Recent Study Finds Plant Foods Preserve Muscle Mass in Aging Adults

NaturalNews.com
Originally published July 1 2008

Recent Study Finds Plant Foods Preserve Muscle Mass in Aging Adults
by Leslee Dru Browning

(NaturalNews) 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.

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.

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.

The study was published in the March issue of the American Journal of
Clinical Nutrition.

Source:

U.S. Department of Agriculture (2008, May 31)
(http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usdahome)


About the author
Leslee Dru Browning is a 6th generation Medical Herbalist &
Nutritionist from the ancestral line of Patty Bartlett Sessions;
Pioneer Mid-Wife & Herbalist. Leslee practiced Medical Herbalism and
Nutritional Healing for over 25 years and specialized in Cancer
Wellness along with Chronic Illness. She now devotes her career to
teaching people, through her writing, about Natural Healing from An
Herbal Perspective.






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