Nutritional supplements to support resistance exercise in countering the sarcopenia of aging

Abstract

Skeletal muscle plays an indispensable role in metabolic health and physical function. A decrease in muscle mass and function with advancing age exacerbates the likelihood of mobility impairments, disease development, and early mortality. Therefore, the development of non-pharmacological interventions to counteract sarcopenia warrant significant attention. Currently, resistance training provides the most effective, low cost means by which to prevent sarcopenia progression and improve multiple aspects of overall health. Importantly, the impact of resistance training on skeletal muscle mass may be augmented by specific dietary components (i.e., protein), feeding strategies (i.e., timing, per‐meal doses of specific macronutrients) and nutritional supplements (e.g., creatine, vitamin‐D, omega‐3 polyunsaturated fatty acids etc.). The purpose of this review is to provide an up‐to‐date, evidence‐based account of nutritional strategies to enhance resistance training‐induced adaptations in an attempt to combat age‐related muscle mass loss. In addition, we provide insight on how to incorporate the aforementioned nutritional strategies that may support the growth or maintenance of skeletal muscle and subsequently extend the healthspan of older individuals.dietary protein provision [12], such that more of the ingested protein can be directed towards, and utilized within, skeletal muscle for anabolism; a phenomenon that holds true in older individuals. However, older individuals display a reduced sensitivity (i.e., anabolic resistance) to conventional anabolic stimuli [13,14] and dietary protein ingestion [15]—which makes muscle mass maintenance in older adults particularly challenging. The identification, and utilization, of appropriate nutritional strategies to overcome the blunted anabolism in skeletal muscle of older individuals may serve to augment muscular hypertrophy, or at least help to maintain muscle mass. Therefore, the aim of this review is to provide an up‐to‐date discussion surrounding the interaction between RE and various nutritional strategies as a means to augment MPS, promote muscle protein accumulation, and mitigate the progression of sarcopenia.