Protein-rich foods slow the deterioration of elderly people's muscles

[Guest guest]

Protein-rich foods slow the deterioration of elderly people's

muscles

http://www.news-medical.net/?id=28664

Scientists at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston

have good news for people who want to stay strong in their old age:

older bodies are just as good as young ones at turning protein-rich

food into muscle.

A new study suggests that a diet containing a moderate amount of

protein-rich food such as beef, fish, pork, chicken, dairy or nuts

may help slow the deterioration of elderly people's muscles.

Reducing the decline in muscle mass among the elderly is crucial to

maintaining their health and independence, these researchers say.

And they add that consuming adequate protein is essential for making

and maintaining muscles. Since nutritional studies show that many

elderly individuals eat less protein than the average person,

researchers have reasoned that if the elderly simply increased their

protein intake, they might slow down muscle loss , as long as old

age doesn't inherently interfere significantly with the ability to

make muscles out of the protein in food.

" We wanted to know if there is some reason your grandmother's body,

for example, can't stimulate muscle growth in response to eating the

same protein-rich meal that you eat, which might over time

contribute to muscle loss, " said Paddon-, an associate

professor in UTMB's departments of physical therapy and internal

medicine. Paddon- is the senior author of a paper on the study

published in the August issue of the American Journal of Clinical

Nutrition and now available online.

The investigation compared changes in muscle protein synthesis in 10

young and 10 elderly volunteers after eating a four-ounce serving of

lean beef. By analyzing blood and muscle samples, the researchers

were able to measure the rate at which a particular individual's

body built muscle protein. During the five hours after the young and

elderly volunteers ate the beef, both groups muscle protein

synthesis increased by 50 percent.

" We've done studies in the past with specialized drinks containing

amino acids , the chemical building blocks of proteins , but this

was the first time anybody's looked at a real food and its ability

to stimulate muscle growth in both the young and elderly, " Paddon-

said. " What we learned was really encouraging, because it

suggests that elderly people actually can benefit from eating a

moderate serving of protein-rich foods. That's something they aren't

doing enough now , in fact, between 16 and 27 percent of older

adults are eating less than the USDA's recommended daily allowance

of protein. "

Elderly people may eat less protein for a number of reasons, said

Paddon-, including cost, the fact that many foods may not taste

as good to them as they once did, difficulty chewing, limited menus

in nursing homes or assisted living communities, and decline in

appetite. Another important contributor to muscle loss in the

elderly is a lack of exercise, he noted.

Even among the elders who volunteered for the study, whom Paddon-

described as typically more physically active than most others

in the elderly population, " a disturbing thing was that on average

they had 12 kilograms (26.5 pounds) less lean muscle mass than the

younger people we tested. " That difference, he said, would probably

be even greater in the general population. In other words, compared

to a young adult, a typical elderly person lacks the advantages

provided by more than 26 pounds of muscle , a deficit that in some

cases could lead an older person to being permanently bedridden by

an injury or illness.

" A high percentage of elderly folks who break a hip or suffer a

major injury never get out of bed again, and one of the big reasons

is that they rapidly lose so much muscle mass and strength that they

become physically incapable of getting up, " Paddon-

said. " Sufficient muscle is fundamental for the activities of daily

living, movement and independence , it's definitely a quality-of-

life issue. "

http://www.utmb.edu