I've searched for questions about cholesterol before, and haven't found a satisfactory answer; most seemed to be all speculation and little fact. I was wondering whether the generally accepted strict limits on dietary cholesterol should always apply to everyone, or whether people on intensive exercise regimes could safely consider a different amount of dietary cholesterol to be safe. The basic distinction which occurs to me is:
- Cardio athletes, such as runners, cyclists, swimmers and so on;
- Hypertrophy athletes, such as bodybuilders and powerlifters
Do either of these exercise regimes either consume extra cholesterol, perhaps specifically in the recovery stage, destroy it such that it is no longer a problem, or emit some sort of enzymes or hormones that render it irrelevant?
As a layman I would expect hypertrophic exercises to consume extra cholesterol, since they promote the creation of extra tissue, of which cholesterol is an essential component. However, I realise that dietary cholesterol and cellular cholesterol are quite different, and consumption of one does not necessarily correlate with the presence of the other.
Is there any quality scientific literature on this topic, or does anybody have an educated view on the matter?