The excessive dietary intake of cholesterol and fats creates significant health risks.As you probably know,high blood cholesteral levels,a substance akin to fats,has been implicated in coronary disease.In the past few years,many people have cut down on the amount of saturated animal fats they consumer and reduced their choresterol intake.However,the consumption of highly refined vegetable oils and hydrogennated vegetable fats(oils saturated with hydrogen),such as those in margarine and vegetable shortening,has increased.We now know that hydrogenated vegetable fats contain a type of fats known as trans-fatty acids,and these have much the same effect on the body as saturated animal fats do.And while polyunsaturated and monounsaturated vegetable fats are considered more healthyful by some experts,the total fat content of the average American diet is still too high,regardless of its food sources.Even unrefined vegetable oils,if consumed in excess,can create blood that is too rich in fat and cholesterol.Most often the resultis artery damage or atheroscherosis,a degenerative disease characterized by the developement of  plaques and fibrous tissue lining the artery walls and,in most cases,eventually blocking the arteries.Casdiovascular or coronay artery disease,as this condition is commonly referred to ,is the number-one killer in America