Age-Related Muscle Loss: Are You at Risk of Something More Serious?

Chances are you haven’t heard of sarcopenia before, yet you need to be informed about it.

Sarcopenia is better known as age-related muscle loss, strength and functionality. That may not sound so bad, but this decline in muscle and strength are important risk factors for disability and increased mortality as we age ⁽¹⁾. Sarcopenia is the leading factor contributing to loss of independence and nursing home admissions ⁽²⁾. If these statements aren’t scary enough, sarcopenia is also linked to cardiovascular disease ⁽⁴⁾, diabetes ⁽⁵⁾, hormone imbalances ⁽³⁾, obesity ⁽⁶⁾, and how people respond to cancer treatments ⁽⁷⁾.

Muscle loss usually begins in our 30s but becomes most noticeable in our 50s. We lose between 1% to 2% of muscle per year past the age of 50 ⁽⁸⁾ and after the age of 70, the loss increases and ranges from 13% to 24% per decade ⁽⁹⁾.

Solution
At this point, modern medicine does not have a “pill” to take care of sarcopenia, but this doesn’t mean that all is lost. There are three well documented areas in which you should focus in order to halt and reverse this condition in its tracks: Increase protein consumption, rejuvenate muscle protein synthesis with the right blend of essential amino acids, and increase the amount of resistance exercise.

Increasing Protein
Since muscles are made from protein, it is important to give your body the tools it needs to make more muscle. Consuming between 0.6-0.9 grams of protein per pound of body weight per day is what appears to be required in older adults with acute or chronic diseases ⁽¹⁰⁾. (If you weigh 150 pounds you would need between 90-135g of protein per day.) A great way to add more protein to your day is by adding a protein snack to your day such as nuts (peanuts 20.5g/half cup, almonds 16.5g/half cup), edamame (8.5g/half cup), and chickpeas (7.25g/half cup).

Add Essential Amino Acids
Granted eating more protein is good, but what if you are missing the critical essential amino acids needed to help your body produce and repair muscle? Adding an essential amino acid supplement called Rejuvenate to your daily routine will assure you are doing just that. Rejuvenate is the first supplement of its kind to prevent muscle loss and even help rebuild muscle in people confined to bed rest ⁽¹¹⁾. Rejuvenate has proven its effects to help rebuild and repair muscle by 57 percent with noticeable muscle improvement within 30 days. Simply put, Rejuvenate helps rebuilding muscle with or without exercise, prevents muscle loss and speeds recovery.

Increase Resistance Exercise
When it comes to muscle, the old saying “use it or lose it” is true. Exercise, and in particular resistance training or strength training is extremely effective for preventing sarcopenia. While aerobic exercise is great for burning fat and improving endurance, it isn’t the best approach for addressing muscle loss. Resistance training on the other hand helps build both the size and health of muscle. For best results, mix it up by using resistance bands, squats, lunges, and push-ups, or weight training in differing intervals will provide the best impact for building muscle. These types of activity should be done at least four times per week for best results.

It is clear to see that sarcopenia is more than just age-related muscle loss, strength and functionality. With sarcopenia having direct and indirect connections to many of the debilitating conditions as well as decreased quality of life and independence, it is critical to integrate three simple steps to prevent and reverse this condition. Making sure that adequate forms and amounts of protein are consumed each day, the addition of the patented essential amino acid formulation Rejuvenate, and the addition of frequent resistance and strength training should be utilized to improve overall muscle health and rejuvenation.