Triglycerides

Blood test · no fasting needed

Also known as: TG, Triglyceride

Below the high range Below 150 mg/dL
High (when it stays high) 150 to 499 mg/dL
Severe 500 mg/dL and above

Units and reference ranges differ between labs.

Cutoffs: 2026 ACC/AHA Guideline on the Management of Dyslipidemia

Triglycerides are the main fat carried in your blood. A high level marks too many of the particles that carry them, and their leftovers add to artery disease. At very high levels, triglycerides can also cause pancreatitis.

What it tells you

Between meals, particles made by the liver carry most triglycerides. After eating, particles from the gut add more.
Triglycerides move with meals more than any other blood fat. The 150 mg/dL line is for a fasting sample; a non-fasting sample uses 175 instead.
A high level counts only when it stays high. One high reading after a meal is not a diagnosis.
At 150 mg/dL or higher, US guidelines prefer non-HDL cholesterol or ApoB over LDL to judge heart risk.
Pancreatitis risk rises at 500 mg/dL and is especially high at 1,000 mg/dL or more.
A non-fasting result of 400 mg/dL or higher calls for a repeat test after fasting.

What can throw it off

A recent meal raises it, on average by up to about 26 mg/dL. The rise is bigger after a high-fat or sugary meal, or soon after eating.
Drinking too much alcohol raises it.
Conditions that raise it include poorly controlled diabetes, kidney disease, an underactive thyroid, obesity and insulin resistance.
Diets high in saturated fat, sugar or foods that raise blood sugar quickly can raise it, and so can an inactive lifestyle.
Many medicines can raise it, including oral estrogen, steroids, beta-blockers, some water pills, some antipsychotics and sirolimus.
Pregnancy raises it, most of all in the third trimester.
Results taken during sepsis are repeated. In the first days after a heart attack, triglycerides change little.
Very high triglycerides make calculated LDL unreliable and can interfere with some HbA1c tests.

Evidence

Predicting heart disease

Strong human evidenceCEBM Level 1a

Across 29 studies of over 260,000 people, those in the top third had about 1.7 times the heart disease risk of the bottom third. But once HDL and non-HDL cholesterol were known, triglycerides added nothing. Genetic studies suggest the risk travels with particle count and remnant cholesterol.

Lowering triglycerides to prevent heart disease

Strong human evidenceCEBM Level 1b

Three large trials in people already on statins gave mixed results. A purified fish-oil drug cut events by a quarter, but its placebo may have exaggerated the benefit. Trials of a mixed fish-oil drug and of a fibrate showed no fewer events.

Predicting pancreatitis

Strong human evidenceCEBM Level 1b

In over 116,000 people followed for about 7 years, pancreatitis risk rose with triglycerides. Compared with levels below 89 mg/dL, risk was about 2.3 times higher at 177 to 265 mg/dL. At 443 mg/dL or more it was about 9 times higher.

Limits

It is not independent of the other blood fats. Once non-HDL cholesterol or ApoB is known, it adds little to heart risk.
For heart risk, lowering the number is not a goal in itself. At 500 mg/dL and above, lowering it matters to prevent pancreatitis.
One reading is not enough. Meals, alcohol and illness move it, so guidelines require it to stay high.
It does not show which particles are high. ApoB helps sort out the pattern.
Remnant cholesterol, the cholesterol in the leftover particles, is not on the standard report. US guidelines set no cutoff for it.

References

Reviewed by Shubham Gupta, MD — Founder & President · November 1, 2026

This page is for education only. It is not medical advice. Decisions about any treatment belong with a physician who knows your history.