Cholesterol: It's All Good

According to a study that casts new light on the cholesterol debate, so-called bad cholesterol - low-density lipoprotein (LDL) - may not be so bad after all.

Steve Riechman, a researcher on the study, says their work reveals that LDL is not the evil "Darth Vader" of health it has been made out to be in recent years and new attitudes need to be adopted with regards to the substance.

The study showed that after fairly vigorous workouts, participants who had gained the most muscle mass also had the highest levels of LDL cholesterol. Riechman said: "It shows that you do need a certain amount of LDL to gain muscle mass. The more LDL you have in your blood, the better able you are to build muscle during resistance training," notes Riechman.

And, as we all know, greater muscle mass leads to faster fat burning.