Not every topic in these blogs is of interest to everyone but this one is a likely exception, at least for those who manage to live long enough. Sarcopenia is age-related muscle loss. At first you might not see the change because the size of the muscle is similar, just the fat to muscle ratio has increased. By that, I mean that as we age, your body tends to replace muscle with fat. Sorry about the bad news.

Sarcopenia For Everyone

Sarcopenia begins at about age 30. The typical 20 year-old has about 30% more muscle than an 80 year-old. Of course, you will find a wide range of variation depending on simple factors like: physical activity levels, inflammatory conditions, blood sugar regulation, hormone balance, vitamin D levels and history of smoking.

Start With Adequate Protein

Studies indicate that people over 60 or so who get adequate protein in their diet have fewer problems with: strokes, hip fractures as well as decreased levels of sarcopenia.

You might read something like a person needs 1.0 to 1.2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight. Let’s break that down to something more useful.

We will use 150 and 200 pounds of body weights as a reference. Divide 150 pounds by 2.2 to get kilograms. That would be 68 kg. 200 pounds is 91 kg.

A 150 pound person needs about 75g of protein.

A 200 pound person needs about 100g of protein.

1 egg has about 6g of protein.

1 oz of tuna has about 7 g of protein

1 oz of most meats has about 7g of protein

¼ cup of nuts has about 4-6g of protein

8 oz almond milk has about 1 g of protein

A Protein Powder Can Help

With a little math you can see that you might be eating too much food for your age and activity to get the protein you need. Many will do well with a protein drink just to be sure. Powders we can recommend are:

Neurobiologix Protein Plus GFCF French Vanilla

NuMedica Total Vegan Vanilla

Total Vegan has 24g of protein in two scoops. That will provide about 1/3 of the needs of the 150 pound person and ¼ of the needs of the 200 pound person. Protein Plus has 7 g of protein per scoop.

Take Your Omega 3 Fatty Acids

Most everybody will benefit from taking some omega-3 fats. Suggested levels of these beneficial fats is 2-4 g/day for the average adult with most getting something less than 500 mg or 1/8 to ¼ the healthy dose. When you think of omega-3 fatty acids, think about the health of your cell membranes. These are the fats your cells want instead of the unhealthy fats that will make it difficult for your cells to carry on their normal, healthy function.

We often recommend Nordic Naturals.

Nordic Naturals ProOmega

For the vegans in the crowd, you can try Nordic Naturals Algae Omega

Vitamin D3 Is Good For Just About Every Condition

Vitamin D deficiency is epidemic in just about the entire population from kids to the elderly. People we test who aren’t on any supplementation often have levels of about 20 ng/dl instead of an ideal 70 or 80. Even boosting your D levels up to 40 lowers your risk of most cancers by 65%.

So it isn’t surprising that yourmuscles will be happier with a decent vitamin D level. With healthy D levels, you can expect a lowered risk of muscle weakness, lowered risk of falls and better resistance to bone fractures. D3 supplementation is fairly cheap and easy.

BetterGenix Vitamin D3

Make Exercise a Habit

As mentioned, exercise is key. Regular exercise helps slow sarcopenia, sometimes dramatically. We love a mix of slow movements like yoga, walking (and/or elliptical type machine) and some weight bearing challenge. By weight bearing I mean free weights, exercise tubing exercises, situps, pushup. You know what to do. We see a guy in our neighborhood that runs most days and is probably about 80. His heart might be in good shape but the rest of him looks terrible. He is falling over for lack of a workout for his upper back that helps keep you upright.

Consider this Dick Van Dyke quote:

In my 30s I exercised to look good.

In my 50s to stay fit.

In my 70s to stay ambulatory.

In my 80s to avoid assisted living.

In my 90s I am doing it from pure defiance.

My wife and I are in our early 70s so not to the defiance stage yet but can see that if you don’t work at it, it gets harder and harder to get around. Do yourself and those around you a favor and work to slow the sarcopenia trend.

2023