Having just returned from a USA road trip one is overwhelmed by the constant confrontation with the state (read health) of our nation. I’m not talking specifically about weight, just general health, particularly mature adults. A majority of individuals look frail, weak and visibly on the verge of an accident. One can see muscle deterioration, lackluster energy, poor posture with basic activities compromised.
It is deeply saddening to witness. The disheartening part is I honestly feel that it is never too late to turn one’s well being status around, of course barring any unforeseen tragic illness or fatal accident. However, this requires real honest effort, discipline, focus, energy, and a mindset that is NOT about waiting for a pill or quick fix to remedy your current health status.
It demands YOU invest in your health now, think different than mainstream media promotions/advertisement/fear campaigns and start to build your own health team. In the spirit of offering solutions when stating a problem here’s the short list of my aging toolbox.
- Lift weights aka resistance training
- Have a nutritional focus on protein
- Keep working as long as you can
- Move daily with whatever lights your fire
- Get regular sunshine and spend time in nature
- Maintain good metabolic health
- Manage stress and practice good sleep hygiene
- Build your own wellness team
I have written numerous blogs on each of these topics, links on specific bullets above. In this post I want to emphasize the top three pieces of the puzzle, strength training, prioritizing protein and keep working (even if volunteer) as long as you can.
Strength, Muscle Mass & Protein Synthesis
There really isn’t a simpler way to say it, you must put stress (the good kind) on your muscles regularly in order to combat the aging process. For a primer on the basics of resistance training see Resistance Training 101. The positive news is you can start at any age, question is what’s holding you back?
If one wants to elevate your wellbeing through the aging spectrum keeping muscular strength, mass and efficiency needs to be a priority. The below quote from Peter Attia, MD highlights this well. I recommend reading his work on muscle strength and aging.
“In its simplest form, strength means utilizing muscle to generate force. And if you are interested in living a long and healthy life and playing with your great-grandkids someday, then muscle mass should be a priority.”
Another prolific individual in the muscle strength and aging community is Doug McGuff. As an emergency physician and self-proclaimed “fitness geek” he has some phenomenal work on why resistance training is a non-negotiable for adults. Here is one of many of his talks on topic, The Area Under the Curve. Also his book, Body by Science, goes into even more technical detail if interested.
If you need more inspiration look at those individuals who have prioritized lifting weights. Go even back to the great Jack LaLanne and equally impressive is his wife Elaine LaLanne at 96 years young and going strong. Check out Elaine on the Rachel Ray show here.
Bottom line is the intersection of challenging the muscles with regular resistance training balanced with a proper diet (read good protein, few carbohydrates and sugar with healthy fats) is demonstrating good results in those who follow that path. Thus, you must pull both levers the exercise one and the nutritional piece, equally important.
Prioritize Protein
Clinical Nutritionist and Functional Medicine consultant Mike Mutzel, MS has a succinct 17- minute video here on how to reverse muscle loss due to aging. Key points, do resistance training 3 to 4 times a week, keep insulin low and consume adequate protein for muscle protein synthesis which includes animal-based foods.
For a deeper dive into what is muscle protein synthesis as well as WHY you need to be consuming good quality and consistent protein look to Don Layman, PhD, who has been researching this topic for decades. Highly recommend his podcast with Peter Attia MD, link here. Key take-aways pull both levers to trigger muscle protein synthesis; exercise and nutrition. Layman highlights the need for a minimum of 30 grams of protein per meal as a threshold for muscle protein synthesis (that means ladies you too!).
Due to their lack of bioavailability plant proteins are not equally as beneficial as animal proteins, meaning your body will not get the maximum utilization for muscle protein synthesis and nutritional enhancement. Not saying that 100% it can’t be done solely with plant sources, but it is clear that disciplined supplementation is required, and questions remain what happens long term in terms of muscle growth and repair as well as bone and tissue aging requirements.
See articles by Chris Kresser, M.S., L.Ac. on Why the Optimal Human Diet Includes Animal Protein and Robb Wolf and Diane Rodgers, RN (authors of Sacred Cow the book and film) on Are All Proteins Created Equal? Both recommended sources have spent diligent hours researching not only this topic but others related to high level nutritional optimization.
This I Fix Hearts’ podcast with orthopedic surgeon Carlos Moreyra and heart surgeon Philip Ovadia demonstrates the crucial link between nutrition and healthy bone strength and density. It’s a fascinating exploration on what the necessary components for good bone and tissue health compromise. They state having good metabolic health markers, doing resistance training and optimizing a diet low in sugar and carbohydrates that includes animal-based sources.
Keep Working
As a final plea to my aging friends (which BTW is all of us), I want to say, keep yourself out there. Whether you want to look at the research and or just follow your gut instinct, engaging in society, challenging your brain, and continuing to tap into sources that fuel your soul is crucial to our health and wellbeing. Just sitting in a chair and or slowing down does not seem to keep us energized, motivated and wanting to improve our health.
I’m not saying you should work till your drop. I’m saying find avenues to stay engaged on a regular routine, be it paid work or volunteer.
See this study on Dutch citizens and retirement where purpose in life springs out.
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“In the domain of purpose in life, the participants indicated three specific motives for remaining in the work force. First, all participants identified their contribution and participation in society as motives to remain working past retirement age: ‘My second reason is to continue participating in society. When you are employed, you are part of the society. You are not standing on the sideline, which is something what happens if you are ageing. – (Male, 67 years, employee, medium educated, focus group)
Second all participants stated that they had worries about their life as a retiree: ‘What I often see with peers of the same age is that after they have stopped working, they had no purpose in their life anymore and became more aware of their health problems’ – (Female, 67 years, self-employed, low educated, individual interview) As another participant said: ‘Working gives you a purpose in life. If you are healthy, you can live for 20 more years and if you are going on retirement… what are you going to do? When you have 20 years left, you still want something to do in your life right? Work can give you some purpose in life in those 20 years.’ – (Female, 65 years, employee, highly educated, focus group)
Third, one of the most mentioned and important motives to continue working was that work provided a practical purpose in life, namely the opportunity to maintain daily routines: ‘If I am working, I have to put some effort in my appearance. I love this challenge. There are some requirements when you are working. You cannot wear your sleepwear for example. Working prevents me from wearing my sleepwear the whole day.’ – (Female, 65 years, self-employed, highly educated, individual interview)”
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Final Note
It takes effort, a readiness to change, putting your team together and executing consistently with a solid focus on strength.
“With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts.”
Eleanor Roosevelt
