3. Trans Fats
Trans fatty acids are notorious for their double negative effects. They not only increase the bad cholesterol (LDL) but they also lower the good cholesterol (HDL). They promote obesity, insulin resistance and inflammation, promoting the chronic degenerative diseases we are all trying to avoid. Trans fats are more common than you think, they are in fast foods (that one we know), commercial baked goods, margarine, hydrogenated oils, vegetable shortenings, and deep-fried foods and more.
The scary part of this is; the governments rule is that if a product has less than .5g of trans fat the label can list 0 grams of trans fat!!!! That means you can ingest .49 grams of trans fat in many products during a normal day and never know you are ingesting significant amounts of trans fat.
Your best defense is to read the ingredients carefully to make sure partially hydrogenated oil or vegetable shortening is not used in any food you are giving yourself or family members.