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A new report from researchers at McMaster University in Canada offers hope for older men who wish to build physical strength — a nutritional supplement:
Whey protein supplements aren't just for gym buffs according to new research from McMaster University. When taken on a regular basis, a combination of these and other ingredients in a ready-to-drink formula have been found to greatly improve the physical strength of a growing cohort: senior citizens.
[...] The deterioration of muscle mass and strength that is a normal part of aging -known as sarcopenia -- can increase the risk for falls, metabolic disorders and the need for assisted living, say researchers.
"Older people who do little to prevent the progression of sarcopenia drift toward a state where they find activities of daily living, like rising from a chair or ascending stairs very difficult or maybe impossible," says lead scientist Stuart Phillips, professor in the Department of Kinesiology and member of McMaster's Institute for Research on Aging.
While a number of isolated nutritional ingredients have been shown to fight sarcopenia, this is the first time such ingredients -- which include whey protein, creatine, vitamin D, calcium and fish oil -- have been combined and tested for this purpose.
For the study, which was published in the journal PLOS ONE, the research team recruited two groups of men aged 70 and older. One group took a protein-based, multi-ingredient nutritional supplement for six weeks without an exercise regimen, while the other group took a placebo. The objective was to evaluate whether daily consumption would result in gains in strength and lean body mass.
Following those six weeks, subjects continued to take the supplement (and placebo) while also undertaking a 12-week progressive exercise training program consisting of resistance and high-intensity interval training.
[...] Most notable, the findings showed improvements in deteriorating muscle health and overall strength for participants both before and after the exercise regimen. In the first six weeks, the supplement resulted in 700 grams of gains in lean body mass -- the same amount of muscle these men would normally have lost in a year. And when combined with exercise twice weekly, participants noticed greater strength gains- especially when compared with their placebo taking counterparts.
Journal Reference:
Kirsten E. Bell, Tim Snijders, Michael Zulyniak, Dinesh Kumbhare, Gianni Parise, Adrian Chabowski, Stuart M. Phillips. A whey protein-based multi-ingredient nutritional supplement stimulates gains in lean body mass and strength in healthy older men: A randomized controlled trial. PLOSONE, 2017; 12 (7): e0181387 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0181387
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 20 2017, @02:52PM
Is it solar powered, or does it rely on dinosaur juice?
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by idiot_king on Thursday July 20 2017, @03:27PM (8 children)
Meanwhile, Capitalist-BigPharma is trying to pump our seniors up with ridiculous amounts of Darwin-knows-what just to keep them barely alive. Who knew that a few basic supplements, near-vegetarian at that, could combat that? But no, it's far more important to shove brown sugar water down our gullets rather than have clean water and to slurp down pounds of horrid factory-farm pink "meat" slurry than eat efficient and clean vegan diets which are PROVEN to be healthier for everyone and better for the earth. Capitalists make me want to vomit.
(Score: 4, Informative) by DeathMonkey on Thursday July 20 2017, @05:40PM (5 children)
...(rather) than eat efficient and clean vegan diets which are PROVEN to be healthier for everyone and better for the earth.
Pretty sure fish oil isn't vegan.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 20 2017, @05:49PM (4 children)
Pretty sure whey protein isn't vegan either.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 20 2017, @11:09PM (3 children)
Whey qualifies as vegetarian because it is a by-product of animals but not made out of animals. Fish oil on the other hand wouldn't qualify since the fish die to produce it, thus making his 'near-vegetarian' classification acceptable.
Having said that: I wonder if purslane or another plant/herb/vegetable could replace fish oil or its essential ingredients in order to provide a fully vegetarian option, and perhaps put us only one or two steps from a vegan equivalent for people who are either vegan, or are whey intolerant.
(Score: 2) by frojack on Thursday July 20 2017, @11:32PM (2 children)
Waffle waffle.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2) by kazzie on Friday July 21 2017, @06:14AM (1 child)
Nah, waffles aren't vegan either.
(Score: 2) by arslan on Friday July 21 2017, @06:42AM
Chickens are vegan... right? [youtube.com]
(Score: 3, Funny) by bob_super on Thursday July 20 2017, @05:51PM (1 child)
I plan on exercising my jaw muscles on juicy fresh meat and scrumptious chocolate, until the day my last tooth falls off and they have to put me down.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 20 2017, @09:39PM
Red meat is a superfood [liveto110.com] but when we cook it, the heat destroys (denatures) its enzymes.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 20 2017, @03:32PM (1 child)
How nice, the old folks can stay physically fit while society marginalizes them for not being young and trendy.
Fuck it, dudes, let's go bowling.
(Score: 2) by legont on Friday July 21 2017, @01:15AM
On the other hand they work while their youngsters mostly bum.
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 20 2017, @03:43PM (4 children)
My diet
I discovered it independently. Where's my funding?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 20 2017, @06:27PM (1 child)
My body recoiled
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 20 2017, @06:47PM
Tang Sucks [tmz.com]
(Score: 2) by captain normal on Thursday July 20 2017, @07:43PM (1 child)
And...just how old are you? Are you over 70 like the men in the research groups? If not the question becomes will you make it to 70 following that diet?
Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts"- --Daniel Patrick Moynihan--
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Friday July 21 2017, @01:58AM
I'm pretty sure the embalming chemistry evolved enough to have his body last longer than 70 years.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 4, Informative) by Thexalon on Thursday July 20 2017, @03:51PM (9 children)
Lift weights.
Seriously. My grandmother started lifting in her 80's, not very heavy weights by any means but curls with 5 lbs and such, under the supervision of a trainer. She's now 91 and still quite capable of walking around, traveling the world, and all she really needs as far as assistance goes is something or someone to hang onto when going down stairs or a slippery hill.
It helps that she has enough money to afford excellent care, but still, the quality of her elder years has been remarkable, and it's in no small part due to her regular exercise regimen.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 20 2017, @03:57PM (1 child)
How nice, now Mrs Burns can do more than dial and yell.
(Score: 2) by Webweasel on Friday July 21 2017, @08:12AM
Is it about my cube?
Priyom.org Number stations, Russian Military radio. "You are a bad, bad man. Do you have any other virtues?"-Runaway1956
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 20 2017, @04:15PM (1 child)
The article summary had even said to do that.
In fact, the whole article is well known fact except that it was a study to confirm that fact about old people!
There's nothing new here, except for baby boomer advertising.
People that had been exercising already already knew all of this. It just took a funded effort to prove the benefits in people that are not on the covers of most magazines.
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Thursday July 20 2017, @04:55PM
Specifically, what's new here is "Buy products produced by my primary source of funding, they'll fix everything." Which is nothing new.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 2) by digitalaudiorock on Thursday July 20 2017, @06:55PM (2 children)
This x 1000000. Many don't realize how well the elderly respond to weight resistant exercise. I recall reading a study years ago where the % increase in muscle mass for elderly people from regular weight lifting was pretty much on par with young people. I also read once that between the ages of 50 and 70, the typical male looses a full third of their muscle mass...that's just plain scary, and also totally preventable.
Loss of mobility is one of the worst things that can result from age, and it's almost always the result of a serious loss of quad strength. You can get to where your legs just collapse as soon as you allow your knees to bend. That can be prevented with anything resembling squats...even simply standing up and sitting from a chair without using your hands.
Sooooo important.
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Thursday July 20 2017, @07:28PM (1 child)
To be fair, women tend to have problems with bones as they get older, which can also be a major factor in how well they can engage in normal physical activities. Exercise + calcium makes the difference there.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 2) by digitalaudiorock on Thursday July 20 2017, @09:06PM
Very true. Weight resistant exercise is very good for bone density as well. I believe some think that may account for the fact that there's much less osteoporosis is third world countries...that is, the addition labor performed in terms of carrying heavy things etc.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by legont on Friday July 21 2017, @01:21AM (1 child)
At my airport a 92 years old military guy tows gliders - sometimes dozens of flights a day. It hits when one realizes he personally bombed Berlin.
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
(Score: 1) by gtomorrow on Friday July 21 2017, @10:59AM
WITH HIS BARE HANDS, YET!
(Score: 4, Informative) by Immerman on Thursday July 20 2017, @03:58PM (1 child)
With all the grief we give to crappy articles that overstate the facts, you'd think we could at least get it right ourselves. The study did not even address whether the supplement is effective for older adults, only older men - a minority of the older population (after all we start of at only ~49% of the population, and generally die younger as well).
I mean come on, the correct information is right there in the title of the linked article, and even in the Soylent blurb.
(Score: 2) by Magic Oddball on Friday July 21 2017, @02:36AM
I had the same thought. I was looking forward to read about something that might help my mother, who desperately needs to build muscle — it was disappointing to learn that the study ignored women entirely. Though based on other comments, it might not be a valid enough study to matter regardless.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by bradley13 on Thursday July 20 2017, @04:04PM (3 children)
Looking at the abstract, it's interesting that this supplement alone had some effect. However, those effects appear to be dwarfed by the effects of exercise, regardless of which group you are in.
There was a test program here, a couple of years ago, where a physiotherapist moved into a nursing home with a bunch of exercise equipment. The residents initially thought "WTF is he doing to us old folks", but apparently they were game to give it a try. After a few weeks, the results were pretty remarkable.
I'm not the youngest, and I do maybe 15 minutes of circuit training (weights, but quickly enough to provide some cardio) most weekday mornings. Nothing fancy, just some free weights, one machine and a mat in the corner of the basement. No intent to gain strength, it's the same routine with the same weight every time. Once you get used to it, it's a pleasant way to start the day...
Everyone is somebody else's weirdo.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by JoeMerchant on Thursday July 20 2017, @04:38PM (2 children)
The real problem is: in today's world food chases you.
The ordinary daily activities of life are so reduced for most people as to allow them to fall into a dysfunctional state. If you stay active enough to go collect your own berries from the field, get drinking water from a clean source every day, and perform basic maintenance and hygiene for your domicile, you should be getting plenty of exercise. Not saying you have to do specifically those things, in modern society we have people, machines, and mostly people with machines who do that for us, much more efficiently than we used to do for ourselves - the point is to maintain the activity levels, go ahead and lift a gallon of milk as long as you can - don't switch to the half gallon because it's lighter and easier to manage until you really have to. Walk, climb stairs, bend over, do all the things, because the things you stop doing are likely the first things you won't be able to do.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 20 2017, @05:00PM
Get rid of the refrigerator. Go shopping for fresh food every day. Walk to the grocery store. You'll get plenty of exercise. You might even lose weight.
Seinfeld did an episode where Kramer lived without a refrigerator. The trouble is it's a time-consuming lifestyle which is impractical in real life unless you're perpetually unemployed just like Kramer.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 25 2017, @08:06AM
You missed the biggest one: shitting. If you had to squat to shit every day instead of sitting on a chair to do it then you'd keep the muscles to stay mobile. Sadly squatting is quickly becoming a dying art.
(Score: 2, Informative) by ikanreed on Thursday July 20 2017, @04:48PM (1 child)
Don't take anything here as new, useful, or insightful.
They did do a randomized controlled study, but literally everything other than that is suspect as fuck. But the differences in their experimental and control groups had so many factors it's impossible to isolate those that matter. Their group size was 10. 10. A huge percentage of their numerous outcome measures were within margin of error between the groups, which sounds fine, but to me, having dozens of outcome measures, and only a few actually having statistically significant results suggests p-hacking. Especially with small sample sizes. [plos.org]
They fed the experimental group a dozen different nutrients, and the control group carbs. [plos.org] The net result of all this means it's basically impossible to assign any effect size on the outcomes due to any specific change on the experimental group. There's nothing in here that you wouldn't aslo find in a study with just whey protein, probably. They weren't even trying to isolate an interesting factor.
This is junk science to sell the particular mix of protein and oils that some company is going to manufacture.
This is junk science.
This. Is. Junk. Science
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 20 2017, @06:32PM
As soon as I saw "whey protein" that was the first thought that popped into my mind. Magic protein shake? Wake me up when they put nanites in it that actually fix your body.
(Score: 2) by VLM on Thursday July 20 2017, @05:05PM (5 children)
Sounds like an interesting SN poll would be to ask about exercise schedules.
Its probably gotta be multiple choice, I lift on Mon/Fri and cardio Tue/Thr. Just got back from swimming pool laps.
I find the more I work at home the more I like a very long "lunch hour" out at the gym to reboot my brain. Its not really cabin fever so much as its like working two short days instead of one long day.
Outside of religion and maybe politics there is no area of human discourse more full of bro-science than exercise. To initiate a flamewar all I have to do is state I lift on machines because my stability muscles are taken care of on tai chi and cardio days, and I aim for 10-15 reps to muscle failure for each set and I try to do two sets per training day on all 16 machines and I only train twice a week to avoid overtraining (I used to do three days when I was a kid, then I took many years off, hurt my back, and now I lift only twice a week). There's so much bro-science in exercise that my training plan either makes me an idiot or a genius.
You can also have really weird discussions with non-exercising people. From sitting at desk, to returned to desk, including warm up cool down shower drive some errands and wolfing down a lite lunch, it takes me two hours per lifting day (a little faster on cardio days), so I'm "wasting" four hours per week, but they'll be perfectly happy to sit in an office chair with back pain or RSI for 40+ hours per week. Anecdotally its not possible to have RSI if you lift (which is probably broscience) and having a strong core completely prevents back pain for me.
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 20 2017, @06:43PM (1 child)
I assume from the length and details you provided that you also do crossfit.
(Score: 2) by VLM on Friday July 21 2017, @11:17AM
No, and thats not crossfit but Crossfit Inc (r) (tm) and probably (c) too.
Thats another curious aspect of exercise, lots of money to be siphoned off as official trainers of not much.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 20 2017, @09:03PM
Utility cycling works fairly well for me, currently age 65. Have a bike with rack, use it for shopping and other nearby errands (usually a few miles each way) when the weather is good. Not wearing lycra or riding with any groups.
There are a few short hills in the area, so there is some effort involved. I kind of fall apart in the winter--after a fall on ice (~30 years ago) I don't ride below freezing anymore (although properly dressed the cold is not a big deal). Yes, I have stationary bikes, but they are so boring that I'm lucky to ride one a dozen times per year.
Any poll should also include current age (range) as well as type/duration of exercise...
(Score: 1) by slap on Thursday July 20 2017, @11:57PM
I usually walk about 20 miles a week at a brisk pace. In the evenings, I do exercises - I plank for 6 to 7 minutes, use handweights, do 100 sit-ups, 30 deep knee bends, and around 35 pushups, and some other exercises. Oh, I'm 62.
(Score: 2) by Magic Oddball on Friday July 21 2017, @02:32AM
My current schedule is 80 min. on Monday & Thursday evenings with my 67-year-old father — either just using a cardio bike straight through, or if my neck is behaving I'll do 30-40 min. cardio bike + 30-40 min. on weight machines. (I've got cervical scoliosis & spinal-canal stenosis, so muscle spasms, sharp 'arm fell asleep' tingling, etc. are a bit of a problem.)
I actually look forward to cardio, as I spend the whole time reading & listening to music uninterrupted without feeling like I should be doing something more 'productive.'