Notice a bit of a theme? Me too. Ok, so 50 is a landmark year, for lots of great reasons & they are all staring me right in my (increasingly wrinkled) face. But just at the edges of my now newly bespectacled visual field, I catch a glimpse of that stealth threat and thief: senescence! Consequently, for purely personal gain 😂, a couple of months ago I took a microscopic look at what happens to our ECM as we age, and [ahem] all you glib young folk, that starts at 18 😱😱😱 so wipe that smile off your incredibly elasticised and collagenised faces!!
Now my lens has zoomed out, to take a more macro view of what happens to our musculoskeletal system as we get older and the very latest research about what role these 2 key indicator nutrients (of dietary quality, of PRAL, of many key health outcomes) play.
For most of us, the need for dietary protein adequacy to fuel and fund muscle maintenance or growth is a no-brainer – but how does ageing affect this? We get less bang for our buck. We have to eat more, to get the same ‘amount’ but do you know why this is? Add to this, that also as we age, we experience a greater acid burden from a lower acidogenic dietary load. And this has been shown to have a negative effect on muscle and bone markers and well – we have a riddle (or…spoiler alert… 4) on our hands! This has been a hotly debated and controversial area of nutritional research – particularly with respect to the acid-ash hypothesis and especially with regard to how this influences bone dynamics, the risk and trajectory of, osteoporosis etc
But at last we have a very meticulous meta-analysis & systematic review that has clarified much – and certainly given both ‘sides’ (the ‘nay-sayers’, as in, acid base balance plays no part whatsoever in anything & the ‘PRAL preachers’, as in the end is nigh if the acid is high) some re-direction.
And then there’s the ever-growing recognition of the potent and pervasive impact of sarcopenia (yes I’m talking to ALL of us!) Together with a new heightened appreciation of how powerful a player nutrition is, especially Protein and Potassium, in setting the scene for healthy homeostasis and preventing decline. So take a read of these key articles yourself or join me in the latest Update in Under 30 Episode to get the low-down on how we can master the musculoskeletal ageing slowdown!