Potential Nutrition Support for Age-Related Muscular Conditions

Abstract

The world's population is aging and the elderly population is living longer. This demographic change poses a challenge to public health: How can the elderly sustain health and well-being? Retention of muscle health can help older adults to preserve independence and improve their quality of life. However, there are limited data on nutrition improvement as an approach to manage age-associated loss of muscle mass and strength, also known as sarcopenia. It is unclear whether specific nutrients could be beneficial to muscle health in the ageing process. To help answer this question, we reviewed the emerging data from human Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) on individual nutrients and muscle health in the past decade. Nineteen RCTs reported benefits of the following nutrients, supplemented alone or in combination, on improving muscle mass or strength in the elderly: Proteins and essential amino acids, vitamin D, bovine colostrum, omega-3 fatty acids, and anti-inflammatory ingredients. Cocktail supplementation of multiple nutrients was reported to be more effective than single nutrient interventions. A systems approach integrating multi-faceted interventions may help us better understand the multifactorial etiology of sarcopenia and find effective solutions towards healthy muscle conditions with age.