Want to stay buff well past retirement age? Studies in some very old -- but surprisingly toned -- rats suggest the key to lifelong muscle health is to eat less, and better.
With age there is quite a significant loss of muscle function, but dietary caloric restriction basically prevented that loss, so the function of these very old animals is the same as the function of the young animals.
Most people view a gradual decline in muscle responsiveness, strength and tone as an inevitable part of aging. And, under typical dietary and exercise conditions, that's probably the case.
With aging, muscle loses fiber number, especially type 2 fibers, needed for quick, strength-dependent responses. It's thought that nerve fibers that enervate those type 2 fibers die or recede with age, leading to fiber death and a lowering of muscle tone.
Oxidative stress -- the build-up of "free radicals" that can damage cells -- is a main culprit in this process. Calorie restriction not only reduces the production of free radicals -- the damaging molecules -- but it also seems to have a beneficial effect on antioxidant enzymes that help prevent the damage.
Researchers tested the muscle responsiveness of rats fed either an unrestricted diet, or a diet with 40% fewer daily calories.
As expected, rats free to eat at will had relatively flabby muscles by the time they reached the ripe old age of 26 months -- about the equivalent of a 75- to 80-year-old human.
In contrast, geriatric rats accustomed to the restricted-calorie diet were smaller, leaner, and decidedly buffer. The muscles were quite strong, especially muscles dominated by type 2 fibers. In fact, there was no observed difference in terms of muscle responsiveness and strength between the calorie-restricted, elderly rats and other rats half their age.
Basically you end up with a thinner animal whose muscles function better and the muscle is a greater percentage of the total body weight. That's going to translate to better life function.
Annual Experimental Biology 2002 Conference New Orleans, LA April 23, 2002
I do believe that eating less is more likely to be healthier for us in the long run. This is largely related to reductions in insulin levels, which is the major accelerant of aging.
Controlled energy restriction is the only regimen that has been shown in the laboratory to increase life span and therefore may be the foundational requirement for proper diet.
If you are truly interested in slowing down the aging process, then I highly recommend you get the "Secrets of Anti-Aging" telephone clinic. Co-hosted by me, and primarily led by Ron Rosedale, M.D., who is widely considered to be the leading anti-aging doctor in the country, the "Secrets of Anti-Aging" tele clinic will teach you ALL of the following:
Five practical ways to improve your skin
How to increase your energy as you age gracefully
How to improve your aches and pains & overcome your loss of flexibility
The role supplements play in preventing aging
How to improve your memory and reverse your mental decline
How you can reverse the factors causing you to age rapidly and MORE!
Dr. Rosedale is extremely gifted in interpreting the complex basic science research into practical steps you can take to increase your longevity, and improve the way you feel - even if you suffer from a degenerative disease!
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