Muscle and Protein

[Guest guest]

Interesting study on the issue of muscle and protein. In Both groups, the

subjects were maintained on a very protein diet due to kidney disease. One did

strength training, one did not. The one who did the strength training, despite

the low protein diet,.... " total muscle fiber increased by 32 percent, and

muscle strength increased by 30 percent after 12 weeks of strength training "

Full article is at the link, PR is below. It doesnt list the protein content of

the diet, but typically speaking, .8g/kg is considered the RDA and for kidney

disease, they often use .5g/kg.

http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/may05/sarco0505.htm

Strength Training Is an Antidote to Muscle Loss By lie n Bliss

May 3, 2005

Resistance or " strength " training has repeatedly been shown to be a safe and

effective method of reversing sarcopenia, or muscle loss, in the elderly. The

condition actually starts around age 45, when muscle mass begins to decline at a

rate of about 1 percent per year. Scientists funded by the Agricultural Research

Service (ARS) have been studying the factors involved in gradual muscle loss

since 1988.

The work is conducted at the Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on

Aging at Tufts University in Boston, Mass. Carmen Castaneda Sceppa, a physician

specializing in nutrition, led the research at the HNRCA's Nutrition, Exercise

Physiology, and Sarcopenia Laboratory (NEPS).

While older adults need strength training to maintain their muscle mass,

exercise can also help reduce the risk and symptoms of many chronic diseases,

such as arthritis, coronary artery disease, diabetes, frailty, obesity and

osteoporosis.

Exercise is by definition different from moderate physical activity. Actual

exercise--by design--improves the five key components of physical fitness:

muscle strength, muscle endurance, body composition, cardio-respiratory

endurance and flexibility.

The findings show that in a group of volunteers with osteoarthritis, a joint

disease, muscle strength increased by 14 percent and balance improved by 55

percent after a 12-week strength-training program. Flexibility also improved by

17 percent, and pain, based on self reports, decreased by 30 percent.

In another group of volunteers, with chronic kidney disease and on low-protein

diets, total muscle fiber increased by 32 percent, and muscle strength increased

by 30 percent after 12 weeks of strength training. Those who did not exercise

lost about 9 pounds, or 3 percent of their body weight.

Instruction by a trained individual is important for strength-training older

adults, according to HNRCA senior exercise physiologist Layne, who

started a grass-roots exercise initiative for older adults inspired by NEPS

studies.

Read more about the research in the May 2005 issue of Agricultural Research

magazine.