Does sugar raise triglycerides?
On this page
Yes. In 37 trials, diets higher in sugar raised triglycerides by about 10 mg/dL and LDL by about 5, against diets lower in sugar. The effect was clearest when people’s weight didn’t change, so it’s the sugar itself and not only the calories.
What we’d do
Cut the sugar you drink first: soda, sweet coffee drinks, juice and energy drinks. It’s sugar with no food attached. Then go after pastry, cookies and sweets, and swap white bread and other refined carbs for whole grains.
Why people expect it to be fat
Triglycerides are a fat in your blood, so it seems natural to blame fatty food. But in people with moderately high triglycerides, most of the extra comes from particles the liver makes, and the guideline talks plainly about “carbohydrate-induced” high triglycerides. Limiting carbs, and above all added sugars, it says, “results in substantial TG lowering”.
What the trials found
In 2014, researchers pooled trials lasting at least 2 weeks that compared higher and lower sugar intakes.
| Number | Higher sugar against lower sugar |
|---|---|
| Triglycerides | up about 10 mg/dL (6 to 13) |
| Total cholesterol | up about 6 |
| LDL | up about 5 (2 to 7) |
| HDL | up very slightly |
The surprise was where the effect showed most. It was biggest in the trials that kept calories even and where weight didn’t change. In most cases, weight change explained less than 15% of the differences between trials.
What the guideline asks for
For fasting triglycerides of 150 to 499 mg/dL, the 2026 guideline recommends eating low in added sugar, refined carbs and saturated fat, with alcohol kept to a minimum. In its trials, very low carb diets lowered triglycerides about 24 points against about 16 for milder low carb diets. At 1000 or more, the guideline calls for cutting added sugar out completely. It also notes that lifestyle changes can cut triglycerides by more than 70% in people who respond strongly.
Cutting sweet drinks is like turning off a tap you forgot was running. Nothing else in the kitchen has to change for the level to start dropping.
Sugar against the other causes
| Change | Triglycerides, in trials |
|---|---|
| Lower sugar diet | about 10 lower |
| About 2 fewer drinks a day | about 6 lower |
| Each pound of weight lost | about 1.8 lower |
Sugar also raised LDL a little in the trials. The four week plan starts with drinks and sweets together. For what sugar does to your weight, see does sugar make you fat? on bodyfat.guide.
3 sources
- Te Morenga LA, Howatson AJ, Jones RM and Mann J, Dietary sugars and cardiometabolic risk, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2014pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Blumenthal RS, Morris PB, Gaudino M and others, 2026 ACC/AHA guideline on the management of dyslipidemia, JACC, 2026doi.org
- The same guideline, full text, Circulation, 2026api.iscpcardio.org
