Muscles serve many significant functions. They are important for strength and how you look. Muscles also play significant roles in how your body moves, your balance and posture, your metabolism, and the structure of your face. It’s possible to keep your muscles in shape as you age. Abbott Nutrition has published a very interesting animated graphic which shows five things you should know about why it’s important to maintain your muscles as you get older which includes the following:
- You can start to loss about 8 percent of your muscles a year when you turn 40 years old but muscle loss can be reversed.
- It’s important to think about the health of muscles because they play significant roles in movement, balance, posture, and metabolism. They can also control how tired or energized you feel. And remember even your heart is a muscle which needs muscle mass to pump well.
- Hand grip firmness can serve as a better assessment of your ability to recover from a hospital stay than your blood pressure. And remember muscle mass and strength responds to exercise as you age. Resistance exercise is particularly helpful.
- Good nutrition is the key to overall health and living a long life. A balanced diet of vitamins, minerals and macro nutrients is important. It is recommended that older adults consume twice the daily recommended amount of protein. HMB is a muscle preserving ingredient that helps to maintain muscle health as you age or when you are sick. HMB works along with protein to help you protect and preserve your muscles.
- Remember it is vital to nourish your muscles to remain strong and healthy as you age and when you are sick. So always make certain you eat nourishing food.
Tiffany DeWitt, RD, who is a registered dietitian at Abbott, says if you invest in the health of your muscles now this will help you to be able to do the many things you love and live a healthier and more active life at any time in your life. It’s good news that even though muscle loss happens naturally as we get older, it’s nevertheless possible to reverse this muscle loss with good nutrition and exercise.
This advice from Abbott Nutrition to remember the health of your muscles as you age if you want to live a long and healthy life is certainly worth taking. Treating your muscles well with good nutrition and exercise can help you look and feel better throughout your life.
