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Plant Foods for Preserving Muscle
Mass 5-23-08
Fruits and vegetables contain essential vitamins, minerals and fiber that are
key to good health. Now, a newly released study by Agricultural Research Service
(ARS)-funded scientists suggests plant foods also may help preserve muscle mass
in older men and women.
The study was led by physician and nutrition specialist Bess Dawson-Hughes at
the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University
in Boston, Mass.
The typical American diet is rich in protein, cereal grains and other
acid-producing foods. In general, such diets generate tiny amounts of acid each
day. With aging, a mild but slowly increasing metabolic "acidosis" develops,
according to the researchers.
Acidosis appears to trigger a muscle-wasting response. So the researchers looked
at links between measures of lean body mass and diets relatively high in
potassium-rich, alkaline-residue producing fruits and vegetables. Such diets
could help neutralize acidosis. Foods can be considered alkaline or acidic based
on the residues they produce in the body, rather than whether they are alkaline
or acidic themselves. For example, acidic grapefruits are metabolized to
alkaline residues.
The researchers conducted a cross-sectional analysis on a subset of nearly 400
male and female volunteers aged 65 or older who had completed a three-year
osteoporosis intervention trial. The volunteers' physical activity, height and
weight, and percentage of lean body mass were measured at the start of the study
and at three years. Their urinary potassium was measured at the start of the
study, and their dietary data was collected at 18 months.
Based on regression models, volunteers whose diets were rich in potassium could
expect to have 3.6 more pounds of lean tissue mass than volunteers with half the
higher potassium intake. That almost offsets the 4.4 pounds of lean tissue that
is typically lost in a decade in healthy men and women aged 65 and above,
according to authors. The study was published in the March issue of the American
Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Sarcopenia, or loss of muscle mass, can lead to falls due to weakened leg
muscles. The authors encourage future studies that look into the effects of
increasing overall intake of foods that metabolize to alkaline residues on
muscle mass and functionality.
ARS is the U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief scientific research agency.