Triglycerides

Triglycerides are fatty acids that act as the basic building blocks of fats. Your body converts excess ingested calories into triglycerides, which are stored in fat cells. As needed, hormones regulate the release of triglycerides from fat tissue to meet your body's energy needs.

In terms of CHD prevention, triglycerides have not received as much attention as LDL and HDL cholesterol, but research has shown that triglyceride levels of 200 mg/dL or more (hypertriglyceridemia) can increase the risk of CHD.