The weakening of muscle mass and muscle strength with age is called sarcopenia. Preventing sarcopenia is important because it causes decreases in functioning, reduces quality of life, and leads to higher mortality. If you want to stay functioning when elderly, attention should be made to maintaining muscle mass.
Exercise that strengthens the muscles is important
Exercise, especially resistance training at the gym, is a known way to prevent muscle loss (Cruz-Jentoft 2014). Maintaining a good diet should also be seen to, as it is a prerequisite for weight training actually strengthening the muscles. In particular, consuming too little energy or protein can result in loss of muscle mass (Jyväkorpi 2012). Less intensive exercise, such as regular walking, can also improve muscle mass for those elderly suffering from sarcopenia (Yamada 2015).
A good-quality diet reduces risk of muscle weakness with age
While protein is important in maintaining muscles, the quality of the diet also has significance. Many studies have noted that the muscle mass, muscle strength, and physical performance of those with a healthy diet was better than with those with an unhealthy diet (Bloom 2018). Abundant consumption of fruits and vegetables is especially seen to be important, as well as consuming fatty fish.
A Mediterranean diet is also good for the muscles
Adhering to a Mediterranean diet has been linked to healthy aging (Samieri 2013). For example, in the Italian in CHIANTI study, it was noted that those over 65 years who had best adhered to a Mediterranean diet had a 70 percent smaller risk of being determined to be physically frail (Talegawkar 2012). Muscle functioning is also noted to be better than average for those who adhere to a Mediterranean diet.
Optimal amount of protein is dependent on age
When looking at only muscle condition, protein should be abundantly consumed in the diet throughout adulthood, but when determining an optimal amount, the effect on overall health should be taken into account. In the American observational study, based on the NHANES III material, it was noticed that amongst 50–65-year-olds those with a larger intake of protein had a 75 percent greater risk of dying for any reason, as well as a greater risk of getting cancer. For those over 65 years, however, the mortality of those with the largest intake of protein was 28 percent smaller. (Levine 2014). Middled-aged and younger adults should not necessarily aim for an abundant amount of protein, but for those over 65 years, increasing the amount of protein could be appropriate. A suitable amount for elderly adults could be considered to be at least 1.2 grams of protein per kilogram of weight per day.
Supplement recommendations for elderly suffering from weak muscle condition
It can be beneficial for the elderly to support their diets with the use of supplements which reduce the decreasing of muscle mass and which can also increase muscle mass and muscle strength when used in conjunction with weight training. Beneficial supplements can be, for example, essential amino acids (EAA) or whey protein (Børsheim 2008, Ferrando 2010), creatine (Chilibeck 2017), leucine (Bauer 2015) and MCT oil (Abe 2016).