Recent research has found that having a healthy amount of skeletal muscle benefits longevity, weight management, and disease prevention. We all know the benefits of exercise and eating a nutritious diet, but we don't know why. In today's article, I will share the latest research on how building muscle and eating high-quality protein can help you sustain your metabolism and energy and prevent diseases lurking throughout our society today.
What Happens To Our Muscle As We Age?
Sarcopenia is a natural degeneration of muscle mass that all humans experience as they age. The problem with this is that it increases adipose tissue (fat) accumulation around areas of our body that are prone to disease, such as the midsection and hips. With the loss of muscle, this increases the likelihood of insulin resistance, which can cause type 2 diabetes.
Sarcopenia also increases the chances of injury, osteoporosis, pain, inflammation, and much more. The cause of sarcopenia is multifactorial, but a contributing factor is lack of exercise or intentional movement. Also, hormonal changes such as a decrease in testosterone, an important hormone that keeps both men and women anabolic, slowly decrease with age, starting at age 35. By the time you reach 60, they say that approximately 60% of your testosterone is gone. They are keeping a healthy testosterone level as you age, which is essential for muscle and several hormonal responses in the body.
With less muscle mass, we also lose our body's ATP, our cells' primary energy source. As we age, ATP slowly decreases with time, but with the more skeletal muscle we have, we can maintain a healthy level of ATP, keeping our energy levels at a healthy rate. As we begin to lose muscle, fat tissue will start accumulating in its place, opening the opportunity to store damaged cells, which can cause pain and increase the likelihood of disease.
How Is Skeletal Muscle Good For Us?
Skeletal muscles have multifunctional purposes, are usually correlated with movement and strength, and are responsible for metabolic functions. One of those functions is glycemic control; low muscle mass has been associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes.
One measurement that research states is a good marker of disease risk is grip strength. People with lower grip strength had a (39% and 67%) risk of CVD cardiovascular disease, (44% and 84%) risk of respiratory disease, and (73% and 89%) risk of cancer for women and men. Grip strength can only be tested and improved through resistance training. Skeletal muscle is significant for amino acid reservation; amino acids are responsible for many vital bodily functions, such as healing the microbiome, creating new neurotransmitters, improving muscle density and recovery, and healing the heart, liver, pancreas, and spleen. Amino acids are the building blocks our body needs to recover properly.
Having an increased amount of skeletal muscle has been associated with an improved rate of survival from conditions such as AIDS< Heart disease, and cancer. With type 2 diabetes, skeletal muscle mass is the primary place where glucose is disposed of. With more skeletal muscle, you are able to metabolize sugar much quicker and more effectively. These studies discuss lean body mass more than just muscle mass in general. So, the importance of keeping fat low is extremely low for these associations to be proven proactive.
What Is The Importance of An Ideal Body Weight (Lean Body Mass)
Finding your ideal body weight can seem daunting due to the amount of ever-changing information online. Our ideal body weight is considered to be wherever we feel we have the most energy and can sustain proper metabolic responses. Most of the time, this is based on your blood panels and testing that you get done annually, along with measurements of your waist circumference and body fat percentage.
Maintaining a healthy body weight and body fat percentage is essential to help prevent metabolic disease, decrease the risk of injury, and maintain a healthy bone density as you age. Increased adipose tissue or fat increases the risk of injury, stiffness, pain, and heart disease by 28%, cancer by 17%, and diabetes by 60%. Another huge factor in having excess weight is fatty liver; this is called nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. This condition can increase the amount of liver enzymes you have, creating more inflammation in your liver, which decreases the liver's ability to detoxify inflammatory toxins properly.
Focusing on reaching your ideal body and building skeletal muscle decreases the risk of nonalcoholic fatty liver and other diseases. Researchers have found that reducing weight and increasing skeletal muscle mass improves the function of your organs and restores the liver to its normal function. Your ideal body weight is perfect because it keeps you in a place of vitality and functionality.
What Role Does Our Diet Play Into This?
Our diet and the foods we choose to put in our body affect how we hold onto and regulate our skeletal muscle. Let's eat a diet high in refined sugar, processed foods, and fast food. We see a substantial increase in adipose tissue (fat accumulation) and muscle marbling over time. Our skeletal muscle accumulates fat, and our organs, like our liver and other organs, collect fat tissue. We are putting stress on these muscles, increasing your risk for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and other harmful conditions.
According to the National InstituteInstitute of Health, a diet high in sugar and fat has been associated with causing metabolic inflexibility within skeletal muscle, leading to metabolic dysfunction. This increases the risk of type 2 diabetes and obesity. At the same time, these conditions can lead to muscle atrophy, meaning you go into a state of catabolism (sarcopenia). As we have learned already, losing muscle puts us at great risk for disease.
Our diet plays a major role in how our skeletal muscle develops and is maintained. Let's explore some ways you can improve your diet and lifestyle to help increase your muscle mass.
Why Is Protein So Important?
Protein has always been an essential nutrient for our body. Recent research has revealed that the most crucial nutrient for our long-term Health. Protein with resistance training is a potent stimulus for muscle protein synthesis and a critical factor in regulating skeletal muscle mass.
Protein contains amino acids, which are the building blocks of protein for the repair and rejuvenation of skeletal muscle, microbiome, neurotransmitters, and so much more. When we don't consume enough protein in our diet, we actually decrease the flexibility of our muscles, joints, and immune system. This can put you at risk for injury, sickness, and disease. The more high-quality protein we consume, the more durable and robust our muscles can stay, especially with strength training.
Quality protein comes from sources like lean pasture-raised meats, grass-fed/finished beef, wild-caught fish, and wild game, which all contain the highest levels of amino acids. The science says to eat around 1g per pound of ideal body weight. One study showed that starting your day with 30-50 grams of protein can start protein muscle synthesis.
Are Carbs Necessary?
The main ingredient for muscle growth is amino acids, but carbohydrates play a role in skeletal muscle growth. But how do we know the best form of carbohydrates and how much? Various studies have found that you should consume carbohydrates during your training. The amount is, of course, based on your activity level. But what's important is that carbohydrates come in the form of fiber and nutrient-dense sources of carbohydrates.
Good carbohydrates to use are sweet potatoes, quinoa, rice, fruit, raw honey, squash, pumpkin, beans, and legumes, all of which contain high amounts of fiber and high glycemic index carbohydrates. Now, you must follow the guidelines for your ideal body weight to help make sure you are eating a balanced amount.
Carbohydrates provide muscle glycogen, which can help boost lean body mass. This can help increase the metabolism of sugar in the muscle, which, over time, increases your metabolism. Increasing the amount of fiber and good carbohydrates you eat improves digestion, metabolism, energy, and much more.
How Can I Realistically Get Started?
When building skeletal muscle, we have to start with implementing some strength training. It doesn't have to be crazy and at a gym. You can start with your body weight and do simple exercises like pushups, squats, sit-ups, lunges, and burpees. All of these exercises build strength and can help build skeletal muscle efficiently, and you can do them quickly. For example, you can do three sets of 10 pushups in the morning, three sets of 10 squats at lunch, and then three sets of 10 jumping jacks at dinner if you are beginning strength training. Another fun example is going on a weighted walk. Carrying 3-5 pound weights and going for a long walk can improve grip strength and cardiovascular Health.
Next is attacking your diet with intentionality. Increasing protein quality can benefit how your body responds to protein synthesis. Starting your day off with 30-50 grams of protein puts your body in protein synthesis. Eating according to your ideal body weight is what science recommends for maximum benefits. Your perfect body weight is based on your height and age. Also, get your blood panel done to make sure your numbers are good to see what amount of protein would be best for you to consume. Managing your sugar intake can help with lean body mass, so eating according to how active you are can help prevent excess body fat from accumulating, and adjusting according to the day can help keep your metabolic rate firing on all cylinders.
Take Away
You have all the answers within yourself. It's just about listening to your body and making the best decision for you and your Health. If you have questions about this, feel free to message me.
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