High cholesterol and triglycerides
Dyslipidaemia, high blood fats
What it is
Too much fat in the blood. Over time it builds up inside blood vessels and narrows them. This raises the chance of heart attack and stroke.
Common signs
- Often no signs at all
- Yellow lumps around the eyes or on tendons in a few people
How it is diagnosed
A blood test called a lipid profile measures your blood fats. A health worker looks at the result together with your blood pressure, sugar and smoking to judge your heart risk.
Tests
- Lipid profile blood test — measures cholesterol and triglycerides
- Blood sugar test — high sugar often goes with high fats
- Blood pressure reading — checks overall heart risk
How food affects it
Food helps a lot, especially for triglycerides. Eat less fried food, fatty meat and sugar, and more beans, vegetables and fish. Cutting sugary drinks and alcohol lowers triglycerides fast. Some people still need medicine — keep taking it.
Food as medicine, alongside your medicine. Food works alongside your medicines, not instead of them. Never stop or change your tablets without talking to your health worker.
Eat often
- Beans, cowpeas, lentils and oats — fibre lowers cholesterol
- Vegetables and leafy greens
- Oily fish like sardines and mackerel, boiled or grilled
- Groundnuts and avocado — small amounts of healthy fat
- Whole grains: millet, sorghum, teff, brown rice
Eat in moderation
- Palm oil and coconut oil — use a little
- Eggs — a few a week
- Red meat — small lean pieces
- Rice, yam, fufu and gari — small portions
Avoid or cut down
- Fried foods and snacks (puff-puff, chin chin, mandazi)
- Fatty meat, skin, offal and processed meats
- Sugary drinks and sweets — raise triglycerides
- Alcohol — raises triglycerides
- Margarine and pastries
Get help urgently
Go to hospital now if you have chest pain, weakness on one side, or trouble speaking — these can be signs of heart attack or stroke.
General information, not a diagnosis. Always follow the advice of your health worker.