At the conclusion of the study, the researchers found that there was a significant association of dietary cholesterol and change in strength. In general, those with higher cholesterol intake also had the highest muscle strength gain.
Cholesterol circulating in the blood also appeared to have contributed to greater muscle gain in the participants, Riechman said.
“One possible explanation is through cholesterol’s important role in the inflammation process,” he noted.
“As you exercise, your muscles can become sore because they are rebuilding muscle mass. More cholesterol may result in a more robust inflammatory response. We know that inflammation in some areas, such as near the heart, is not good, but for building muscles it may be beneficial, and cholesterol appears to aid in this process.”
Riechman said that subjects who were taking cholesterol-lowering drugs while participating in the study showed lower muscle gain totals than those who were not.
“Needless to say, these findings caught us totally off guard,” he explains.
“From here, we need to look at a number of questions, such as what exactly happens to cholesterol while you are exercising? What role does protein intake have in all of this? What we really need to do is to trace cholesterol the moment it goes into the muscles.”
Combined with exercise, cholesterol appears to play a role in contributing to muscle gain, Riechman says. The key here is working out – it doesn’t mean sitting in front of a television all day thinking you don’t have to worry about cholesterol levels.
http://www.physorg.com/news119117414.html
