don’t think a doctor is ever going to tell you to raise your cholesterol, personally, I consider the optimal level for male hormone levels to be around 200 with LDL under 130.

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Thanks for the great info. I actually asked around a few docs and got some pretty vague answers.

So again, thanks. Am going to increase the fats in my diet, and just see if I can eat more in general. Nutritious , whole food, of course.