Your triglycerides should be below 150 mg/dL, and ideally below 100 mg/dL for the lowest heart disease risk. Triglycerides are a type of fat in your blood that your body uses for energy, and they show up on the same blood test (a lipid panel) that measures your cholesterol. But unlike cholesterol, which your body uses to build cells and hormones, triglycerides are purely about energy storage. When you eat more calories than you burn, the excess gets converted into triglycerides and tucked away in fat cells.
Triglyceride Ranges for Adults
The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute breaks adult triglyceride levels into four categories:
- Healthy: Below 150 mg/dL
- Borderline high: 150 to 199 mg/dL
- High: 200 to 499 mg/dL
- Very high: 500 mg/dL and above
While 150 mg/dL is the standard cutoff for “healthy,” there’s good reason to aim lower. Cleveland Clinic data shows that keeping triglycerides below 100 mg/dL offers the best protection against heart disease. Think of 150 as the ceiling and 100 as the sweet spot.
Ranges for Children and Teens
Kids aren’t just small adults when it comes to blood lipids. The American Heart Association classifies acceptable triglycerides in youth as 130 mg/dL or lower, which is already stricter than the adult threshold. Mildly elevated levels in children fall between 131 and 400 mg/dL. For children ages 10 to 19, the NHLBI uses an even tighter number: below 90 mg/dL is considered healthy. If your child’s pediatrician flags elevated triglycerides, it usually means lifestyle changes like reducing sugary drinks and processed snacks before any other intervention.
Why High Triglycerides Matter
Elevated triglycerides quietly damage your cardiovascular system over time. The more triglycerides circulating in your blood, the more likely you are to develop atherosclerosis, the buildup of fatty deposits inside artery walls that restricts blood flow. Once triglycerides climb above 200 mg/dL, your risk of dying from cardiovascular disease jumps by 25% compared to someone with normal levels. That same threshold raises your risk for heart attack and stroke.
At extreme levels, the danger shifts from your heart to your pancreas. When triglycerides exceed 1,000 mg/dL, the risk of acute pancreatitis (a painful and potentially life-threatening inflammation of the pancreas) reaches about 10%. Above 5,000 mg/dL, that risk climbs past 50%. Below 1,000 mg/dL, triglyceride-caused pancreatitis is unlikely.
What Drives Triglycerides Up
The most common driver is simply eating more calories than your body needs, especially from carbohydrates. Your liver converts the surplus into triglycerides. Sugar, white bread, pasta, and other refined carbs are particularly efficient at raising levels. Fructose, the sugar found in sweetened beverages and many processed foods, is one of the worst offenders.
Alcohol has an outsized effect on triglycerides relative to other dietary factors. It’s high in both calories and sugar, and even moderate drinking can push levels up noticeably. For people with severely elevated triglycerides, cutting alcohol entirely is often the single most impactful change.
Some medications can also raise triglycerides as a side effect. Certain blood pressure drugs, particularly thiazide diuretics and older beta blockers, are known to bump up levels. If you’re on blood pressure medication and your triglycerides have crept up, it’s worth asking your doctor whether the two could be related.
How Triglycerides Are Tested
Triglycerides are measured through a simple blood draw, typically as part of a standard lipid panel. You’ll generally need to fast for 9 to 12 hours beforehand, since eating (especially fatty or sugary foods) temporarily spikes triglyceride levels and can skew the results. Your doctor will let you know whether fasting is required, as some newer guidelines allow non-fasting draws for initial screening. Water and black coffee are usually fine during the fasting window.
Lowering Your Levels Through Diet and Exercise
Because triglycerides respond so directly to what you eat, dietary changes can produce meaningful drops, sometimes within weeks. The core strategy is reducing excess calories, particularly from sugar and refined carbs. Swapping white rice for brown, cutting back on sweetened drinks, and limiting desserts are practical first steps that target the main dietary triggers.
Replacing saturated fats (found in red meat, butter, and full-fat dairy) with unsaturated fats also helps. Olive oil, avocados, nuts, and fatty fish like salmon and mackerel are the go-to substitutes. Omega-3 fatty acids from fish are particularly effective at lowering triglycerides. Two servings of fatty fish per week is a commonly recommended target. Trans fats, found in some processed and fried foods, should be avoided entirely.
Regular physical activity lowers triglycerides independently of weight loss, though losing excess weight amplifies the effect. Even moderate exercise, like brisk walking for 30 minutes most days, makes a measurable difference. The combination of cutting refined carbs, reducing alcohol, eating more omega-3s, and staying active can bring borderline or mildly elevated levels back into the healthy range without medication for many people.
When Medication Becomes Part of the Plan
If lifestyle changes aren’t enough, or if levels are dangerously high, doctors may add medication. The 2026 ACC/AHA guidelines recommend that adults aged 40 to 75 with persistently elevated triglycerides (150 to 499 mg/dL) get a formal heart disease risk assessment to guide treatment decisions. For people who already have heart disease and elevated triglycerides, the guidelines recommend intensifying treatment to reduce cardiovascular risk.
The main medication classes used for high triglycerides include fibrates, statins, and prescription-strength omega-3 fatty acids. The specific choice depends on how high your levels are, whether you also have elevated cholesterol, and your overall cardiovascular risk profile. For people with a rare genetic condition called familial chylomicronemia syndrome, where triglycerides can soar above 1,000 mg/dL, newer targeted therapies are now available that specifically address the underlying cause.