What Is The Solution To Longevity? Muscle.
Longevity is not just about living longer, it is about living a good quality of life until the day you die. You need to be able to go about your daily activities and be mobile as you enter the later stages of your life, ideally in as little pain as possible.
Muscle holds the key to your longevity.
Muscle is needed for so much more than movement and exercise, it is a metabolic tissue that is shown to decrease the risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disease and Alzheimer's disease.
This is because muscle is known to be an endocrine organ. The endocrine system includes glands that produce hormones including your sex, thyroid, appetite, blood sugar and stress hormones. These hormones are chemical messengers that coordinate how your cells communicate with each other and allow your body to do its jobs to keep you healthy.
They play a role in every body process, including your immune system, digestive health, reproductive health, stress response, cardiovascular health, mental health and so on.
Muscle tissue produces chemicals known as myokines that have a role throughout your body, not just locally. Myokines are powerful anti-inflammatory molecules that are released as the muscle is contracting, so the more muscle you have and the more you use it, the more you will benefit from the protective myokines.
Muscle is the largest site of glucose disposal as it takes up glucose for replenishment and storage. This helps stabilise blood sugar and insulin response when eating a balanced diet of protein and quality carbs - check out my Foundations of Nutrition 90 minute MINI COURSE and learn how to create a balanced diet.
Skeletal muscle is very metabolically active, which means it can burn fat in a rested state. Achieving long term, healthy fat loss relies on building muscle rather than restrictive diets and doing 2 hours of cardio everyday. This is a key reason why sustainable and healthy fat loss is an endocrine issue, rather than just a calories in and out approach.
As muscle helps to burn fat in a rested state it can also support your cholesterol, fatty acid and cardiovascular health, assuming you’re eating a nutritious diet of protein, quality carbs and healthy fats.
From your late twenty’s onwards, your body requires different tools to support muscle synthesis. In your early twenty’s, testosterone, insulin, growth hormones and other hormones play a role in building muscle, so you don’t have to rely on a high protein diet as much.
Whilst we can still experience the benefits of these hormones, as we enter our 30’s, 40’s and onwards, our bodies have a harder time utilising protein. This is known as anabolic resistance, and more amino acids (the building blocks of protein) are needed to stimulate muscle tissue growth and function. This means you probably need to eat more chicken in your thirty’s than you did in your early twenty’s, for your body to receive the same protein benefits.
When we start to prioritise building muscle, the effects of ageing are far more manageable. Muscle is stimulated in two ways:
Exercise
Dietary protein
Protein offers the building blocks (amino acids) for every single cell in your body. Dietary protein is key to getting all of the amino acids to build your muscle tissue each and every day.
Whilst you can get your protein from both plant and animal sources, the amino acid profile and quality in these foods are completely different.
For example, 1 small chicken breast equates to 4.5 cups of quinoa to match the amino acid content. This amount of quinoa comes with excess carbs and calories, as well as macro balance issues which is not sustainable, especially when you can eat a smaller amount for the same protein intake plus additional vitamins, minerals and fatty acids that quinoa and other plant foods just can’t offer.
Another consideration is the DIAAS which stands for Digestible Indispensable Amino Acid Score which measures the amino acid content of the food and how easily the body can utilise these amino acids once consumed. Anything above 100 is high quality protein, 75-100 is good quality protein and anything below 75 is low quality protein. From this chart alone you can see whole milk, eggs, beef and chicken all have a DIAAS of over 100 whilst rice and almonds come in really low at below 60. Whilst soy and chickpeas come in as a good quality amino acid score between 75-100, this chart does not acknowledge the hormone disruptive phytoestrogens and goitrogens, and the phytates, lectins and oxalates that inhibit nutrient absorption and are abundant in these plant foods.
Not only does animal protein offer high quality protein in terms of available amino acids, it is also abundant in bioavailable nutrients such as retinol, B12, folate and a host of minerals such as zinc, copper, iron, selenium and much much more.
For this reason I advise prioritising animal protein at each meal and snack, and use plant proteins alongside animal sources if you wish.
I recommend eating 1 gram of protein per pound of ideal body weight. If your ideal body weight is 65 kgs/145 pounds, then eating 145 grams of protein each day is important to build and maintain muscle mass for long-term health.
What to do:
Calculate your optimal protein intake using the formula above and divide this equally between each meal and snack (no lower than 30 grams at main meals and 10 grams at snacks).
Track your current protein intake using Chronometer or my fitnesspal and see how close/far away you are from your optimal protein intake.
If you are very far away from your optimal protein goal, set a realistic target in between, so if you currently eat 30 grams of protein each day, aim for 20 grams at each main meal so to help you achieve over 60 grams a day, and then build on each meal.
Plan what protein, and how much, you are going to eat at each meal so you can work towards your optimal protein intake.
Here’s an example of how I achieve my optimal protein intake of 130 grams or above each day:
Breakfast - 37 grams of protein
3 eggs cooked (18 grams) with a bowl of fruit followed by a glass of milk (8 grams) and 1 heaped tbsp collagen powder (11g)
Lunch - 30 grams of protein
1 tin tuna (24 grams) with 30 grams feta cheese (6 grams) served with a wrap, beetroot and rocket leaves.
Afternoon snack - 34 grams of protein
1 cup greek yogurt (22 grams) and 1 tbsp why protein powder (12 grams) with fruit.
Dinner - 38 grams of protein
Medium chicken breast (38 grams) usually with cooked vegetables, potatoes or rice.
Having 3 eggs for breakfast might seem unachievable right now, and that’s absolutely fine. The aim is to start increasing your protein intake gradually, and overtime, with consistency, you will see your appetite increase and a higher need for satiation.
I am quite repetitive with my meals, and what I don’t have for breakfast I will have as a snack later in the day. This allows me to achieve my protein intake consistently on a busy schedule. I don’t always feel like eggs for breakfast, but I know this breakfast takes no thought and little effort to put together, it makes me feel good for the day and it is supporting my health goals.
I like to use protein powders, collagen powder, cheese, yogurt and milk to boost the protein content of my meals and snacks, and I encourage you to explore these options as a solution to longevity.
Finally, movement is also important for building muscle, especially strength and resistance training. This is because strength and resistance training encourages muscle growth, especially alongside a diet that is hitting optimal protein intake daily.
Whilst it is important to create an exercise routine that you enjoy, strength training needs to be the foundation of your exercise regime for optimal hormone health and longevity.
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