Muscle Loss

A horrifying loss of muscle mass in older people occurs in less than 2 weeks of bed rest!

“If you put healthy people in their 70’s in bed for 10 days, they can lose 10% of their total lean leg muscle mass. That’s a tremendous muscle loss” states Dr. Douglas Padden Jones of the University of Texas medical branch.

Younger people also lose surprising amounts of muscle after even short periods of physical activity. Dr. Jones has conducted several National Institutes of Health and NASA/National Space Biomedical Research Institute supported bed rest studies.

“What you get is periods of very rapid muscle loss followed by partial recovery which can turn a healthy 40 year old into a frail 70 year old”. Dr. Jones is urging the industry to make sarcopenia (the loss of muscle associated with aging) a priority for research and education.

Eating the proper amount of high quality protein is critical to avoiding muscle loss but Dr. Jones is “… not advocating blindly throwing more protein into people’s diets.” Most of us get the 45 to 60 grams of proteins we need each day but studies have now shown we can only process about 30 gm of protein and turn it into muscle at one time.

“There is little point in wolfing down 50 to 60 grams of protein at one meal” he pointed out. We need to eat LESS protein at dinner and MORE protein at breakfast and lunch.

Eating a very small quantity of protein earlier in the day is also not of much use according to Dr. Donald Layman, professor emeritus at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

“If you’re eating less than 11 gr or so at breakfast, you’re not having an effect on protein synthesis; it’s just calories. Grazing all day with small amounts of protein is not great” says Dr. Layman.

Dr. Jones ideal is “… to include more high-quality proteins at breakfast and lunch to maximize potential for muscle growth. We should consume moderate amounts, three times a day in close proximity to physical activity to get the synergistic effects of exercise and protein.”

And that is where WHEY TOO GOOD can be a muscle saver!

With 11 grams of very high quality protein per serving – all from natural food sources – you can get the protein you need fast and easy and it tastes great! Take WHEY TOO GOOD with milk in the morning and you have up to 20 grams of protein. Use WHEY TOO GOOD as part of a low calorie, low glycemic index lunch and you get your protein and love it too. As a snack after your workout it is especially effective as whey protein has a very positive correlation to muscle recovery, muscle building and muscle retention – no matter what your age!

Getting the protein you need, when you need it and benefiting from the nutrient packed low calorie WHEY TOO GOOD formula is just what your busy life and aching body need!

You don’t always notice significant amounts of muscle mass have been lost – even though much of it has probably been replaced with fat! However, muscle loss reduces mobility, increases the risk of falls and fractures and reduces your independence.

Let WHEY TOO GOOD work for you – your muscles will love you for it!

Excerpts from Dr Paddon Jones’ address to the Institute of Food Technologists’ Annual Meeting, June 2011, New Orleans, LA.