Posted on 27th Aug 2011 @ 3:16 PM

Regardless of where you are from or how old you are, we all have this one thing in common; aging. In 1900 the average person lived to be 49 years old, by 1950 that number had jumped to 68 years old, and today the average life expectancy in the United States is 76 years for men and 81 years for women. With the life expectancy climbing steadily each year we have an opportunity to extend the years before us, and make sure we are doing our part to help keep our aging bodies strong and healthy for years to come.

There are some common hurdles that many of will face as we age, and in this first part of our series on aging, we will look at the challege of muscle loss.

Aging and Muscle Loss

As we age it is even more important to eat a healthy diet and get regular exercise. Recent studies have shown that supplementing our diets with a high quality whey protein can help reduce age-related muscle wasting, known as sarcopenia. This decrease of muscle mass leads to a loss of strength, decreased level of function, impaired mobility, a higher risk of falls, and eventually an increased risk of mortality.

The breakdown of muscle in our bodies is a normal part of metabolism, however, as we age the muscle rebuilding process slows. Assistant Professor Christos Katsanos at the Center for Metabolic Biology, reports that nutritional supplementation can be an important way of increasing muscle building in the elderly. A study from the American Journal of Physiology found that oral amino acids can stimulate muscle growth in the elderly as well as in the young.

If you are an individual who lives an active lifestyle and enjoys exercising and lifting weights, it is important that you continue to supplement your body with quality protein to support the constant breakdown and build-up of muscle. However, for the many older individuals who live a somewhat sedentary lifestyle there is still a big concern for protein deficiency.  A decreasing appetite, medical conditions, pain and loneliness are just a few factors that can contribute to a lack of protein in our diets as we age.  Oftentimes during this stage in life we see decreased muscle mass, an increase in fat storage and weaker bones which leaves the elderly vulnerable to other heath related injuries.

Adding a whey protein regimen to your diet can help provide the essential amino acids necessary to stop muscle loss, and even help stimulate new muscle growth.  

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Our next topic in this series will be on Weight Management and Type II Diabetes.  Be sure to check back for more great information related to whey protein and our aging population!

References

Fight Aging!: Exercise and Sarcopenia

American Journal of Physiology, Endocrinology and Metabolism: Oral amino acids stimulate muscle protein anabolism in the elderly

Whey Protein and Elderly Muscle Wasting

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