I fast 12-14 hours eating nothing and only drinking water.
I understand that these extreme conditions are a requirement
to get a "good" triglyceride measurement.
These blood test requirements do not reflect my day to day lifestyle.
Does this mean that the triglyceride results are not indicating
realistic numbers? Do most people have bad triglyceride problems that
are masked by the triglyceride measurement requirements?

Triglycerides will always be high while the body is digesting food. Triglycerides should not be high when the body is through with the food.

If triglycerides were tested after eating, the number would not be of any significance as it would vary depending upon what you had eaten and how much your body has digested and gotten into the blood stream. There would be no way of telling if the measurement was healthy or not.

"Triglycerides will always be high while the body is digesting food. Triglycerides should not be high when the body is through with the food."
Digestion cycle only takes four hours.

While there is a variation from person to person in how long it takes to have food digested and the resulting triglycerides cleared from the blood, the recommended 8 to 12 hour fast just makes sure that the fasting state is achieved. It is an overkill, but it makes sure that any slow digester is in the fasting state.

For me, I have noticed a marked difference in tg number if i fast
8 hours or 12 hours.maybe,for someone who eats 3 meals a day,
tg's are relatively high most of the time.

Extreme conditions? I think thats a bit over the top

12-14 hours is not really extreme.. if you eat dinner at seven and go to bed and you have an AM appointment at 9am... thats 14 hours right there.

They call Breakfast, Break-fast for a reason.. when sleep, you're fasting for about 8 hours...and thats most of your fasting right there. Thats why its always good to do your blood test in the AM.

Think about it.There are only a few hours a day when
your fasting state matches that required for the test.What
are your tg's for the rest of the day? Tg test seems to only
have value as a comparison among people but no value
as a health indicator.