Lean Gain...
"Sarcopenia” meaning the loss of skeletal muscle mass ( and strength) as a result of ageing. The term sarcopenia has been derived from the Greek word, meaning “lack of flesh”.
Being overweight is not healthy, but being underweight ( not exactly weight wise but muscle % wise) is also equally dangerous, especially as we get older. When we were young and growing up, it really did not matter what we ate or how much we exercised, because we automatically kept getting bigger and stronger, and we were full of energy. We ate all the sweets and carbs that we wanted, and we didn’t worry about following an exercise routine. Our hormones were guiding us putting muscle in spite of what we ate and what we did.
After we turn 40, we lose about 1% of our muscle mass each year, and it picks up speed after 50. Even though we are losing muscle instead of gaining just because of our age, we also have other habits that are hindrance to muscle building. We are in the habit of eating foods that don’t build muscle, and our lifestyles have become more sedentary, using less of our muscles, unlike when we were children or adolescent.
If one is not eating foods that build muscles, even young people can also be underweight and lose muscle mass. And not challenging your muscles, your body will not be able to put on muscle, in spite of your hormones trying to do so.
For most elderly people, the lost muscle is usually replaced by fat, so they are unaware that they are actually losing muscle and wasting away. They think they are just getting heavier and more tired. The extra fat combined with the weaker muscles compounds the problem even more. As a result, there is less strength available to move the body. When people get so heavy and so weak that they can’t even use the toilet alone, then they need assisted living.
Here come some fitness guru’s advice “Diet and Exercise”. Unless the entire concept is not understood in totality, this really does not work. Not understanding the nutrition behind the so called healthy diet may hinder the muscle growth. Similarly so called healthy exercise may break down the muscle further. Therefore it is important to understand why our bodies lose muscle, what causes muscles to grow, and specifically which exact foods and exercises are designed to build muscle.
Some of the problems related to muscle loss:
- When older people have injuries and are hospitalized, their muscle mass helps them pull through. The more muscle you have, the faster is your recovery.
- Healthy muscle mass leads to healthy bone mass, so muscle loss can lead to weak (fragile) bones.
- When we are young, we only use about 30% of our strength to get things done. But as we grow older & our muscles deteriorate, this lead to people not even having enough strength to be able to take care of themselves.
- Strong muscles can help you with your balance. Weak muscles can lead to falls, which can result in life-threatening fractured bones.
- The heart is a muscle and also needs to stay strong to keep us alive.
- Muscle loss can also lead to diabetes and metabolic syndrome such as cardio vascular diseases (CVD)
Things to do to prevent or reverse muscle loss.
(Disclaimer: This article has been written purely on nutrition point of view, based on scientific research. While writing the article no religion, no ethics or anything that sort has been considered. This is written purely keeping healthy diet in mind and with no other intention or to hurt anyone’s sentiments.)
Eat protein: Our muscles are made out of protein, and it is very important to eat enough protein to build them. Throughout the day, our cells in every part of our bodies are constantly dying, growing, replicating, being maintained and repaired. Anything in the body that is not made out of fat or water is made out of protein. If your body does not get enough dietary protein to supply building blocks for repairing and maintaining cells, the body will cannibalize our lean muscles for the protein it needs. Elderly people are no longer growing like teenagers. Experts think that elderly people need even more protein than a growing child just to help keep their muscles from wasting away.
As per the RDA guideline a normal adult male has to consume 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight for an optimal health. This increases proportionately for sports persons, athletes & bodybuilders. That is not the actual weight of the food, but the protein in the food. Tracker like MyFitnessPal is very handy to track & see how much protein is in what you are eating.
Humans by nature are omnivorous. Natures best source for dietary protein are from animal source apart from diary & plant source. Animal proteins resembles exactly with the protein that our lean muscles and cells need. However protein from plant & dairy sources can also meet this requirement to great extent. When we eat the protein, the body breaks it down into amino acids, and those amino acids are used in our body for cells and muscles.
People eating animal protein, also need to eat the saturated fat that comes with the meat. Do not trim off the fat, or pour off the grease, or discard the chicken skin. Every cell in your body has a membrane made out of saturated fat, so when you eat the fat, it strengthens your cells, which will make you healthier overall. Your brain, central nervous system, myelin, lenses and skin also rely heavily on saturated fat and cholesterol for repair and maintenance.
Fat also provides energy. When you eat the fat from Egg yolk, Ghee, Butter or that comes with the meat, you get twice the energy than that come from carbs. When you rely on fat for energy, the cells in your body and brain, which are insulin resistant and rejecting glucose, will be fully charged with ketones ( instead of glucose) that come from fat. This will give you more energy and brain power.
If you are afraid of eating saturated fat, I have many other articles that go into more detail regarding the benefits of a low-carb, high fat diet. However, you cannot eat a high protein diet without either carbs or fat. Protein cannot be used efficiently for energy, and if you eat just high protein, with low carbs and low fat, that will make you sick too. You need to eat the protein for building muscles and cells, but you need to eat carbs OR fat for energy. I personally believe using fat for energy is much healthier than carbs because fat does not make your blood sugars go up and down, it helps your body switch to burning stored fat.
Vitamin D
Low Vitamin D is linked to muscle weakness, muscle wasting, fatty muscles, and bone weakness. When you take Vitamin D, it helps strengthen your muscles as well; it protects against heart disease, and improves insulin sensitivity. There are many links on the internet regarding this, but here is one that I found.
Vitamin D is found in meat and eggs, and fish oil. I personally take a omega-3 capsule which is also rich in the two fat soluble vitamins ( vitamin A & D).
Strength training.
When people think of “exercise”, they usually think of cardio. Many people do cardio hoping to burn off fat. A low intensity cardio breaks down more muscles than burning fat. If you are trying to build muscles, cardio is the opposite of what you want to do. In order to build muscles, strength training is specifically designed to build muscles. And since your cells work hard to lift the weights, you will see that lifting weights will get your heart pounding, your blood circulating, and your lungs working just like cardio. Lifting weight also helps in bone compaction, and you recover from possible osteoporosis.
When you flex your muscle with iron, it calls a few fibers into action. That first rep is pretty easy. Then you do it again, and the muscle calls more fibers into action. That rep was a little harder. So you keep doing more reps, and with each rep, more and more fibers are called into action, until the muscle is using all of its fibers and working as hard as it can. As difficult as it is, keep trying to do ONE more rep.
Easy exercises like walking don’t really do much to build muscles since they don’t challenge the muscles. The muscles only need to call in only a few fibers to walk, and so after a pleasant walk, they don’t need to build any more fibers for next time.
Even if you can only do a few reps with a two-pound weight, you are STILL challenging those muscles and making them work as hard as they can. When you are all finished exercising, your muscles will say, “Wow. That was a LOT of work! We need to build more muscle fibers so that if we are ever in that situation again, we will be able to do better!” Then the muscles will access the protein that you are eating and they will build more fibers.