Can Seniors Gain Muscle?

The good news is YES – seniors can add muscle mass just like younger folks!   Several studies have proven that even seniors who have never exercised can increase muscle mass.

A study published in August of 2019 compared rates of protein synthesis (the process by which muscle fiber size is increased) between Endurance-Trained Master Athletes to Untrained Seniors.   The results showed there was NO DIFFERENCE in the muscle building response to resistance training between the two groups!

This was a big surprise to researchers who expected the Master Athletes would have an increased ability to build muscle.    As per the lead researcher Dr. Leigh Breen:

“Our study clearly shows that it doesn’t matter if you haven’t been a regular exerciser throughout your life, you can still derive benefit from exercise whenever you start.”

The Benefits of Resistance Training for Older People

Sarcopenia, the loss of muscle with aging, is an inevitable part of growing older and without any intervention you can expect to lose about 15% of your muscle mass between the age of 30 and 80.

This loss of muscle mass is directly related to a person’s ability to maintain an independent lifestyle.     The fact is without adequate muscle mass and the strength it brings people gradually lose their ability to perform activities of daily living including sitting and standing without assistance, walking up and down stairs, and preventing falls when balance is challenged.

So, maintaining muscle mass while we age is VERY important.    Other benefits of resistance training in older folks include:

Improved Walking Ability – a study showed that after 12 weeks of resistance training seniors over age 65 were able to walk 38% further without resting!

Joint Pain Relief – resistance training increases the strength and resilience of muscle, tendons, and ligaments around joints which can take stress off the joints and help ease pain while increasing mobility.

Improved Blood Sugar Control – resistance training also helps to control blood sugar levels in people with Type 2 diabetes.

Improved Mental Health – resistance training also increases your production of key growth factors like Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF).    BDNF is often referred to as “miracle grow” for the brain because of its potent effects on increasing neuron growth.   This helps explain why resistance training helps prevent dementia!

Important Changes to Nutrition Recommendations

Between 2016 and 2019, The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) introduced new guidelines that changed the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) for several nutrients.

Important Changes for Vitamin D

Among the most important changes was an increase in the RDA for Vitamin D.   No single nutrient is more important and has more important and far reaching influence of many aspects of your physiological function. Without it, your body can’t absorb the calcium you need to keep bones and teeth strong. It also plays a role in immune function, supporting a healthy mood, modulating cell growth and much more.

In 2016, the Food and Nutrition Board increased the RDA of vitamin D for most adults from 400 IU (10 mcg) to 600 IU (15 mcg) per day, and 800 IU (20 mcg) for ages 70+.

Some doctors and nutritionists still recommend higher daily vitamin D intakes, especially for those at risk for having low levels.  The Vitamin D Council, an organization dedicated to raising awareness about vitamin D, recommends average adults supplement with 5,000 IU (125 mcg) of vitamin D daily. Talk with your doctor about your individual needs.

Vitamin D Measurements: Micrograms vs. International Units

In addition, vitamin D amounts must now be listed in micrograms (mcg) on supplement facts and nutrition labels instead of international units (IU). Given that IU was a widely-established and recognized form of measurement for vitamin D, during the transition period companies may include both mcg and IU on product labels for clarity.

If you want to convert vitamin D IU to mcg, simply divide the IU number by 40 to get the equivalent mcg, or to convert mcg to IU, simply multiply the mcg number by 40.

Example:

1,000 IU = 25 mcg, since 1,000 ÷ 40 = 25

20 mcg = 800 IU, since 20 × 40 = 800

Changes to Your Vitamin D Supplement

You may have noticed that the daily value percentage on your usual supplement was suddenly lower, which may have led you to believe the product changed.

Take a closer look at your product label to be sure, but most likely the amount of vitamin D in the product didn’t change at all. The same product simply fulfills a lower percentage of the RDA than it did prior to the change because the RDA is now higher.

Daily Value Changes for Other Nutrients

In addition to the increase in recommended daily amounts of vitamin D mentioned above, the DV for fiber was increased from 25 grams to 28 grams, and the nutrients below have changed for most adults due to updated nutrition science research.

Daily Value Increases

Vitamin C: increased from 60 mg to 90 mg

Vitamin K: increased from 80 mcg to 120 mcg

Magnesium: increased from 400 mg to 420 mg

Manganese: increased from 2 mg to 2.3 mg

Phosphorus: increased from 1,000 mg to 1,250 mg

Potassium: increased from 3,500 mg to 4,700 mg

Calcium: increased from 1,000 mg to 1,300 mg

Daily Value Decreases

Vitamin B-12: decreased from 6 mcg to 2.5 mcg

Vitamin B-6: decreased from 2 mg to 1.7 mg

Biotin: decreased from 300 mcg to 30 mg

Niacin: decreased from 20 mg to 16 mg

Chromium: decreased from 120 mcg to 35 mcg

Chloride: decreased from 3,400 mg to 2,300 mg

Copper: decreased from 2 mg to 0.9 mg

Molybdenum: decreased from 75 mcg to 45 mcg

Zinc: decreased from 15 mg to 11 mg

Thiamin: decreased from 1.5 mg to 1.2 mg

Riboflavin: decreased from 1.7 mg to 1.3 mg

Pantothenic acid: decreased from 10 mg to 5 mg

Newly-Established Daily Value for Choline

Previously, no daily value had been established for choline. Your body produces some choline, but you still require a substantial amount of dietary choline.. Choline is essential for many processes in the body, from cellular structure and messaging to metabolizing fat and promoting nervous system health. It also assists vitamin B12 and folate with functions related to DNA synthesis.  

Perhaps most importantly it is used to produce the neurotransmitter acetylcholine (ACH).   ACH decreases with age, and decreased ACH levels directly reduce cognitive function.   ACH supports alertness, attention, and learning.  ACH levels are critical for memory, and in Alzheimer's patients ACH levels are lowered.   

The newly-established daily value for choline is 500 mg per day. You can get it from choline supplements or foods including eggs (113 mg of choline per egg), beef liver (290 mg of choline per 2.4 ounces), chicken liver (222 mg of choline per 2.4 ounces), cod (249 mg per 85 grams), and more.

ACH levels are also lowered by many common over the counter anti-histamines taken for allergies and sleep such as Benadryl.  These drugs are directly linked to increased dementia risk for this reason.

Adequate dietary choline intake is particularly challenging for vegetarians and even more so vegans because the best dietary sources of choline are from animal products.   It is very difficult to get the 550 mg RDA of choline from purely plant sources.   For this reason it is worth aging Vegetarians or Vegans consider taking a highly bioavailable choline supplement like Alpha GPC.

Folic Acid Supplement Daily Value

Research shows that 70% more folate is absorbed from folic acid supplements than from foods that contain folate, so folic acid supplement labels will be updated to reflect this finding and better align with the dietary folate equivalent. A supplement providing 400 mcg of folic acid previously would have indicated it fulfills 100% of your DV requirements, however now that same 400 mcg supplement will be labeled as fulfilling 170% of your daily requirement.

Many people have a genetic variant in their MTHFR gene which prevents them from converting dietary folate into its active form.   This can cause big problems with many different physiological systems resulting in disorders ranging from severe depression, anxiety to increase homocysteine levels (a serous issue that greatly increases risk of cardiovascular disease) to bipolar disorder to colon cancer to chronic pain and fatigue.

Bottom line you want to get adequate levels of activated folic acid which is simple and safe by taking an activated folic acid supplement like methyltetrahydrofolate (5-MTHF).

To learn more about the MTHFR polymorphism go here:   https://www.healthline.com/health/mthfr-gene#variantsand to learn more  about testing for this and other gene variations and what you can do about them go here:  https://youtu.be/bVV2RFEiqN4

Can You Really Gain Weight From Eating Too Little?

It can seem like this is true when you are trying to do everything you can to lose weight and nothing seems to be happening.  But is this really the case?    The short answer is NO!

So what is going on when you are eating a lot less and still not losing weight?   You have probably heard the phrase “calories in, calories out” many times but doubt its truth.     In fact the balance of calories burned and taken in DOES determine bodyweight and there are no exceptions even though it can seem like this is not the case.

In every case when scientists tightly control or measure intake and output of calories – the balance between calories in and out DOES cause changes in bodyweight.   

Factors that affect calories burned

There are many factors that affect how many calories you burn daily, and the tricky part is that your body is designed specifically to adjust calorie output based on environmental conditions.  For example, prolonged low calorie intake WILL slow down your metabolic rate resulting in a significant drop in calorie burn.

By the same token if you are exposed to cold temperatures consistently your metabolic rate will increase in order to create heat necessary to keep your body functioning properly.

Another very important factor affecting your metabolic rate is your activity levels including exercise AND non-exercise movement or NEAT for short.  NEAT stands for non-exercise activity thermogenesis and refers to the fact that ALL movement requires caloric energy.   

When scientists have studied people and used sophisticated techniques to monitor movement, they have discovered that the levels of NEAT vary considerably between people, and NEAT can make all the difference in the world between being fat or lean.

Factors that affect calories consumed

Calorie consumption is also affected by many factors including appetite which is very complicated in humans and strongly affected by psychological factors including stress and upbringing which influence our perception of hunger.       Other factors include macronutrient percentages in the diet referring to the percentage of protein, fat, fiber, sugar and starch in the diet along with meal frequency and size.

Why does it seem like calories in and calories out does not work?

We are not very good at correctly judging how much we are eating and burning!      Well-controlled studies show that people (even trained professionals!) consistently underestimate calorie intake and over-estimate calorie burn by up to 50%.

What about hormones?

Hormones like insulin, glucagon, growth hormone, testosterone, and others influence metabolism, lean mass, and fat mass they do not invalidate the energy balance equation.   

So What Can You Do?

Measure your food intake – use whatever tools you like including scales, measuring spoons, pictures, food logs, portion estimating tools, etc.     The key is getting a handle on what you are consuming by tracking EVERYTHING you are consume for a full week – the results will probably surprise you!

Track you daily activity levels – including exercise and non-exercise movement for a week using a movement tracker or app on your phone.   While far from perfect this also gives you a window into what you are doing which most of us are completely unaware of consciously. 

Choose whole, unprocessed foods – like eggs, meat, fish, vegetables and fruit.    That is where all the micro-nutrients (Vitamins, minerals, and beneficial plant chemicals!) you need come from, and if you follow through on this you may find yourself losing weight without so much effort.

Adjust your proportion of protein, carbs, and fat – some people respond better to more carbs and fewer fats while others may respond better to less carb and more fat and protein.     There is no single diet that is best for everyone!

Get a Professional Coach – making consistent changes in your eating and activity habits can be very challenging – especially when you try to do it all by yourself.      Seek out a qualified and compassionate coach who can help you navigate these tricky waters.

How Exercise Can Help Prevent and Treat Depression

Everybody knows exercise is good for you in many ways, but for many of us the most important benefit is psychological.   Simply put exercise makes us feel better.    But how?

Molecular Mechanisms involved Exercise and Depression

A key player in the anti-depression effects of exercise is biochemical called kynurenine which is created from the amino acid tryptophan.      Kynurenine can be turned into kynurenic acid which is a neuroprotective agent OR quinolinic acid which is a neurotoxin and associated with depression.

Exercising muscles take up kynurenine which prevents it conversion to quinolinic acid and thereby help prevent depression.

Another biochemical involved in the anti-depressant effects of exercise is called brain derived neurotrophic factor or BDNF for shot.     BDNF is key to neuroplasticity which is the ability of the brain to restructure itself.     Neuroplasticity is limited in depression and other mental disorders.      Exercise increased BDNF and helps the brain remodel and adapt to stress which is key to preventing and treating depression while improving cognition.

Exercise also boosts endocannabinoids which reduce anxiety and the perception of pain.     The now infamous CBD from hemp and marijuana is one of many cannabinoids, and scientists have identified an entire cannabinoid system in humans.

At the same time exercise boosts endogenous opiates – yes your body makes its own versions of opiates to help control pain.    One class of the opiates produced by the body are the well-known beta endorphins.

Another key anti-depressant mechanism in exercise is that vigorous exercise increases the levels of norepinepherine and dopamine and helps the brain balance its stress response.     Both of these neurotransmitters have potent ability to prevent and reverse depression. 

These multiple biochemical pathways likely work synergistically to produce the amazing anti-depressant effects of exercise.

It is critical to remember that exercise is not a substitute for clinical treatment of depression.     While effective exercise is not 100% effective and depression is often a prelude to suicide.    Always seek a licensed health care professional for long-standing depression that does not relent.

Stand-Up Paddle Boarding for Core Strength, Balance and Total Body Fitness!

Stand-up Paddle Boarding (SUP) is a fun activity that almost anyone can learn, and it is one of the best workouts available!   Stand-up Paddle Boarding is low impact and provides a combination of balance, core, strength, and endurance.     Since you are standing you have to use everything from your feet (wow do you use your feet!) all the way up through your entire shoulder girdle.    Because you are standing your arms never have to go above shoulder height which means that there is much less stress on the rotator cuff muscles than kayaking.    You use your shoulders heavily but your shoulders are stressed in the position where they are naturally most stable and strong so much better than kayaking for those with shoulder and neck issues!

Just standing on a Paddle Board forces you to stabilize your entire body and core, and it is one of the best activities available to develop balance.   Best of all if you do fall you land in the water and getting back on the board is very easy!  

SUP Technique Breakdown

Learning to SUP is easy but mastering the stroke and maximizing your speed takes lot of practice.    The first thing to focus on is NOT pulling the water!     Instead you want to plant the blade in the water and pull yourself and the board up to the paddle blade.   Imagine that you are stabbing the paddle firmly into soft sand then pulling yourself and the board up to the paddle.     If you can clearly visualize the difference here it will go a long way to getting your stroke where it needs to be for optimum speed.   Think about grabbing the water NOT pulling the water by you!

Reach

Once you get a little feel for it start looking at how far you are reaching forward to put your paddle in the water.   You want to reach as far as possible each time you stroke, BUT there is a limit based on your particular anatomy, shoulder strength and balance.    If you reach too far you can overstress your low back, shoulder or just be off balance which is counter-productive.

Catch

This is where the blade of the paddle enters the water.    Make sure the entire blade enters the water before you begin to pull.   The catch should be as smooth and clean as possible with no splashing.

Pull

Now you are ready to apply power to the paddle.   Use your entire body for this part of the stroke.   It is NOT about using your arms.   Rather your arms merely connect you to the paddle through your hands and you use the rotation of your torso, hips, and shoulders to drive your paddle!  Try to relax your arms as much as possible to perfect this technique. Do not pull too far back as this will actually slow you down.   Once the paddle passes your hips if you keep pull you are actually pulling the paddle up meaning you are pulling the paddle board down and this only slows you down.

Release

After the pull you need to release the paddle from the water.    Like the catch you want this movement to be quick, smooth, and with zero splashing.   Feathering the blade of the paddle creates a smooth release and set-up for the next catch.   You feather by dropping your top shoulder, “breaking your wrist inward”, or a combination of both.  

Recovery

Once you release the paddle you are ready to set-up for the next catch and pull.   Try to relax during this phase – the key to optimum paddle technique is learning to set a rhythm between tension and relaxation and ultimately getting your breathing into a rhythm with the stroke.  The first time you feel this come together it is amazing – really zen!  So stay relaxed and let go of the tension you produced in the catch and pull and smoothly swing the paddle forward to prepare to drive the blade fully into the water for the next pull!

How many calories can you burn Paddle Boarding?

Obviously your actual calorie burn will depend on the intensity of effort you are putting into to paddling along with your height, weight, and the wind and water conditions you are paddling in.     However here are some estimates based on people weighing between 165 and 200lbs :

            Casual Paddle Boarding – 300 – 430 calories per hour

Yoga on Paddle Board – 416 – 540 calories per hour

Touring on a Paddle Board – 615 – 708 calories per hour

Surfing on a Paddle Board – 623 – 735 calories per hour

Racing a Paddle Board – 715 – 1,125 calories per hour

So if you have not taken the plunge yet – google “Stand-up Paddle Board Rental” and find a rental location and give it a whirl.   Rentals including paddle, board, and lifejacket are generally $25 - $35 per hour so get out there and give it a go!   

Is the Barbell Back Squat Necessary for Athletes?

For most strength and conditioning experts, the answer is yes, but there is another point of view worth understanding.  The purpose of all strength training for athletes is to improve athletic performance and building lower body and core strength is key for almost all athletes.      Conventional practice is that the barbell back squat is THE way to develop lower body strength.

However, if you think about it a second athletes do very little with both feet evenly spaced out beneath them.  All running is about landing and pushing off on one leg and most jumping happens off one foot not both feet.  One of the few exceptions is the sport of rowing where you always push off with both feet evenly spaced.

According to Mike Boyle, one of the best sport conditioning experts in the world, the back squat is an exercise that does not translate well to sport, carries a high risk of injury (particularly for the low back), and is hard for many athletes to perform properly based on the length of their torsos, lower leg, and upper leg.

So, what does he recommend?    Split squats with rear foot elevated aka Bulgarian split squats.  Boyle feels they translate better to athletic performance and are also much safer than back squats.       He points out that muscular failure occurs because of lower body muscle fatigue instead of low back strength being the limiting factor like the back squat.

Critics of Boyle maintain that the loads utilized in split squats are too low for athletes to gain the strength they need, but is that true?   Boyle’s answer is that you can lift MORE weight with split squats, and he has the evidence to prove it.   If you work at Split Squats and increase load over time as you become stronger you will find that if you add the loads you are capable of using on each side together the combination is usually significantly higher than what you can barbell back squat!

In addition, when you train one side of the body the other side is also stimulated. Indirect stimulation of the non-working side of the body via working the opposite side improves strength in the injured area. This is called cross-education of muscles and is a neural event. The brain pathways that are used for the primary unilateral exercise stimulate the same muscles on the opposite side of the body.

Split squats have several other key advantages:

They require higher levels of core stabilization because of the unbalanced loading

They require better balance.   

   

They allow a greater range of motion at the hip with higher levels of hip flexion and extension.

They provide a great emphasis on the eccentric strength both in hip extensors AND hip flexors.

Some Keys to Preventing Migraine Headaches

Riboflavin deficiency linked to migraine

A 2017 study looked at riboflavin's influence on migraine and Parkinson’s Disease, highlighting its neuroprotective potential.  According to the study, "riboflavin ameliorates oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, neuroinflammation and glutamate excitotoxicity; all of which take part in the pathogenesis of Parkinson’s Disease, migraine headache and other neurological disorders."

Riboflavin may help by ameliorating many of these hallmarks of migraine, including oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, neuroinflammation, homocysteine neurotoxicity and glutamate excitotoxicity.

Are you getting enough riboflavin?

In conclusion, the authors of the study stated that:

"Riboflavin has demonstrated its ability to tackle significant pathogenesis-related mechanisms in neurological disorders, exemplified by the ones attributed to the pathogenesis of … migraine … In addition, riboflavin is required for pyridoxine activation.

Riboflavin and PLP, the active form of pyridoxine, play essential roles in homocysteine metabolism, and tryptophan-kynurenine pathway. Indeed, any accumulation of homocysteine or kynurenines due to vitamin insufficiency can lead to significant neurological consequences.

Taking into consideration the limited riboflavin absorption and utilization in 10–15% of global population, long term riboflavin insufficiency could participate in the development of multiple neurological disorders, emphasizing the importance of long-term riboflavin-sufficient diet especially in vulnerable populations."

Since Riboflavin is a water-soluble B vitamin which is not stored - you need to get a consistent supply from your diet and/or supplements. Foods rich in riboflavin include:

Spinach	Beet Greens
Tempeh	Portabella mushrooms
Pastured Eggs	Aparagus
Almonds	Organic turkey
Grass fed beef liver	Grass fed beef tenderloin

Identifying riboflavin deficiency, and dosing suggestions

Overt Riboflavin Deficiency is rare in the U.S., but older adults, women on birth control pills, alcoholics, pregnant and lactating women, vegans and those with liver disorders are at increased risk for deficiency.  Common signs and symptoms of deficiency include:

Fatigue	Swollen throat	Blurred vision
Depression	Itchy or cracking skin	Dermatitis around the mouth
Liver degeneration	Hair loss	Reproductive problems

The recommended daily intake is 1.3 milligrams for adult men, 1.1 mg for adult women, 1.3 mg for male adolescents (14 to 18 years of age) and 1.0 mg for female adolescents.

If you struggle with migraines, however, you may need far higher doses.  A study found that 400 mg of riboflavin per day reduced migraine frequency by 50%, from four days a month to two days a month, after three months of use.    

Other vitamin deficiencies implicated in migraines

Other nutrients deficiencies that have been implicated in migraines include:

• Vitamins B6, B12 and Folic acid — A 2009 study evaluated the effect of folic acid,  vitamin B6 and vitamin B12 in 52 patients diagnosed with migraine with aura. Compared to the placebo group, those receiving these supplements experienced a 50% reduction in the prevalence of migraine disability (from 60% to 30%) over a six-month period.

• Magnesium — Magnesium also plays an important role in the prevention and treatment of migraines, and migraine sufferers are more likely to suffer from magnesium deficiency.

Since magnesium administration is both easy and safe, researchers have noted that empiric treatment with a magnesium supplement is justified for all migraine sufferers.  As a prophylactic, be prepared to boost your magnesium intake for at least three months to experience results, ideally in combination with CoQ10.

In many cases, receiving a high dose of magnesium can also abort an attack in progress. Magnesium Threonate may be your best option to prevent and treat migraines. It has superior absorbability compared to other forms of magnesium, and it crosses the blood-brain barrier makes it more likely to have a beneficial effect on your brain.

• Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) —A 2016 migraine study involved 7,420 children, teens and young adults, found 51% had low levels of CoQ10, 31% had low vitamin D status and 16% had low levels of riboflavin.

Those suffering from chronic migraines were overall more likely to have CoQ10 and riboflavin deficiency compared to those with episodic migraines. Another 2015 study found supplementation with a proprietary combination of magnesium, riboflavin and CoQ10 for three months lowered migraine frequency from 6.2 days at baseline to 4.4 days at three months. Pain intensity was also significantly reduced. Foods rich in CoQ10 include grass fed beef, herring, organic pastured chicken, sesame seeds, broccoli and cauliflower.

Preventing Migraines

Like most issues, prevention is the best form of treatment for migraines, because treating migraines after they start is notoriously ineffective!   To learn how to develop a comprehensive and proven natural strategy to prevent migraines watch this great interview video where Dr. Mercola interviews one of the leading clinicians for migraines Suzy Cohen aka “America’s Pharmacist”:  https://youtu.be/Z5l5mSQr_L0