Cardiovascular Risk Marker | Triglyceride to HDL Ratio

Añadido: 2026-06-01

[00:00:00]Did you know there is a cardiovascular risk marker sitting in your patient portal right now that your doctor has never calculated for you? You can do it your for yourself in about 10 seconds with two numbers from your last draw. It costs absolutely nothing and requires new no new labs and research has shown that it's validated as a reliable proxy for insulin resistance and the kind of LDL particles that actually penetrate your walls. So you can grab your phone, I'll wait or you know, just write this down. Mhm.

[00:00:31]So what you want to do is you take your triglyceride number and divide it by your HDL. Now both should be in milligrams per deciliter if you're in the US. Now the ratio is one of the most useful cardiovascular numbers you've probably never seen cuz remember what I mentioned, the research has validated the triglyceride to HDL ratio as a reliable proxy for insulin resistance and the presence of those small dense LDL particles, the kind of particles that are most prone to entering your artery walls and triggering damage.

[00:01:02]Okay. So here's how to read it. If your ratio is less than two, less than two, that's a good sign. Between two and 3.5, that deserves a little bit more attention and definitely [clears throat] some follow up testing. Now above 3.5, your doctor should know and the conversation about insulin resistance and your metabolic health actually becomes much more important. Now for women, some research suggests that the threshold may be closer to 2.5.

[00:01:33]So you may definitely want to keep that in mind.

[00:01:36]Uh one more thing worth knowing, this ratio is less predictive in black populations because of the differences in baseline uh triglyceride metabolism.

[00:01:46]So if you are black, this ratio may underestimate your metabolic risk and a fasting insulin or what we call a HOMA-IR test becomes a much more reliable indicator. Now I cover both of these in my full article on Substack with a worksheet and how to talk to your doctor. Grab it now.