High triglycerides can be caused by a variety of factors, including:

• Excessive alcohol use
• Unmanaged diabetes
• A diet high in sugar, saturated fat, and simple carbohydrates
• Liver disease
• Kidney disease
• Medications like diuretics, hormones, corticosteroids, beta blockers, and some HIV medications
• A body mass index (BMI) greater than 25
• Inflammatory diseases like rheumatoid arthritis
• Smoking
• Thyroid disease
• Lack of physical activity

When you eat, your body converts any calories it doesnt need to use right away into triglycerides. The triglycerides are stored in your fat cells. Later, hormones release triglycerides for energy between meals. If you regularly eat more calories than you burn, particularly from high-carbohydrate foods, you may have high triglycerides (hypertriglyceridemia) . High triglycerides may contribute to hardening of the arteries or thickening of the artery walls (arteriosclerosis), which increases the risk of stroke, heart attack, and heart disease. Extremely high triglycerides can also cause acute inflammation of the pancreas (pancreatitis) .