Plant Foods For Preserving Muscle Mass

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Plant Foods For Preserving Muscle Mass

http://medicalnewscenter.com/out/out.cgi?

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080527121104.htm

Fruits and vegetables contain essential vitamins, minerals and fiber

that are key to good health. Now, a newly released study by

Agricultural Research Service (ARS)-funded scientists suggests plant

foods also may help preserve muscle mass in older men and women.

The study was led by physician and nutrition specialist Bess Dawson-

at the Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on

Aging at Tufts University in Boston, Mass.

The typical American diet is rich in protein, cereal grains and other

acid-producing foods. In general, such diets generate tiny amounts of

acid each day. With aging, a mild but slowly increasing

metabolic " acidosis " develops, according to the researchers.

Acidosis appears to trigger a muscle-wasting response. So the

researchers looked at links between measures of lean body mass and

diets relatively high in potassium-rich, alkaline-residue producing

fruits and vegetables. Such diets could help neutralize acidosis.

Foods can be considered alkaline or acidic based on the residues they

produce in the body, rather than whether they are alkaline or acidic

themselves. For example, acidic grapefruits are metabolized to

alkaline residues.

The researchers conducted a cross-sectional analysis on a subset of

nearly 400 male and female volunteers aged 65 or older who had

completed a three-year osteoporosis intervention trial. The

volunteers' physical activity, height and weight, and percentage of

lean body mass were measured at the start of the study and at three

years. Their urinary potassium was measured at the start of the

study, and their dietary data was collected at 18 months.

Based on regression models, volunteers whose diets were rich in

potassium could expect to have 3.6 more pounds of lean tissue mass

than volunteers with half the higher potassium intake. That almost

offsets the 4.4 pounds of lean tissue that is typically lost in a

decade in healthy men and women aged 65 and above, according to

authors.

Sarcopenia, or loss of muscle mass, can lead to falls due to weakened

leg muscles. The authors encourage future studies that look into the

effects of increasing overall intake of foods that metabolize to

alkaline residues on muscle mass and functionality.

The study was published in the March issue of the American Journal of

Clinical Nutrition.

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