When it comes to aging, I have some good news and I have some bad news.  Let’s start with the bad news first, so that we can end on a more positive note.   As we age our bodies slow down.  Muscle loss is a natural part of aging.  It can begin as early as age 30 for some, and by age 35 for the rest of us.  As we lose muscle, our metabolism slows down.  But the amount we eat, typically, doesn’t change and we gain weight. Losing muscle and gaining weight is not the road to aging well.  Actually, that is the road to frailty and illness at the end of our lives.  Personally, I would prefer to age well and be healthy right up until the day I die.  You should too.  To age well we need to reverse the muscle loss and weight gain trend.  Now, the good news.

The good news is that you can end that trend of losing muscle and gaining weight.  The key is to speed up our metabolism.  When we increase our resting metabolic rate, our bodies burn more calories all day long.  To increase the metabolic rate we need to increase our lean muscle mass.  Muscle burns calories even while resting.  Fat does not.  Strength training every other day can increase our resting metabolic rate by about 20%, and we will then naturally burn 20% more calories even while at rest.  So, more muscle means a faster metabolism, and a faster metabolism means less fat.  When doing strength training to build muscle, you’ll need to consume lots of the high quality protein that your muscles will need in order to grow.  Increasing muscle mass has other benefits as well.  Benefits like improved cell function, reduced inflammation, better cognition and slower bone loss.  

There are other things that you can do that will help you age well.  Like: stay active throughout your day, take the right whole food vitamin supplements, avoid sugar, go easy on alcohol, drink plenty of water and get 8 hours or more of sleep every night.

 

That’s it for today’s adventure in learning.  Next time I want to share about the benefits of good protein beyond building muscle.  It’s amazing how important it is for our bodies and for our health.  See you then.