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What happens to our muscles when we age? Is there anything we can do to prevent muscle loss? Expert nutritionist explains everything you need to know.
Sarcopenia is the term for gradual loss of muscle mass and strength that often has a correlation with age. But is muscle loss an inevitable part of ageing or are there things we can do to slow it down or even prevent it from happening?
We're super-excited to have expert nutritionist and PhD researcher, Richie Kirwan, here to share all of his knowledge on this important topic, as it's his specific field of research!
Find Richie on Instagram: @be_more_nutrition
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Chapters:
00:00 – Intro
00:21 – Important terms
00:38 – When do we start to lose muscle?
00:54 – What are the risks of losing muscle?
03:18 – Why do we lose muscle & strength?
05:11 – Do we lose all muscle as we age?
06:11 – Supplements to help reduce muscle loss
06:47 – Any questions?
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0:00
what's going to happen to all the muscle
0:01
you've been working so hard to build
0:03
once you get a little older let's talk
0:04
about that
0:07
how's it going guys my name is richie
0:09
kirwan and today i'm extra excited
0:11
because i'm going to be talking all
0:13
about my specific field of research and
0:15
that's aging and muscle loss that's
0:17
right i'm an expert at losing muscle
0:20
let's start with a couple of important
0:22
terms
0:22
firstly as we get older we tend to lose
0:25
muscle and strength it's a process
0:28
called sarcopenia and it's very common
0:30
in fact some people can lose up to 40
0:33
percent of their muscle mass from their
0:35
prime in their 20s to their 80s while
0:38
most people can start losing muscle from
0:40
their late 20s that loss of muscle
0:42
really starts to speed up once we hit
0:44
our late 50s or 60s like i just
0:46
mentioned it's not just muscle size
0:48
that's lost but it's muscle strength too
0:50
and the loss and strength is probably
0:52
even a lot faster than the loss of
0:54
muscle all of these changes can actually
0:56
have a huge impact on our health and
0:58
quality of life you see muscle isn't
1:00
just for helping you look good at the
1:02
beach
1:03
it also plays a massive role in your
1:06
health
1:07
so much so that lower levels of muscle
1:08
mass low levels of muscle strength and
1:11
even the combination of low muscle mass
1:13
with high body fat are all associated
1:16
with a really wide range of different
1:18
health conditions from heart disease and
1:20
diabetes to frailty and even dementia
1:22
just to give you an example in people
1:24
who already have heart disease those
1:26
with the highest levels of muscle mass
1:28
seem to have the best chance of living
1:30
longer on the other hand people with the
1:32
lowest amounts of muscle seem to be at
1:34
the greatest risk of dying from all
1:36
causes this tells us that having more
1:38
muscle might be really important for
1:40
heart health why this happens well we
1:42
don't know not exactly anyway but it may
1:44
have something to do with special
1:46
chemical messengers called myokines that
1:48
are produced in our muscles and these
1:49
can help to reduce inflammation
1:50
throughout the body muscle can also have
1:52
effects on the different types of
1:54
cholesterol in our body too another
1:55
major benefit of having healthy muscles
1:57
is that they help to protect us from
1:58
diabetes you see when we eat and digest
2:00
carbohydrates like bread or fruit or
2:02
potatoes sugar enters your bloodstream
2:04
and a lot of that gets sent straight to
2:06
your muscles
2:07
then your muscles can use it for energy
2:09
or turn it into glycogen for storage
2:11
people with sarcopenia again low levels
2:13
of muscle mass also tend to be a lot
2:15
less active and this puts them at a
2:17
greater risk of osteoporosis or brittle
2:20
bones this is because the main signal to
2:22
keep your bones strong comes from
2:24
muscles tugging on them when we move
2:26
which is why strength athletes tend to
2:27
have some of the highest bone densities
2:29
recorded the loss of strength also means
2:31
people may be more likely to fall and
2:34
fracture their brittle bones what's
2:36
really crazy is that the fear of falling
2:38
can actually make some people even less
2:40
active because they don't want to get up
2:42
and risk a fall turning it into a
2:45
vicious cycle of muscle loss that could
2:47
seriously reduce someone's quality of
2:49
life and even put them at a greater risk
2:51
of depression for me personally one of
2:53
the scariest risks of low muscle and
2:55
strength is becoming weak and frail
2:57
which means people aren't able to carry
2:59
out normal daily activities simple tasks
3:02
like getting out of bed standing up from
3:04
a chair climbing the stairs or carrying
3:07
the groceries home can become difficult
3:08
or even impossible which makes living
3:10
independently a lot harder nobody wants
3:13
to lose their independence when they get
3:14
older but why does all this happen why
3:18
do we lose muscle and strength as we get
3:19
older there are actually a lot of
3:21
changes that happen as we age that
3:22
contribute to muscle loss so here's just
3:24
a few the first and by far the most
3:27
important reason is a big drop in
3:29
activity as we get older it's just
3:30
normal for people to do less as they age
3:32
to walk less and to do less physical
3:34
work our later years or retirement are
3:36
seen as the years we're supposed to take
3:38
a load off and relax in reality that's
3:40
not a totally healthy idea you see the
3:42
main stimulus for building or even
3:45
keeping muscle is exercise especially
3:47
resistance exercise where we try to move
3:50
something forcefully without that
3:52
stimulus our body has no reason to
3:54
maintain its muscle or strength there's
3:56
actually a lot of research that shows
3:57
that older people that stay active
3:58
throughout their life have larger and
4:00
healthier muscles as they age and that
4:02
those older people who engage in
4:04
lifelong weightlifting have the largest
4:06
and strongest muscles besides the lack
4:08
of activity there is another issue
4:10
called anabolic resistance that makes
4:12
building and maintaining muscle a lot
4:14
harder for older people anabolic
4:16
resistance means an older person's body
4:18
doesn't react as well to anabolic
4:20
stimuli as a younger person's body to
4:22
help you understand this you've probably
4:24
heard me talk a lot about muscle protein
4:26
synthesis or mps before increasing nps
4:29
is how we maintain and build muscle and
4:31
we can do it in two ways first with
4:34
exercise and secondly by eating protein
4:37
both stimulate mps but with anabolic
4:39
resistance older people may need more
4:41
intense exercise and higher levels of
4:43
protein compared to younger people to
4:45
stimulate mps to the same extent we'll
4:47
talk a little bit more about protein in
4:48
a second some other things that can
4:50
contribute to anabolic resistance or
4:51
lower muscle mass as we age are insulin
4:53
resistance high levels of inflammation
4:56
reduce protein digestion lower levels of
4:58
anabolic hormones like testosterone and
5:00
estrogen in women lower appetite reduce
5:03
blood flow to muscles increase levels of
5:04
body fat within the muscles a lot of
5:06
those are also connected with low levels
5:08
of activity and just aging in general so
5:11
are we destined to lose all our muscle
5:13
as we age not quite
5:15
while some degree in muscle loss is
5:16
inevitable as we get older there are
5:18
some lifestyle changes that we can make
5:20
to slow it down considerably and it's
5:22
even possible for older people to gain
5:24
muscle too even into their 70s and 80s
5:27
the most important thing to do is to get
5:30
more active any increase in activity is
5:32
good so for someone who spends all their
5:34
time sitting down just walking around a
5:36
little more could be a great start from
5:38
there progressing to resistance exercise
5:40
like body weight exercise resistance
5:42
bands weight machines even free weights
5:44
depending on the ability can help people
5:47
improve muscle strength and size
5:49
high protein diets containing foods such
5:51
as lean meats fish eggs and low-fat
5:54
dairy products can also help to build
5:56
and maintain more muscle than exercise
5:58
alone in fact my research group just
6:00
published a meta-analysis that's a
6:02
combination of the results of multiple
6:03
studies showing the benefit of protein
6:06
on muscle mass and strength in older
6:08
adults who exercise you can find the
6:10
link in the caption below getting at
6:11
least 25 to 40 grams of protein each
6:14
meal is especially important that may
6:15
not be easy for older people with
6:17
smaller appetites so that's where
6:18
protein dense foods like meat dairy and
6:21
even some supplements can be useful on
6:22
top of that other supplements including
6:25
creatine vitamin d and fish oil may help
6:27
people hold on to more muscle and
6:29
improve their quality of life as they
6:30
age with people living longer lives
6:32
sarcopenia is a very real and very
6:35
serious issue
6:36
but lifestyle habits can have a huge
6:39
effect on reducing your chances of
6:40
losing a lot of muscle and strength as
6:42
you age it can also help your parents
6:44
and even grandparents build some new
6:46
muscle and strength i
6:48
love talking about this research so as
6:50
always if you have any questions let me
6:52
know in the comments below and remember
6:54
to like and subscribe to the my protein
6:56
youtube channel for more great
6:57
evidence-based nutrition information
7:01
[Music]
7:08
you
#Weight Loss
#Aging & Geriatrics
#Health Conditions
#Nutrition