Muscle Building Supplements For Senior Fitness

Good Muscle Building Supplements Hard to Find for Senior Fitness

Muscle mass drops quickly after about age 50. Muscle loss becomes a health concern starting after age 60. Unfortunately, the vast majority of supplements for enhancing lean body mass are directed at younger people. Research studies on their use for seniors is either absent or shows weak results.

Typical examples include growth hormone (hGH) secretagogues, supplements that increase hGH release from the pituituary gland. HGH spikes are very valuable for counteracting muscle loss. The most commonly researched supplement for this purpose is L-arginine. The bad news that I discovered for my age group (mid-60s), though, is that it fails for us seniors.

The best that commercial industry has to offer is a product called Ensure Muscle Health. I wouldn't put that junk in my body on a dare. Taking a quick look at the Nutrition Facts shows that this is mostly sugar water - the first two ingredients are water and sugar - with a few grams of protein, mostly from casein, the cheapest protein on the market. To be at least a little positive, you get 13 grams of protein to go with your 22 grams of sugar (part of 32 grams of carbohydrate overall).

That is way too much sugar! For comparison, one small, 8 oz bottle provides almost 2.5 times the amount of sugar as a 12 oz can of Coca Cola. Wow!

If anything, the best ingredient in this product for building or retaining muscle mass is hidden in the ingredients list: beta-hydroxy-beta-methylbutyrate (aka, HMB). You know what that is, right? Right...it's a common supplement that everyone knows about - NOT. This is actually a fantastic ingredient for muscle building supplements, especially for senior fitness, which I have written about earlier.

The good news about HMB is twofold: 1) It is available in products other than Ensure Muscle Health; and, 2) It can be combined with two common amino acids, in reasonable doses, that have been shown to provide significant benefits in as few as 12 weeks. And it works in some the weakest seniors in our 'mature' population: elderly women.

Great News for Senior Men and Women

My view is that, if something works well in elderly women, even in the absence of an exercise program, then it certainly will help me. Here are full reference citation details of the study in questions:

Flakoll P, Sharp R, Baier S, Levenhagen D, Carr C, Nissen S. Effect of beta-hydroxy-beta-methylbutyrate, arginine, and lysine supplementation on strength, functionality, body composition, and protein metabolism in elderly women. Nutrition. 2004 May;20(5):445-51.

The study protocol included women of average age 76.7 years who were randomized to receive either a placebo or a treatment with 2 g beta-hydroxy-beta-methylbutyrate (HMB), 5 g arginine, and 1.5 g lysine daily.

After 12 wk, there was a 17% improvement in the "get-up-and-go" functionality test in the treatment group but no change in the placebo group. Improvements in the treatment group were also seen increased limb circumference, leg strength, handgrip strength and positive trends in fat-free mass. In addition, whole-body protein synthesis increased approximately 20% in the treatment group as opposed to the placebo group.

The authors concluded that daily supplementation of beta-hydroxy-beta-methylbutyrate, arginine, and lysine for 12 weeks positively alters measurements of functionality, strength, fat-free mass, and protein synthesis, suggesting that the strategy of targeted nutrition has the ability to affect muscle health in elderly women.

The nice thing about research studies like this is that, even if the scientific jargon is a little complicated, the conclusions are very clear. Let me also point out that the daily dosages used in this study correspond to reasonable amounts of these supplements: 2 grams of HMB, 5 grams of arginine, and 1.5 grams of lysine. In fact, supplements are now widely available that provide the right amount of HMB, and supplements have been widely available for a long time that provide the right amounts of arginine and lysine.

It may seem as though the benefits are a little understated here. As a career-long research scientist, I will just say that I'm not really into marketing hype. I think the research speaks for itself. A more telling comment is this: I am sufficiently impressed by this study that I have added these ingredients to my own daily supplement regimen. I recommend them for everyone, especially for us 'mature' folks who want (and expect) to stay fit for many years to come.

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