Dietary intake and physical performance in healthy elderly women: A 3-year follow-up

Biomarker‐Calibrated Protein Intake and Physical Function in the Women's Health Initiative

“…32 In the current study, each metabolic equivalent h/wk of recreational physical activity was associated with a 0.2-unit increase in self-reported physical function (P < .001), no significant difference in grip strength, a 0.02-unit increase in the number of chair stands completed (P < .001), and 0.01-second decrease on the timed walk (P = .001), but a 3-year prospective study of 92 women (mean age 71 AE 4) enrolled in a twice-weekly fitness program documented declines in grip strength (À3.2 AE 5.0 kg), increases in walking time (0.71 AE 0.9 seconds), and declines in energy (À345 AE 533 kcal/d) and protein (À9.5 AE 14.7 g/d) intake. 33 A stratified analysis of protein intake (percentage energy) according to median recreational physical activity level in the current study sample showed that the protein associations with physical function were independent of activity (data not shown), suggesting that women may benefit from consuming higher amounts of protein irrespective of physical activity level. An intervention combining protein and physical activity would exclude older adults who are on bed rest, yet evidence from clinical trials suggests that essential amino acid supplementation helps to preserve muscle mass and improve function in individuals during bed rest.…”

Handgrip Strength Does Not Represent an Appropriate Measure to Evaluate Changes in Muscle Strength During an Exercise Intervention Program in Frail Older People

“…Some studies have reported minor changes in handgrip strength (Englund et al, 2005;Figueroa et al, 2011;Geirsdottir et al, 2012;Pereira et al, 2012;Sarti et al, 2013;Skelton et al, 1995;Straight et al, 2012;Tsourlou et al, 2006), but the majority of studies have not been able to detect significant differences in handgrip strength in response to traditional whole-body resistance-type exercise training programs in older people (Blanc-Bisson et al, 2008;Bunout et al, 2004;de Vreede et al, 2005;Gudlaugsson et al, 2012;Leenders et al, 2013;Park et al, 2012;Rhodes et al, 2000;Seco et al, 2013;SerraRexach et al, 2011;Winters-Stone et al, 2012;Woo et al, 2007. An overview of these studies is given in Table 3. The apparent discrepancy among those studies might be due to variety in designs.…”

“…In doing so, we were able to show that there is indeed an overall learning effect, but no effect of resistance-type exercise training compared with control on handgrip strength (Table 2). Another explanation of the apparent discrepancy might be the type of exercise training (Cima et al 2013;Speed & Campbell, 2012;Sarti et al, 2013;Tsourlou et al, 2006;Vestergaard et al, 2008). In older people with rheumatic arthritis for example, specific handgrip exercises would allow improvements in handgrip strength (Cima et al, 2013;Speed & Campbell, 2012).…”

Sarcopenic obesity

“…Aging is associated with both, a reduction in dietary protein intake [13] as well as a blunted muscle protein synthesis response to essential amino acid ingestion [39]. Moreover, the recommended dietary allowance for protein intake may not be adequate in older adults [40].…”

“…Specifically, the excess adiposity owing to this condition has been attributed in part to a positive energy balance associated with aging, the consequence of decreases in all major components of total energy expenditure [11] as well as a reduction in physical activity [12•]. Concurrently, these aspects of aging affect the propensity for development of sarcopenia, which is further exacerbated by other age-related changes such as reduced protein intake [13], increased skeletal muscle fatty infiltration [14], impaired muscle energetics [15], altered skeletal muscle substrate metabolism [16], increased expression of myostatin [17], impaired sensitivity to the anabolic effects of insulin with associated mitochondrial dysfunction [18], and age-related reductions in growth hormone and testosterone secretion [10;17;19•–21]. Accordingly, a multifaceted approach to the management of sarcopenic obesity remains the most promising in terms of reducing the associated health care burden from both a personal and public health perspective.…”