Metabolic Aging :: Health and Disease :: Bones, Joints, and Muscles

> Health and Disease > Bones, Joints, and Muscles

Metabolic Aging
by author Brad J. King, MS, MFS

Everybody wants to live a long and healthy life. If you carry excess body fat on your frame, though, you may be setting yourself up for a shorter lifespan than the one you were aiming for.

Excess body fat is directly linked to so many diseases that it can no longer be thought of as solely a cosmetic issue. Cardiovascular disease, diabetes, stroke, numerous cancers, gallbladder disease, immune dysfunction, sleep apnea, infertility, and osteoarthritis (degeneration of the cartilage and bone in the joints) are just the tip of the iceberg. The more body fat you have on your frame, the higher your risk of checking out well before your time.

So why do the majority of us seem to find it so easy to pack on the pounds after age 35, while losing the features that defined our youth–strength, vitality, immunity, sexual function and desire, skin tone, and memory?

It’s often because we’ve lost lean body mass (muscle). To a very large extent our muscle mass controls the overall metabolic rate of the body. In fact, a study of 84 men and women aged 90 to 106, presented in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society in 1997, showed that loss of muscle is the primary longevity factor.

When we grow or reactivate muscle metabolism, we actually enhance overall energy production (we burn more calories) and in the process we burn more fat. Enhanced muscle mass has also been linked to lower levels of stress hormones, whereas elevated stress hormones are a contributing factor to muscle breakdown. Research indicates that stress levels (cortisol) in older people are typically two to four times those of younger ones&both at rest and with exercise.

Many studies have shown that the maintenance of muscle mass is not only associated with lower body fat levels, but also with increased energy, better mood, stronger connective tissue and bones, better immunity, and, according to Japanese researchers, possibly even enhanced memory. Researchers have discovered that low cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)–well documented in the elderly–is a possible risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease. It turns out that elderly people who maintain muscle mass through full range of motion exercises have the same level of CSF as younger people.

The take-home message is that healthy aging is controlled to a large extent by your metabolism, and, in turn, your metabolism is controlled by your muscle mass and activity.

Ways to Maintain Muscle Mass

Consume sufficient protein every two and a half to three hours (whey protein shakes are a great substitute for one or two protein meals).
Perform weight-bearing exercise every other day. Resistance exercise stimulates new muscle growth and helps maintain metabolism.
Supplement with ergogenic (muscle-enhancing) aids like high-alpha whey protein, micronized creatine monohydrate, and branched chain amino acids (BCAAs), before or immediately after training.
Reduce stress. Excess stress interferes with DHEA (dehydroepiandrosterone), one of your body’s most powerful anabolic hormones. Research shows that lowered stress levels cause an increase in DHEA levels. For starters, try reducing your caffeine consumption.

Brad J. King, MS, MFS, is a nutritional researcher and author of five books, including the international best-seller Fat Wars (Wiley, 2004). Subscribe to his free monthly newsletter at fatwars.com.

Source: alive #271, May 2005

Special Advertising Feature

The Collagen Connection - Special Advertising Feature provided by Naka
How can we ensure that our vital collagen is plentiful and remains strong as we age to support joint and skin health?

Looking, Feeling and Performing Your Best
Do you remember how you felt when you were really young? The reason everything seemed to work so well back then was because your body invested a lot of time and energy on repairs. It was as if you had a full-time mechanic on the premises.

Get Physical With Blended Drinks
Getting old does not necessarily mean getting sick. Obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure are not a function of chronological age. In fact they have more to do with lifestyle than genes--although both play a role..

Three Steps for Lifelong Health
Exercise, a whole foods diet and supplements are what you need to avoid spending your retirement in the doctor's office. They say there are only two certainties in life: death and taxes.

Ankylosing Spondylitis
Ankylosing spondylitis is an illness that took my whole lifetime to mature and five years to battle into submission. The symptoms and causes, like almost all so-called incurable diseases, piled up, stone upon stone, beginning to create my tombstone.

Lasting Longevity
Until recently, most people believed growing old and dying was unavoidable. However, it now appears the assumption many of us held as children, that "I will never grow old and die," was not quite as absurd as our parents thought. Different cultures have varied definitions of aging.

Age-Less Exercise
If there is an anti-aging pill, it has to be exercise--age-less exercise. Proper exercise has been shown to slow aging through reduced cholesterol, high blood pressure, stress levels, insulin levels and osteoporosis risk..

Age With Vitality
There's truth in the old saw "we dig our graves with our teeth." Heart disease, stroke, many cancers, kidney disease, diabetes and other disorders emerge from the way we live. Particularly what we eat. Nature has genetically programmed humans with a potential 120 years of life, yet most succumb long before..

Age-Defying Exercise
I'm amazed by the number of people who blame genetics for developing disease and disability or for premature death. Natural health supplements can oppose the degradation of lean mass, improve response to exercise and support muscle function, growth and development.

Grease Your Gears!
Mobility is a gift we often take for granted. We walk, run, dance, eat and do 10 thousand actions both voluntary and involuntary.

Fidgety Facts on Restless Legs
Picture, if you will, settling into an easy chair after a long day to watch your favourite television program or read a few chapters in your book.

The Browning Effect
Imagine if you will the intricate network that makes up the human body. Think of the organs and tissues, the numerous hormones, neurotransmitters, peptides and amino acid.

Combating The Childhood Obesity Crisis
Kids and youth are eating worse and exercising less. Something has got to change. In his 29 years as a physical education teacher, David Lively has seen "big" changes in his students. Frightening ones.

Downsize Not Supersize
Living in a land of plenty comes with a price that we're only now discovering. With one out of three Canadians now overweight, Canada appears to have one of the worst obesity problems in the industrialized worl.

Longevity
Probably no one understands baby boomers as well as David Foo.

Aging, Longevity and Anti-Aging Medicine
How many times have you heard someone make a birthday toast with the wish, "Live long and prosper?" You've probably thought of this as nothing more than a good-humoured gesture.

Celebrate Life
"Life is a great adventure, or it is nothing."--Helen Keller "One of the wonderful things about being alive is that it is never too late.

Herbs for Longevity
We're all aging all the time. As we grow older, our metabolism--the body's chemical and physical changes from producing energy from food and oxygen in cells--becomes less efficient.

Successful Aging
Life expectancy has increased dramatically over the past century, from 47 years in 1900 to approaching 80 years today.

Anti-Aging: Immortality or Bunk?
The concept of anti-aging is cropping up all over the place. Popular books, high-profile doctors and purveyors of drugs and nutritional supplements all claim to have the inside track on anti-aging. But what does it really mean? To kick off this new column, let's take a look at what anti-aging is-and isn't..

How is Your Mental Muscle?
Certain conditions also greatly accelerate this aging, while hyperten.

Diet, Exercise And Supplements Help Keep Your Heart Young
In most industrialized countries, the incidence of cardiovascular disease goes up with age. Canada is no exeption-heart disease is the number-one cause of death in this country. However, this may have more to do with lifestyle factors such as diet, inactivity and stress than with aging.

Preventing Medication Mishaps in Seniors
People are living longer than ever before. For example, a Canadian born in 1960 can expect to live 20 years longer than one who was born in 1900.

Clear Vision, Sharp Hearing: Sense the Differences
Although memory loss heads the list of concerns among aging Canadians, vision and hearing loss are far more likely to afflict us as we get older. These common changes can impair your ability to drive, read and enjoy simple pleasures.

Movement
If we could bottle the benefits of physical exercise, we would have one of the most powerful anti-aging remedies known. Physical activity rejuvenates virtually every organ in your body, adding energy to your days and years to your life.

How to Slow Cellular Aging-Fast!
Did you know your body's cells host visitors from another time and place? The mitochondria, energy-producing factories in every one of your cells, are descendants of independent, free-living organisms. Mitochondria have unique DNA, separate and distinct from cellular DNA.

Exercise to Beat Joint Pain
If you suffer with joint pain don't wait until you feel better before you start exercising. Instead, start exercising to feel better! The longer you are inactive the harder it will be to start exercising and the worse your condition will become.

Foods for Longevity
Eating a nutritious diet high in raw organic produce, whole grains, and clean water can slow the aging process and fight degenerative disease. Here we show how to combine foods to create a diet that targets the body systems most susceptible to aging and disease-reproductive, circulatory, musculo-skeletal, and digestive.

Health Perspective
When I read newspaper headlines such as "Trans fat Could Stop Your Heart and "New Food Labels Indicate 'bad fat' Content, I know that at last, the tireless work by health food educators on the dangers of 'bad' fats has now become mainstream.

A Heavy Toll
Of all the resolutions made on January 1, 2000, none were more fervent than those to lose weight. In the millions, overweight men and women resolved not to drag their extra pounds into the new millennium.

Muscle Mass Mastery
If we're not careful, by retirement, we could lose one-third to one-half of our muscle tissue. This debilitating condition, called sarcopenia, is now considered one of the top biomarkers of aging: its specific physical traits are used to measure the progress of aging.

Spring Into Your Autumn Years
People with a positive attitude toward aging can adjust very well when individual circumstances change. Their positive outlook allows them to adapt to the inevitable physical and biochemical changes of the body that are associated with the natural processes of aging. With a healthy outlook on the golden years, even unpredictable setbacks and disabilities can be managed successfully.

The Blood Sugar Connection
Everyone knows that smoking is directly linked to numerous cancer.

Not Now, Grim Reaper ... Another Time, Perhaps
Woody Allen said, "I'm not afraid to die. I just don't want to be there when it happens.

Thanks to tremendous gains in life expectancy - at an all-time high average of 79.

Practice Mental Calisthenics
I asked my friend Dennis why he's so optimistic about life and physically active at age 79. He regularly walks, hikes, exercises, and swim.

Childhood Obesity
Until recently the battle of the bulge has been fought primarily by adults. Today, however, the largest growing segments among the obese are our children and adolescents.

Children and the Fat Wars
It's no longer uncommon to see an overweight child. Within the last 20 years, we have witnessed a doubling in the prevalence of childhood obesity. Now, approximately 30 percent of our kids are seriously overweight, and 15-percent are considered obese.

The Fountain of Youth
The fountain of youth is at our fingertips. Fruits and vegetables contain antioxidants, little free-radical scavengers that just may be our fountain of youth. Antioxidants exert many positive effects on the body.

Clear Vision, Sharp Hearing: Sense the Differences
Although memory loss heads the list of concerns among agingCanadians, vision and hearing loss are far more likely to afflict us as weget older.These common changes can impair your ability to drive, read and enjoy simplepleasures. Fortunately, you can do several things to preserve your eyesightand hearing..

Grumpy, Lumpy, Men Syndrome
Remember what it was like to be a teenager? That lean, muscular physique never seemed to gain an ounce of fat no matter how much you ate (or drank). Do you now find yourself patting your belly more then you pat your dog? If so, you could well be experiencing a loss of your male hormone - testosterone.

Get a Grip on Arthritis and Other Inflammatory Disorders
In her book, Get a Grip on Arthritis and Other Inflammatory Disorders, Lorna Vanderhaeghe clearly demonstrates her belief in empowering people with health knowledge so they can achieve optimal wellness.

Forever Young
All of us want to have longer and healthier lives, and while some of us are dealt a better hand than others in life's genetic lottery, there are many ways we can maximize the potential we are born with.

Bone Health
Our bones are alive and are constantly being renovated: old bone is dismantled, removed, and replaced with new bone. We continue to build bone mass until our early thirties and then our bodies simply work to retain existing bone.

Overweight Kids?
I recently attended the birthday party of a three-year-old. Cookies, cake, and ice cream were served. The birthday boy smiled with anticipation--he has learned that this food is worth getting excited about.

Lighten the Load
In order to assess a child's risk of being overweight for his or her age, researchers use a variation of the Bod.

Nag Me Not
In 2000 the Canadian Medical Association Journal reported that children are increasingly choosing to watch TV, surf the Internet, and play video games instead of staying active with sports and outdoor play. Today the average Canadian child sits in front of a screen three to five hours a day.

Integrative Medicine
Recently, I had the pleasure of speaking with Dr. Andrew Weil, a pioneer and world-renowned leader in the field of integrative medicine. After teaching and writing about natural and preventive medicine for over 35 years, Dr. Weil provides a unique approach to health care, which encompasses body, mind, and spirit.

Bone Health for Children
By the time you are in your early 20s, you have reached your peak in bone mass development. After this age you can expect a slow and steady decline to occur each year.

Hyaluronic Acid
Joint pain can be burning, stiffness, an ache or tenderness. However it manifests, we want it to go away!

The good news is that a new natural compound has recently come to light that successfully alleviates joint pain.

Does Obesity Really Affect How We Age?
As we age, we tend to notice a loss of muscle mass, strength, bone mass, and energy potential. Meanwhile, body fat increases, skin wrinkles, mood changes occur, and immunity declines. New scientific research is shedding light on why we age and how we may be able to slow the process.

Osteopenia
Osteopenia is not a disease. It is a condition marked by a decrease in optimum bone density that can be a precursor to osteoporosis, where bones become brittle and subject to fractures. Data from the Canadian Multicentre Osteoporosis Study show that osteopenia affects 46 percent of women and 39 percent of men aged 50 and over.

You Can Have Healthy Children
A young mother, in her mid-20s and grossly overweight, was pulling a four-wheeled cart behind her. In the cart was an obese six-year-old child. The young boy, sitting cross-legged, was eating a mound of pretzels and potato chips piled high in his lap.

Got Gout?

Arthritis Action

Age Gracefully in the Garden of Eden

Bone-Building Foods
If your idea of bone-building foods starts and ends with a glass of milk, it's time to go global and expand your culinary horizon. The narrow focus on dairy foods as the only source of bone-building nutrients is rapidly changing to encompass a broader perspective.

One Century and Counting
On August 14, alongside a room full of friends at the Azure nightclub in Vancouver, Doug McIntyre marked his centurion year with dancing, cake, and a heartfelt speech.

Environmental Weight Gain
According to the Canadian Institute for Health Information, the latest studies indicate that in the past 20 years overweight and obesity rates have more than doubled for adults and tripled for children. So why the sudden expansion (pun intended)?

The Copper Connection
Copper is at the core of normal body function. Without copper, we cannot form superoxide dismutase, the superpower of all antioxidants. Copper also helps our bodies create collagen, the protein that forms healthy joints and supple, young skin. And it has a role in helping our bodies store iron, a critical component of the formation of hemoglobin in red blood cells.

Prehistoric Horsetail and Modern Healing
Horsetail (Equisetum arvense) is a direct descendant of the giant fern-like plants that covered the Earth some 200 million years ago. Today a much smaller version of this prehistoric perennial, resembling asparagus, can be found growing in moist or sandy soil along shady steams and creeks in early spring.

Antiaging or Healthy Aging?
With the growing number of baby boomers entering their golden years, interest in antiaging is at an all-time high. Although we may not be able to stop the aging process, healthy aging can help minimize the effects of time by optimizing our health along the way.

Move It or Lose It
Aging is inevitable. It is possible, however, to curb many of the effects of aging with regular physical activity. We all want to maintain quality of life and good health as we age, and exercise is essential to maintaining good health. The less we move, the more susceptible we are to various conditions and diseases, and thus the vicious cycle of inactivity begins.

A Fine Balance
There are signs not a result of normal aging that indicate an elderly person may be experiencing problems with drugs or alcohol. Such signs can include loss of appetite, confusion, anxiety, falling, sleepiness, sadness, irritability, unexplained chronic pain, and bruises.

Silent, but Preventable
Osteoporosis, literally "thinning of bone, is a disease involving genetics, endocrine function, and exercise and nutritional habits that leads to bone fragility and risk of fracture, especially of the hip, spine, and wrist.

Supplementing the 50+
While entering the realm of seniorhood, our risk of many age-related health problems, such as macular degeneration, osteoarthritis, and mental deterioration increases. Here are several supplements that nutritional scientists are advising we include in our daily health programs to enhance the quality and quantity of our elder years.

Muscle Pain
Dr Leyton:I am 66 years old and when I wake up after eight hours of sleep I'm in violent pain all over my body. I'm also so stiff it's a great effort to put my socks on or my leg muscles will cramp.

No Pain, More Gain

Obesity Cuts Life Span

Tune In and Tone Up

Syndrome X: Reduce your risk with exercise

Small Victories; Healthy Kids

Yin and Yang of a Balanced Diet

Here's to health
Those who drink alcohol, coffee, tea, and colas or eat chocolate are robbing their muscles of precious water, which can lead to a decrease in muscle strength and reduce muscle hypertrophy (enlargement).

Start young for better health

Encouragement goes a long way

Forever strong

Add longer walks to your exercise routine

Mid-life mindsavers

Realistic relationships

Hysterical medicine

A School Food Revolution

Crohn's Disease: A Naturopathic Approach

Exercise and Youth

Gym Safety Tip for Senior Citizens

Healthy Aging

How Do You Get to Work?

Change is Good

Are Toxins Making you Fat?

Move Your Mood

Active Healing

Teenage Irony

Live Leaner, Live Longer?

Avoid the Surgeon's Knife
Lattes in hand, my friend Natalie and I were at an urban coffee bar catching up. A pretty woman in her thirties with two kids and a flashy but stressful job, Natalie confessed she felt saggy and tired and was longing to regain her youthful spark.

Osteopathic Medicine
Of all of the natural and holistic health care disciplines, osteopathic medicine is one of the fastest growing, providing a viable and noninvasive alternative to risky surgeries or expensive diagnostic procedures.

Healthy at 100
If you're reading this magazine, you're already on a path to better health. Sometimes, by reminding ourselves of where we've come from, we realize just how much progress we've made.

Eat, Drink, and Exercise
Weight Watchers, Atkins, South Beach, Zone, and Bernstein diets are in mainstream practice. Yet research is clear that as long as we are dedicated and compliant, any weight-loss diet will work. Unfortunately, 95 percent of all dieters regain lost weight.

Slow Down and Just Smell the Coffee
The majority of people today unwittingly exacerbate their stress response by consuming too many caffeinated beverages-especially coffee.

Fabulous Over 50
Earlier this year, the Toronto Star ran an article about the perfect baby boomer couple who lives such a well-balanced life, complete with daily urine dehydration checks, that you're awed - until you get to the end of the article and discover the kicker: the whole story's a joke.

Staying Strong
Healthy eating and regular exercising are both proven to be beneficial for bone health. We can also use supplements available at natural health stores to help keep our bones and joints strong and working well.

The Bone-Building Solution
Few writers have the power to influence their audience as readily as Sam Graci. His generous personality always shines through, motivating readers to better understand health and improve their personal lives.

As Young as You Feel?
Sometimes it's easy to forget I'm getting older. I look in the mirror and there I am, same as always. I mention something about my teenager and people say that they can't believe I'm old enough to be the mother of a 13-year-old.

Into the O-zone
It seems so simple really. Eat too much and move too little, and you'll get too fat. Move more and eat less, and you'll get thinner. If human beings were machines, we would all plug into this universal weight loss equation and live the rest of our lives in svelte bliss.

Building Buff Bones
Our 206 bones are dynamic living tissue. Within our bones, there is a balance between the cells that build up bone and those that tear it down. Both processes are essential for optimal bone health.

Building a Health Reserve
Hoping to be a healthy elder? Then stock your health bank as faithfully as your financial one. Healthy aging requires preparation. This month's Research Watch discusses what you need to know to build up your health reserves for a long and healthy life.

Elder Care in Canada
The lobby at the New Vista Care Home in Burnaby, British Columbia, is alive with chatter and laughter. A comfortable lounge area invites visitors to sit, but I wait my turn by checking out the sign that spells out the home's mission.

The Sandwich Generation
When Naz Deravian became a mom for the first time, she found herself embracing her new baby girl, Luna, and her new role, with utter joy. But the 36-year-old actor was also worried about her own mom, who at the time was undergoing treatment for breast cancer.

Eat Well-Age Well
Getting older isn't what it used to be. Seniors are staying active well into their golden years, people are retiring later, and 60 is the new 40. The latest generation of retirees is more active and health-conscious-and living the motto "a rolling stone gathers no moss.

Healthy Aging
Eat less, exercise more, get enough sleep, and avoid stress. Even after all this advice, our arsenal against aging isn't necessarily complete without longevity-boosting nutritional supplements.

Stand Up to Back Pain
Most back and neck pain is not the result of an isolated injury but of ongoing stress. Our spines and back muscles work together to hold us up, but we must care for them to avoid strains, sprains, and soreness. Here are five strategies for banishing back pain, safely and naturally.

Seniors on the Go
A couple of noon hours a week, George Martin can be found at a downtown Vancouver fitness class, balancing on top of a big, bright stability ball or doing multiple sets of bicep curls with heavy weights. At 78 Martin keeps up with the best of them.

Yogic Relief
If you suffer from lower back pain, the relief you've been looking for may be a little farther than the medicine cabinet, but as close as the local community centre. There you may find yoga teachers who are familiar with the therapeutic aspects of yoga for lower back pain.

High Fructose Corn Syrup
Would sugar by any other name taste as sweet - or make us as likely to gain weight? It's the sticky debate taking place in nutrition circles.

The Obesity Epidemic
Excessive body fat accumulates when we take in more calories than we expend. But the expanding North American waistline is caused by a complex relationship between environment and genes. This month Research Watch explores the causes of the obesity epidemic.

Long Live Healthy Aging
Read the news, though, and instead of a positive spin on longevity you might catch yet another tale about how the aging of the baby boomers is doing nothing but straining publicly funded services.