Functional Frailty, Dietary Intake, and Risk of Malnutrition. Are Nutrients Involved in Muscle Synthesis the Key for Frailty Prevention?

Abstract

Frailty is a reversible condition, which is strongly related to physical function and nutritional status. Different scales are used to screened older adults and their risk of being frail, however, Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) may be more adequate than others to measure physical function in exercise interventions and has been less studied. Thus, the main aims of our study were: (1) to describe differences in nutritional intakes by SPPB groups (robust, pre-frail and frail); (2) to study the relationship between being at risk of malnourishment and frailty; and (3) to describe differences in nutrient intake between those at risk of malnourishment and those without risk in the no-frail individuals. One hundred one participants (80.4 ± 6.0 year old) were included in this cross-sectional study. A validated semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire was used to determine food intake and Mini Nutritional Assessment to determine malnutrition. Results revealed differences for the intake of carbohydrates, n-3 fatty acids (n3), and saturated fatty acids for frail, pre-frail, and robust individuals and differences in vitamin D intake between frail and robust (all p < 0.05). Those at risk of malnutrition were approximately 8 times more likely to be frail than those with no risk. Significant differences in nutrient intake were found between those at risk of malnourishment and those without risk, specifically in: protein, PUFA n-3, retinol, ascorbic acid, niacin equivalents, folic acid, magnesium, and potassium, respectively. Moreover, differences in alcohol were also observed showing higher intake for those at risk of malnourishment (all p < 0.05). In conclusion, nutrients related to muscle metabolism showed to have different intakes across SPPB physical function groups. The intake of these specific nutrients related with risk of malnourishment need to be promoted in order to prevent frailty.

Cross-Talks between the Cardiovascular Disease-Sarcopenia-Osteoporosis Triad and Magnesium in Humans

“…In a recent study focusing on frailty and Short Physical Performance Battery to measure physical function, non-frail participants "at risk of malnourishment" showed a significantly lower intake for Mg (392.2 ± 83.9 mg/day compared with those "not at risk of malnutrition"), 451.3 ± 111.6 mg/day (p = 0.016) [119]. An inverse correlation between dietary Mg with greater muscle mass and muscle power was also observed in the UK Biobank, EPIC-Norfolk, Tasmanian cohorts, and the TwinsUK registry [11,115,117,118].…”

“…In humans, a number of publications have explored the links between Mg blood levels/dietary intake with muscle and sarcopenia [8,9,[112][113][114][115][116][117][118][119]. Among seven cross-sectional studies [9,[113][114][115][116]119,120], five underline a low Mg dietary intake in patients with sarcopenia [113,114,117,119,120].…”

“…In humans, a number of publications have explored the links between Mg blood levels/dietary intake with muscle and sarcopenia [8,9,[112][113][114][115][116][117][118][119]. Among seven cross-sectional studies [9,[113][114][115][116]119,120], five underline a low Mg dietary intake in patients with sarcopenia [113,114,117,119,120]. Significant lower intakes were found in those with sarcopenia compared those with no sarcopenia in 227 community-dwelling older adults, but this difference was not reflected in a difference in serum Mg levels, probably because Mg is strictly regulated by the kidney, gastrointestinal tract, and bone [120].…”

Individually tailored nutritional guidance improved dietary intake of older family caregivers: a randomized controlled trial

“…Insufficient dietary intake is common among older FCs [ 6 , 7 ], although sufficient dietary intake has many benefits for older people. For example, optimal intake of nutrients can prevent frailty [ 8 ], and optimal protein intake can prevent the decline of physical performance [ 9 ] and improve lean body mass [ 10 – 13 ]. Because of the negative effects of poor nutritional status on many health outcomes, such as physical function [ 7 , 14 – 16 ], cognitive status [ 15 , 17 ], hospitalization [ 17 ], morbidity [ 7 ], and mortality [ 16 ], it is important to prevent deterioration of the nutritional status of older FCs, contributing their ability to serve as FCs.…”

Nutrition, Diet and Healthy Aging

“…The most marked message that emerges from this collection is the correlation between the frailty index and dietary diversity. Studies from different countries with very diverse nutritional habits show that aged individuals with a good diet variety score present a better frailty index [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 ]. Evidently, due to the diverse geographical origin of the data, it is difficult to infer what the best diet to avoid or to postpone the occurrence of frailty is.…”