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what's going to happen to all the muscle
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you've been working so hard to build
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once you get a little older let's talk
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how's it going guys my name is richie
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kirwan and today i'm extra excited
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because i'm going to be talking all
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about my specific field of research and
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that's aging and muscle loss that's
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right i'm an expert at losing muscle
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let's start with a couple of important
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firstly as we get older we tend to lose
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muscle and strength it's a process
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called sarcopenia and it's very common
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in fact some people can lose up to 40
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percent of their muscle mass from their
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prime in their 20s to their 80s while
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most people can start losing muscle from
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their late 20s that loss of muscle
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really starts to speed up once we hit
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our late 50s or 60s like i just
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mentioned it's not just muscle size
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that's lost but it's muscle strength too
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and the loss and strength is probably
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even a lot faster than the loss of
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muscle all of these changes can actually
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have a huge impact on our health and
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quality of life you see muscle isn't
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just for helping you look good at the
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it also plays a massive role in your
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so much so that lower levels of muscle
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mass low levels of muscle strength and
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even the combination of low muscle mass
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with high body fat are all associated
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with a really wide range of different
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health conditions from heart disease and
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diabetes to frailty and even dementia
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just to give you an example in people
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who already have heart disease those
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with the highest levels of muscle mass
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seem to have the best chance of living
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longer on the other hand people with the
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lowest amounts of muscle seem to be at
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the greatest risk of dying from all
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causes this tells us that having more
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muscle might be really important for
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heart health why this happens well we
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don't know not exactly anyway but it may
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have something to do with special
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chemical messengers called myokines that
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are produced in our muscles and these
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can help to reduce inflammation
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throughout the body muscle can also have
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effects on the different types of
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cholesterol in our body too another
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major benefit of having healthy muscles
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is that they help to protect us from
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diabetes you see when we eat and digest
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carbohydrates like bread or fruit or
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potatoes sugar enters your bloodstream
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and a lot of that gets sent straight to
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then your muscles can use it for energy
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or turn it into glycogen for storage
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people with sarcopenia again low levels
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of muscle mass also tend to be a lot
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less active and this puts them at a
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greater risk of osteoporosis or brittle
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bones this is because the main signal to
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keep your bones strong comes from
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muscles tugging on them when we move
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which is why strength athletes tend to
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have some of the highest bone densities
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recorded the loss of strength also means
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people may be more likely to fall and
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fracture their brittle bones what's
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really crazy is that the fear of falling
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can actually make some people even less
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active because they don't want to get up
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and risk a fall turning it into a
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vicious cycle of muscle loss that could
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seriously reduce someone's quality of
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life and even put them at a greater risk
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of depression for me personally one of
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the scariest risks of low muscle and
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strength is becoming weak and frail
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which means people aren't able to carry
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out normal daily activities simple tasks
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like getting out of bed standing up from
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a chair climbing the stairs or carrying
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the groceries home can become difficult
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or even impossible which makes living
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independently a lot harder nobody wants
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to lose their independence when they get
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older but why does all this happen why
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do we lose muscle and strength as we get
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older there are actually a lot of
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changes that happen as we age that
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contribute to muscle loss so here's just
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a few the first and by far the most
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important reason is a big drop in
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activity as we get older it's just
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normal for people to do less as they age
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to walk less and to do less physical
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work our later years or retirement are
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seen as the years we're supposed to take
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a load off and relax in reality that's
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not a totally healthy idea you see the
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main stimulus for building or even
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keeping muscle is exercise especially
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resistance exercise where we try to move
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something forcefully without that
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stimulus our body has no reason to
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maintain its muscle or strength there's
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actually a lot of research that shows
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that older people that stay active
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throughout their life have larger and
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healthier muscles as they age and that
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those older people who engage in
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lifelong weightlifting have the largest
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and strongest muscles besides the lack
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of activity there is another issue
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called anabolic resistance that makes
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building and maintaining muscle a lot
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harder for older people anabolic
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resistance means an older person's body
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doesn't react as well to anabolic
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stimuli as a younger person's body to
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help you understand this you've probably
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heard me talk a lot about muscle protein
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synthesis or mps before increasing nps
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is how we maintain and build muscle and
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we can do it in two ways first with
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exercise and secondly by eating protein
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both stimulate mps but with anabolic
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resistance older people may need more
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intense exercise and higher levels of
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protein compared to younger people to
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stimulate mps to the same extent we'll
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talk a little bit more about protein in
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a second some other things that can
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contribute to anabolic resistance or
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lower muscle mass as we age are insulin
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resistance high levels of inflammation
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reduce protein digestion lower levels of
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anabolic hormones like testosterone and
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estrogen in women lower appetite reduce
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blood flow to muscles increase levels of
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body fat within the muscles a lot of
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those are also connected with low levels
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of activity and just aging in general so
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are we destined to lose all our muscle
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while some degree in muscle loss is
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inevitable as we get older there are
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some lifestyle changes that we can make
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to slow it down considerably and it's
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even possible for older people to gain
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muscle too even into their 70s and 80s
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the most important thing to do is to get
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more active any increase in activity is
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good so for someone who spends all their
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time sitting down just walking around a
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little more could be a great start from
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there progressing to resistance exercise
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like body weight exercise resistance
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bands weight machines even free weights
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depending on the ability can help people
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improve muscle strength and size
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high protein diets containing foods such
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as lean meats fish eggs and low-fat
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dairy products can also help to build
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and maintain more muscle than exercise
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alone in fact my research group just
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published a meta-analysis that's a
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combination of the results of multiple
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studies showing the benefit of protein
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on muscle mass and strength in older
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adults who exercise you can find the
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link in the caption below getting at
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least 25 to 40 grams of protein each
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meal is especially important that may
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not be easy for older people with
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smaller appetites so that's where
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protein dense foods like meat dairy and
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even some supplements can be useful on
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top of that other supplements including
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creatine vitamin d and fish oil may help
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people hold on to more muscle and
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improve their quality of life as they
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age with people living longer lives
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sarcopenia is a very real and very
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but lifestyle habits can have a huge
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effect on reducing your chances of
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losing a lot of muscle and strength as
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you age it can also help your parents
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and even grandparents build some new
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muscle and strength i
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love talking about this research so as
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always if you have any questions let me
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know in the comments below and remember
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to like and subscribe to the my protein
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youtube channel for more great
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evidence-based nutrition information