Did you know age related muscle loss actually starts in our 40’s and 50’s? A lot younger than people may think. As we age there is an increased need for protein in our diets, compared to when we are younger. This is necessary to help replace and repair our muscles, and to help prevent muscle loss. With an aging population in Australia, this is becoming an increasingly important issue to help older people maintain their health, independence and functionality.
Protein is not just for ‘building’ muscle, it is also super important in maintaining muscle size and strength, especially as we age, as it becomes even harder to get it back. Unfortunately, it is a lot harder to build muscle when we’re older, so maintaining the muscle we have is even more important!
When we lose muscle, we lose strength which leads to an increased chance of falls – which may lead to fractures and breaks. This can also turn into a cycle: imagine you break a bone in your leg, you go to hospital, they fix you up, but you cannot use that leg for a few weeks, which leads to muscle and strength loss. Your loss of strength and muscle in you legs increases you chance of a fall, in turn increasing the chance of a fracture or break, meaning you have to go to hospital. And the cycle repeats. While in hospital you can lose as much as 1kg of muscle loss in as little as 10 days!
Muscles do more in our bodies than just keep us upright and moving – muscles store energy; they’re a store of protein for use around the body in times of need or illness; muscles have a role in brain health and metabolic health (e.g. preventing diabetes). So I’m sure you’re starting to see the importance of muscles for our overall health.