Fish Oil For Triglycerides: 2 Things You Really Must Know

Fish oil for triglycerides is usually given to people who have hypertriglyceridemia, or high levels of triglycerides in their system. These high levels can be measured by triglyceride count through blood tests. Normal levels are below the 150 mg/dL marker; borderline status is between 150 to 199 mg/dL; while people who have excessive triglycerides have 200 to 500 mg/dL and above.

So why is fish oil - trigylcerides associated with one another? And why is fish oil for triglycerides necessary to maintain one's health? We first need to define what triglycerides are.

When we consume food and drinks, our body breaks these down into calories so that cells and tissues can extract the necessary nutrients to sustain life. However, not all these calories can be assimilated immediately into the system, especially when there seems to be too much calories taken per meal. These excess calories are converted into a chemical form called triglycerides.

In turn, triglycerides are transported into the blood stream. Its main destination is the adipose tissues or the fat cells of the body. Triglycerides are actually necessary to one's survival. Hormones regulate the release of these chemicals from the adipose tissues so that the person's energy level does not wane in between meals, or when a person has not eaten for a relatively long period of time.

Nonetheless, anything in excess is usually very harmful to the body. In this case, excess triglycerides or hypertriglyceridemia can trigger other medical conditions like diabetes mellitus, hypertension, obesity and all manner of coronary heart diseases.

Fish oil for triglycerides is usually given to help control the chemical's escalating count. Fish oil supplements can help increase the volume of good cholesterol in the system, which is an effective tool for flushing out bad cholesterol and eventually bringing down the person's triglyceride count.

But there are still many skeptics who say that giving fish oil for triglycerides as remedy is not as effective as many people suppose. The truth is: fish oil is not a wonder drug for curing hypertriglyceridemia. This supplement does have its benefits, but there are some things that you should also know, like:

1. Triglyceride count is usually in direct proportion to the amount of calories that you take. In other words, the more food you consume or the more calorific food (or drink) you ingest, the higher your triglyceride count will be. So even if you take concentrated forms or higher dosages of your fish oil supplements, your excess calories will still prevail over the supplements.

In order to effectively lower your triglyceride count, it is also necessary that you consume fewer calories as well. After all, fish oil supplements are only dietary aids to help you gain better health. It is still up to you to make sure that you do not exceed the recommended calorie count per meal.

2. Many people take too much stock in fish oil for triglycerides, and are sometimes disappointed when their triglyceride count are not lowered immediately. In some cases, people discontinue taking the supplements altogether. You do have to remember that any remedy, (it can be supplemental or otherwise,) does take time before results can be seen or felt; this means that an observation period of 3 months or so is needed to gauge the effectivity of the product.

Make no mistake about it; fish based oil is considered good for treating triglycerides but remember to be consistent with your medication, administer the supplements within accepted limits, give adequate time to see results and, last but not the least, use the right fish based oil supplement.