Every time you eat food that contains fat, you're probably ingesting triglycerides, notes the Cleveland Clinic. Triglycerides are fats that circulate in your bloodstream. In adults, a healthy triglyceride level is under 150 milligrams per deciliter; borderline levels of 151 to 200mg/dL or high levels of 201mg/dL or above increase your risk for cardiovascular disease.
Low-Sugar Diet
The sugar in the foods you eat increase triglycerides in your body. Eating a diet low in simple sugars will help lower triglycerides. To reduce your sugar intake, avoid regular sodas, sugar-sweetened drinks and juice -- a single serving of these beverages add 10 tsp. of sugar or more to your daily intake. Although syrup and jelly probably don't add much sugar to your diet, limit cookies and cakes to no more tan one serving per day to lower triglycerides. The Cleveland Clinic also recommends choosing sugar-free gum, candies and cereal with no more than 8g sugar per serving. Overall, your daily sugar intake shouldn't exceed more than 8 percent of the total calories you eat in a day, or about 24g if you eat 1,600 calories daily.
Low-Starch Diet
Your body readily converts the starch in carbohydrate-rich foods into triglycerides, and limiting the refined grain products in your diet could help you lower triglyceride levels, according to the Cleveland Clinic. To keep triglycerides under control, choose small portions of whole-grain breads, brown rice and pasta and look for cereals that have at least 5g of fiber in each serving.
Fish
The omega-3 fatty acids in fish like tilapia, mackerel, tuna, salmon and sardines lower triglycerides. The Cleveland Clinic recommends eating fatty fish twice weekly to benefit from its triglyceride-lowering properties. Fish oil supplements also help reduce triglycerides, but as with any supplement, you should talk to your physician before you take them because they may interact with other medications you take.
Walnuts
Eating omega-3 rich walnuts reduces triglyceride levels, according to research conducted in Spain by B. Cortes and colleagues and published in the October 2006 issue of the "Journal of the American College of Cardiology." Researchers found that after eating a meal containing walnuts, participants' triglyceride levels decreased, along with cholesterol levels. Just ¼ cup of walnuts provides more than 90 percent of recommended daily value for omega-3 fatty acids, according to The World's Healthiest Foods.
