Why Triglycerides are Important

It's a toss up with researchers, but I think more are starting to believe that triglycerides are a more important indicator for "atherogenicity" than cholesterol level. That is because the important facets of your cholesterol reading are somewhat arcane - your LDL particle size is the indicator of importance. Small LDL particles are the ones that stick together to form plaques in your artery walls and harden and narrow them, causing heart attacks. And scientists know that triglyceride levels are inversely related to small LDL particle size, which means the higher your tri's, the smaller your particles.

HDL numbers are important and HDL is the only measure of the two (LDL and HDL) that has a clear connection to heart health: the higher your HDL, the lower your cardiac risk is though to be. That's because only 50 % of people who have heart attacks have elevated LDL levels so conclusions can't really be drawn.