Triglycerides

Multiply the mmol/L value by 88.57 to get mg/dL. To go the other way, divide mg/dL by 88.57 to get mmol/L. For example, 1.7 mmol/L is about 150 mg/dL, and 2.3 mmol/L is roughly 200 mg/dL. Most US labs report mg/dL, while UK, European, and Scandinavian labs report mmol/L.

Standard cutoffs are: normal under 150 mg/dL (under 1.7 mmol/L), borderline high 150-199 mg/dL (1.7-2.2 mmol/L), high 200-499 mg/dL (2.3-5.6 mmol/L), and very high 500 mg/dL or above (5.6 mmol/L or above). Many metabolic-health clinicians consider under 100 mg/dL (about 1.1 mmol/L) ideal. These ranges assume a fasting sample.

In mmol/L, normal is under 1.7, borderline high is 1.7-2.2, high is 2.3-5.6, and very high is 5.6 or above. An optimal fasting value is roughly under 1.1 mmol/L. A reading of 0.9 or 1.1 mmol/L is comfortably in the normal, healthy range.

Triglycerides are reported either in mg/dL (milligrams per deciliter), common in the United States, or mmol/L (millimoles per liter), common in the UK, Europe, and Scandinavia. The conversion factor between them is 88.57 (mg/dL = mmol/L x 88.57). Scandinavian lab reports often label the test 'P-Triglycerider,' where the P stands for plasma.

Triglycerides are commonly abbreviated TG or Trig on lab reports and in a standard lipid panel. On Scandinavian reports you may see 'P-Triglycerider,' where P indicates a plasma measurement. All of these refer to the same fat molecules circulating in your blood.

Triglycerides are measured directly from a blood sample as part of a lipid panel, not calculated from other values. The reverse is more common: labs estimate VLDL cholesterol as triglycerides divided by 5 (in mg/dL), and the Friedewald equation uses triglycerides to estimate LDL as total cholesterol minus HDL minus triglycerides/5. That LDL estimate becomes unreliable once triglycerides exceed 400 mg/dL.

The TyG index is a simple surrogate marker for insulin resistance calculated from a fasting blood draw. The formula is TyG = ln[fasting triglycerides (mg/dL) x fasting glucose (mg/dL) / 2], using the natural logarithm. Higher values suggest greater insulin resistance; it is a research and screening tool, not a formal diagnosis, so discuss results with your physician.

Fasting (9-12 hours) is standard because a recent meal can raise triglycerides substantially, and the classic cutoffs assume a fasting sample. Non-fasting testing is increasingly accepted, but non-fasting triglycerides run higher, so a non-fasting value near or above 200 mg/dL is generally the point at which a fasting recheck is recommended. Triglycerides vary more by age and metabolic health than by a fixed age chart.