Triglycerides are fat that accumulates in body tissues when you consume more calories than your body requires. This fat can come directly from foods you eat, such as red meat, or your body can make it as it metabolizes foods such as carbohydrates. As the American Heart Association notes, hypertriglyceridemia, or high triglyceride levels in your blood, can contribute to heart disease. One way to keep triglyceride levels within normal limits of less than 150 milligrams per deciliter of blood is to choose carbohydrate foods carefully.
Simple Carbohydrates
Two problems associated with simple carbohydrates are the speed in which they break down and their lack of nutritional value. According to Utah Education Network, simple carbohydrates metabolize quickly into glucose, a basic energy source your body requires, but which can stimulate the production of triglycerides and rarely contain essential nutrients or fiber. Avoid processed and refined sugars, such as those you find in candy, soft drinks, syrup and table sugar, as well as white rice and products that contain white flour, such as bread, buns and cake, advises MayoClinic.com.
Refined Carbohydrates
Refined carbohydrates are carbohydrates changed from their natural state via processing. Processing not only strips much of the nutritional value but also changes the chemical structure of the carbohydrate. These changes speed up digestion and cause blood glucose levels to spike, ultimately stimulating triglyceride production, according to the National Council on Strength and Fitness. Fruit and vegetable juices, canned fruits or vegetables, and foods made from refined grains, such as white rice, bread or pasta all make the list of carbohydrates you should avoid.
High-Glycemic Carbohydrates
According to Harvard School of Public Health, the glycemic index evaluates carbohydrates based on a comparison to pure glucose. The faster a carbohydrate metabolizes and boosts blood glucose levels, the more closely it resembles pure glucose and the higher it ranks on the glycemic index. On a scale of 1 to 100, carbohydrates with a score at or above 70 make the high glycemic food list. Examples of high-glycemic carbohydrates include any carbohydrate prepared by breading, frying or sauteing. In addition, avoid high fat or processed meats and poultry, potatoes, bananas, most breads and sugar-sweetened cereals, soups, most dairy products and alcoholic beverages.
