The foods in your diet affect your triglycerides, a type of fat that can clog your arteries and make you more susceptible to heart disease. Some items in your diet -- saturated fat, trans fat, sugar and alcohol -- elevate your triglycerides. Although beans contain carbohydrates, they are low in saturated fat and high in fiber, making them a healthy choice on a triglyceride-lowering diet.
Healthy Triglycerides
Healthy triglyceride levels measure 150 mg/dl -- milligrams per deciliter of blood -- or less. In April 2011, the American Heart Association lowered its standards for ideal triglycerides to 100 mg/dl or less, but this has not yet become the accepted norm. Triglyceride levels above 200 mg/dl put you at high risk for developing cardiovascular disease, and levels that top 500 mg/dl put you at high risk. The American Heart Association says you can lower your triglycerides by 50 percent if you exercise regularly and follow a low-fat, low-sugar diet.
Saturated Fat
You can include beans, including kidney, black and pinto beans, on the AHA-recommended diet. One cup of black beans provides 15.24 g of protein and less than 0.3 g of saturated fat. By comparison, 2 oz. of beef salami contains 13 g of protein and nearly 6 g of saturated fat -- 20 times as much saturated fat as black beans. To reduce your triglycerides, limit your daily saturated fat intake to 16 g a day. If you make beans a regular source of protein, you can easily stay within this limit. If you eat animal products, fish and skinless chicken, make healthy choices.
Trans Fat
To keep beans triglyceride-friendly, cook them in water. If you fry beans in margarine or shortening, you add trans fat to your diet. Trans fat, also found in commercial baked goods, frozen potatoes and processed snacks, can elevate your triglyceride levels. Include no more than 2 g of trans fat in your daily menu. A single tablespoon of margarine contains 3 g of trans fat, more than what you should consume in a day.
Sugar
Beans contain a lot of carbohydrates -- nearly 41 g per 1 cup serving -- but most of these carbohydrates come from fiber and starch. Carbohydrates from sugar affect your triglycerides, so limit consumption of foods with added sugars -- regular soda and cookies, for instance. But carbohydrates from fiber pass through your system undigested. Fiber also helps slow the conversion of starch to sugar in your bloodstream. So the carbohydrates in beans will more likely help than harm your triglycerides. But limit foods with added sugars to about 5 percent to 10 percent of your daily calories -- about 100 to 200 calories on a 2,000-calorie-a-day diet.
References
- American Heart Association; Diet, Lifestyle Changes Can Significantly Reduce Triglyceride; April 18, 2011
- Cleveland Clinic: How Foods Affect Triglycerides
- MayoClinic.com; High Cholesterol; June 24, 2010
- United States Department of Agriculture Nutrient Database
- Brigham and Women's Hospital; Understanding Trans Fat; April 7, 2011
- American Dietetic Association: Health Implications of Dietary Fiber, 2008
