Most people are familiar with “good” cholesterol, or HDL, and “bad” cholesterol, also known as LDL. Both kinds of lipoproteins transport cholesterol to the organs in your body that need it most. 

HDL is considered good for a couple of reasons. First, it collects the cholesterol not being used in your body, including clearing out LDL from the bloodstream, and returns it to the liver. There, the cholesterol is recycled or processed and disposed of as waste.

Secondly, HDL has anti-inflammatory properties that help regulate your immune system and protect against certain types of cancer.

Meanwhile, LDL is considered bad because it is made up of slow-moving particles with a tendency to get stuck in your bloodstream. When this happens, LDL is prone to attack by free radicals, causing it to break down — a process called oxidization. Oxidized LDL more easily enters arteries and builds up as plaque.

Up until recently, it was believed that high levels of LDL cholesterol equated to a heightened risk of heart disease. However, that’s no longer entirely true.

Doctors now measure the LDL particle number, including how many LDL particles are floating in your bloodstream as well as their size. Small LDL particles carry a greater risk factor for heart disease as they can easily penetrate the artery walls and lead to build up.

Alternatively, large LDL particles correlate to a low risk for heart disease because they have a lower chance of entering artery walls and building up.

Finally, there are triglycerides. Very-low-density lipoproteins (VLDLs) carry triglycerides around your bloodstream — similar to the way HDL and LDL carry cholesterol. Here, the problem is twofold.

Due to VLDLs small size, they're more likely to penetrate artery walls and lead to hardened arteries. The triglycerides they carry, meanwhile, are the most common form of fat found in foods.

When your body breaks down foods high in carbs, for example, the carbs convert to sugars. If your cells don’t need the fuel sugar provides, they will turn it into triglycerides and will be stored as fat.

In that case, not only are you adding stubborn fat to your body, you’re also building up triglycerides in your blood — which can lead to a higher risk of heart disease, obesity, and Type 2 diabetes.