When it comes to building more muscle mass, many people tend to focus on protein and carbohydrate intake, unwisely forgetting to take fat into account. The problem is, without eating a moderate amount of healthy fat, you're denying yourself the possibility of achieving what Hans and Frans might call maximum pumpitude.

A study that appears in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise reveals that guys who ate a normal diet that included a moderate amount of fat gained 5 pounds more muscle than guys who followed a low-fat diet. And, the guys in the first group also experienced an 86 percent increase in strength over the second group.

Fats are a necessary part of a well-rounded diet, provided they are being sourced from healthy foods such as nuts, avocados, olive oil, seeds, and flaxseed oil. So, hear me now and believe me later ... get your fats if you want to pump up!!

Reader Fash sent us a question asking to know more about something she's heard a lot of lately: Extra Virgin Coconut Oil. I'll admit I haven't heard anything on this particular product before, beyond having heard that regular coconut oil was bad news because it was often hydrogenated, which means it's a source of trans fats. But looking into it, I found the EVCO is different from refined coconut oils, and actually retains a bit of the coconut essence to it. Some believe it to be the healthiest fat out there, promoting weight loss and thyroid function, but here's another point of view:

Virgin Coconut oil contains saturated fat. The saturated fat in coconut oil is no less harmful for your cardiovascular health than other saturated fats -- a fact that has been re-enforced by the American Heart Association, FDA and WHO numerous times. That's not to say that virgin coconut oil is bad for you -- the message here is that like other healthy fats, you need to practice moderation when it comes to coconut oil. Moreover, don't believe people who claim to be selling extra virgin coconut oil -- there's no such thing. Unrefined coconut oil is merely virgin coconut oil.

So what do you think about EVCO? Another form of snake oil or the world's miracle fat?

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Heart attack patients have typically been put on low-fat diets to help prevent a recurrence in the future, but that may no longer necessarily be the case. A new study shows that a Mediterranean style diet (including "healthy" fats like olive oil) is just as effective at reducing further cardiovascular incidents as the more usually recommended low-fat American Heart Association diet.

Interestingly enough, the patients in the study who were put on the Mediterranean diet had a harder time following it -- despite being allowed more fat. Apparently, since they were mostly older individuals, they weren't used to eating so much fish and seafood.

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Olive oil isn't just good for your heart (and your stir-fry veggies), it's also good for your stomach. According to a new study coming out of Spain, virgin olive oil is effective in fighting the bacteria H. pylori, which infects the lining of the stomach and causes millions of cases of gastritis and ulcers each year. The H. pylori bacteria has several strains, but olive oil has been shown to be effective against eight of them, including 3 which are resistant to traditional antibiotics.

The study was done with oil and bacteria in a lab setting, so the next step is to see if the results hold true in the human body.

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