Triglycerides are the main form in which your body stores and transports fat for energy. Unlike most markers on a blood panel, they respond fast — to your last few meals, to alcohol, and to how well your insulin is working.
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Reference range used: 40–150 mg/dL. Runs in your browser — nothing is stored.
mg/dL
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Wellness information, not medical advice. Reference ranges vary between laboratories and depend on age, sex and context. This page cannot diagnose anything — always read your result with the range printed on your own report, and discuss concerns with a doctor.
That responsiveness is exactly what makes them useful: triglycerides often move before glucose or HbA1c do, making them an early signal in metabolic health.
Why it matters
High triglycerides are strongly linked with insulin resistance. When they rise while HDL falls, that combination is one of the most recognisable early metabolic patterns.
What influences your triglycerides
Not fasting before the test — the single biggest cause of a falsely high result. 10–12 hours is standard.
Alcohol, which can raise triglycerides sharply for days afterwards.
Refined carbohydrates and sugar, which raise triglycerides more than dietary fat does for most people.
Physical activity and body composition, both strongly protective.
What to do with the result
Calculate your triglyceride-to-HDL ratio — divide triglycerides by HDL in mg/dL. Below about 2 is generally favourable; above 3 suggests looking closer at insulin sensitivity.
If your result was high, first confirm you actually fasted. Retest properly fasted before drawing conclusions.
Reducing alcohol and refined carbohydrate is the change that moves this marker fastest — often visible within weeks.
Common questions
What is a normal triglyceride level?
Commonly used cut-offs are: normal below 150 mg/dL (1.7 mmol/L), borderline 150–199, high 200–499, and very high above 500 mg/dL, which needs medical attention.
How much does fasting matter?
A great deal. Triglycerides can be 20–30% higher after a meal. A non-fasting sample makes the result — and anything calculated from it, such as LDL or the TyG index — unreliable.
Why do triglycerides and HDL move in opposite directions?
They are metabolically linked. As triglyceride-rich particles accumulate, HDL is cleared faster, so high triglycerides and low HDL usually appear together.
How quickly can they improve?
Faster than almost any other lipid marker — meaningful change within 4 to 8 weeks is realistic.
See this marker in context
A single value tells you little on its own. PhisBio Lab reads your whole blood panel and shows how five body systems — including Metabolism — are doing together.