The glycemic index ranks foods based on the way they affect your blood sugar levels. Foods with high glycemic index scores cause rapid elevations in your glucose levels. This could pose health problems for persons with diabetes or high triglycerides, a type of fat that can accumulate in your arteries and make you vulnerable to heart disease. If you eat high-scoring foods, you could also find it difficult to control your appetite. Foods that contain or convert quickly to sugar in your bloodstream don't fill you up as quickly -- or help you stay full as long -- as foods with low glycemic index scores.
High Triglycerides
Triglyceride levels higher than 500 mg/dl -- milligrams per deciliter of blood -- put you at very high risk of suffering a heart attack or stroke. Triglyceride levels between 200 mg/dl and 499 mg/dl put you at high risk. You face a borderline high risk for cardiovascular disease if your numbers fall between 150 mg/dl and 199 mg/dl. A triglyceride reading below 150 mg/dl ranks as safe, but in April 2011, the American Heart Association lowered its ideal level for triglycerides to 100 mg/dl or lower.
Glycemic Index
You can lower your triglycerides if you choose carbohydrates that rank low on the glycemic index. Sugar ranks at the top of the list -- with a score of 100. All foods that rank between 70 and 100 are considered high-glycemic index foods. Choose more foods with low glycemic index scores -- between 0 and 50 -- and the balance from foods with medium scores, 50 to 70. Foods with scores between 50 and 70 are medium-glycemic index foods. Most fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds rank in the low to medium category. High ranking foods include white bread, white rice, cookies and crackers.
Sugar Limits
The American Heart Association recommends a triglyceride-lowering diet that restricts foods with high glycemic index scores. The AHA diet limits your consumption of foods with added sugar to 5 percent to 10 percent of your daily calories -- or 100 to 200 calories based on a 2,000-calorie-a-day diet. You should also limit your intake of fructose to 50 g to 100 g a day by choosing whole, fresh fruit over canned. Fruits with low glycemic index scores include peaches, grapefruit and apples. Fruits with higher scores include watermelon, pineapple and raisins.
Considerations
Foods that do not contain carbohydrates -- meat and fat, for instance -- do not have glycemic index scores. But that doesn't mean you should eat them with abandon. The AHA recommends limiting your intake of saturated fat, found in animal products and tropical oils, to 16 g per day and of trans fat, found in margarine and shortening, to 2 g or less per day. Good choices of protein low in saturated fat include pinto and other beans, tofu, halibut, skinless chicken, ham and salmon. To keep trans fat consumption low, use healthier fats such as olive oil in cooking and avoid commercial baked goods such as crackers and cakes.
References
- University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics: Glycemic Index
- American Heart Association; Diet, Lifestyle Changes Can Significantly Reduce Triglyceride; April 2011
- MayoClinic.com; High Cholesterol; June 2010
- University of California San Francisco Medical Center; Cholesterol Content of Foods; February 2011
