Nutrition, Diets and Aging
Aging and Body Changes: Loss of Muscle
Sarcopenia is a technical word, literally meaning a decrease in the flesh. It is now widely used to mean the loss of muscle mass during aging, and the related loss of strength. After age 30, we lose three to five percent of our muscle mass every ten years. This loss may increase in our 60’s and 70’s.
This muscle loss appears to occur in everyone, and it is thought by almost every medical specialist to be a naturally occurring and unavoidable process. Often associated with muscle loss is the slowdown of the metabolism, and thus weight gain. It is largely our muscle mass that determines how many calories we burn. We need to eat less calories as we age.
In addition to muscle mass and strength, there is a reduction in our aerobic capacity as we age. This is our ability to use oxygen to do work. The better we are at using oxygen, the faster we can move, and with more energy. We lose three to six percent of our aerobic capacity in our 20’s and 30’s, and twenty percent during our 70’s decade.
Sarcopenia does not appear able to be stopped. But the loss can be slowed, and occasionaly muscle mass and strength can be increased with hard work. This requires exercise, increased dietary protein, and possibly creating a more alkaline pH.
Exercise is critical to preventing the loss of muscle. Any can help, but an optimal exercise program includes strength or resistance training for the best results. Whether you choose weights, elastic bands, isometric, traditional exercises (i.e. pushup’s), or even rowing, it is critical to tire the muscles so they can heal and grow stronger.
As we age, it appears we continually lose the building blocks of proteins. This makes it difficult to build or rebuild muscles. And even the level of the blood proteins, called albumins, decrease. Increasing protein in the diet might help, but the research is inconclusive.
Some health experts believe that people produce greater amounts of acid as we age. This increases calcium loss, but also causes loses of nitrogen from which we build protein. Therefore, it makes sense that increasing alkalinity through dietary choices might slow muscle loss. Alkaline-creating foods include fruits and vegetables, and among the top are spinach and raisins. The problem is that meats, dairy, and even grains create acid, so these need to be eaten in moderation compared to veggies and fruit.
Aging and Nutrient Absorption
A critical problem of aging is that absorption of nutrients decreases. So even the consumption of the same quantity of nutrients results in lower nutrient blood levels as we get older. The bottom line is, it doesn’t matter what you eat, it’s what you are able to absorb that determines your nutritional status.
This decrease in absorption could be due to not only damage to the intestine during aging, but also genetic mistakes that add up over the years, creating non-functional enzymes. Some studies have shown over 50 percent drops in functional enzymes over time.
Almost every research study on the nutritional status of Americans shows that vitamin and mineral levels are low in most of the individuals tested. This is even more true for senior citizens. One example from an office of senior care physicians finds that over 90% of new patients (age 65 or older) are significantly low in Vitamin D levels, a few so low that the level is not detectable.
This low level of Vitamin D is significant for many reasons. Vitamin D is required for the absorption and utilization of calcium, which is needed for maintaining bone strength and muscle function.
Vitamin D is also critical for improving immune system function and reducing inflammation. In these roles, it appears to lower the risk of several cancers, including colorectal and breast cancer. Brain function, including learning and memory, also are improved with proper blood levels of Vitamin D.
While Vitamin D is readily available in fortified milk, it is also available from egg yolks and many fish sources. One study found that one-third of people who ate the government recommended amount of Vitamin D, 400 IU/day, still had inadequate blood levels of the vitamin.
Aging and Supplements
Because of the difficulty in digestion, absorption, and utilization of important nutrients, such as vitamins and minerals, it is critical that seniors focus their diets on highly nutritious foods. They should avoid high calorie, low nutrient foods. It is also important to note that physicians should be consulted regarding diet and supplements, though unfortunately, many doctors are not aware of the problems of nutrition in seniors (or younger folks either).
A fairly simple routine for supplementation of a high quality diet would include a multivitamin/mineral supplement (designed for seniors) and fish oil capsules. In addition, many seniors (especially women) need to take a supplement of calcium (it probably should also contain Vitamin D) and potassium for bone and muscle protection.
Other supplements should be based upon individual needs. Factors determining supplement requirements include gender, disease states, and activity levels. Ideally, it should also be based upon extensive testing of blood levels of the important nutrients.
Water and Aging
Water often does not receive enough consideration. The biggest problem is that many Americans have habituated themselves to drinking less water than needed. As we age, this is accentuated as we lose our thirst mechanisms.
First, let me state clearly that I believe that we need to drink sufficient water, as water, with no more than half being tea and/or coffee. If we then want to supplement with other beverages such as milk, juices, one or two alcoholic drinks, and very small amounts of soda, we may do so comfortably. It is critical to avoid calorie-rich drinks, as the calories are primarily sugar and create many bad effects.
As adults age, their sense of thirst seems to diminish. The large number of seniors hospitalized due to dehydration can attest to this. And dehydration can create other physiological damage. It appears that a possible mechanism for the loss of thirst may be the decrease in blood proteins (albumins) mentioned above. Without the osmotic pull (physical force that holds water in the blood) of these proteins, we do not realize we need water.
One way to approximate water/fluid needs is to take your weight (in pounds) and divide it by two. This number (in ounces) is at least a reasonable estimate of water needs. Additional water above this amount should be taken during hot weather, exercise, when sweating, and during bouts of diarrhea or vomiting.
August 25th, 2008 at 3:36 pm
Amazing. Wanna read more about it. How long did you write it??