There are two main types of potentially harmful dietary fat:
- Saturated fat, which comes mainly from animal sources, raises total blood cholesterol levels and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels, which can increase your risk of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes.
- Trans fat is made during food processing through partial hydrogenation of unsaturated fats. This process creates synthetic fats, which can increase unhealthy LDL cholesterol and lower healthy high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, increasing your risk of cardiovascular disease.