Subject: Mending Minimal Mature Muscle Mass
Author: ironjusticeDate: 3 Jul
(NaturalNews)
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-
Hughes at the Jean 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.
The study was led by physician and nutrition specialist Bess Dawson-
Hughes at the Jean 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.
Source:
U.S. Department of Agriculture (2008, May 31)
(http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usdahome)
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