Heart health

Scripps - like more and more organizations these days - offers reduced health insurance premiums to employees who participate in the company-sponsored wellness program. I have to complete so many health and wellness related "challenges" each year, and have an annual screening that is paid for by Scripps.

I had my annual screening today, and am hoping somebody with a health background can help explain my results.

My blood pressure was low; my total cholesterol, "good cholesterol" (HDL), "bad cholesterol" (LDL), and glucose were all in the normal range. However, my triglycerides were quite high - normal is considered anything below 150, and mine was 238! The employee who gave me my results said that high triglyceride levels could be caused in part by genetics (which would be true in my case), and that typically they are linked to a diet high in processed foods, simple carbohydrates, sugar, and alcohol (not true in my case).

If my diet was that poor, and my lifestyle that sedentary, wouldn't that also reflect in the components that make up my total cholesterol? How can my triglycerides be that high when everything else was within the normal range?

Granted, each of my values were more on the high end of normal, and could stand to be lower.... and I know that I need to kick up my exercise. I've had a much harder time fitting in workouts or walks since Isabelle was born, and it's even harder those weeks when Jason is traveling for work and sometimes gone for five days at a time.

So, my assumption is that if I can sneak in a little more exercise, it will cause my cholesterol to fall even further and my triglycerides, in turn, will also (dramatically!) decrease.... right?