Maybe you’ve visited your MD recently for your annual physical. She points out to you that the “couch potato” lifestyle you adhere to is not the best medicine for aging well. So she suggests that maybe you should consider doing some exercise.

Or maybe you’re reaching middle age and realize you’re not in the best of shape. Climbing those stairs are definitely not as easy as they were 10 years ago. You know you have to do something to improve your health.

So, you consider putting on the trainers and going for a jog around the neighborhood. 

After all, isn’t that what you do to get fit? Aerobic training is the way to go, right?

But how much aerobic training should you do? Is a 20 – 30 minute walk five days a week sufficient or should you do some higher intensity training like cycling?

Screeching Halt!!

Let’s back up. Let me ask you this question. If you’re getting to middle age, is aerobic training even the best exercise for you? 

Notice I didn’t say aerobic training wasn’t good for you. I said, if you’re approaching middle age (or beyond), is aerobic training the best choice for you?

Let’s say you’re in your late 40s, 50s, or even 60s, and you’re now determined to start an exercise program to maintain better health.

Exactly what kind of exercise should you do? What exercise modality will give you the best bang for your buck?

In other words, should you concentrate on aerobic training (AT), like putting on the trainers and jogging around the block? Or should you concentrate on resistance training (RT), stressing your muscles with machines or weights? Or should you spend time equally on both?

I’m not raising this question as a hypothetical. As an older adult, the exercise modality you chose to concentrate on may matter when it comes to optimizing your health benefits.

In this post, I’ll explore why I believe resistance training may be a better exercise protocol to emphasize if you’re an older adult.

Over seven years ago, I started to concentrate on resistance training (RT). While I still do a brisk walk almost everyday, RT is what I prioritize. Since I started RT, I’m stronger, healthier, and more agile than I’ve been in 30 years. If you’re interested in my current strength totals see here.

Let’s take a look at why RT may be the important exercise protocol for the older individual.

Before we do that, though, let’s first look at how much exercise the experts tell us we must engage in to obtain optimal health benefits. 

How much exercise do we need?

To maintain optimal health the Mayo Clinic advises that average healthy adults get at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity or 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity weekly, or a combination of moderate and vigorous activity. They also recommend strength training at least two times a week, exercising all major muscle groups.

Okay, that’s the recommendation for the average adult. But what about older adults? 

To help older people reduce the risk of chronic diseases associated with aging (cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and cancer), the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recommends the same aerobic training (AT) guidelines as the Mayo Clinic. 

They also recommend that older persons perform RT at least 2 days a week. This includes progressive weight training or weight bearing calisthenics (8-10 exercises involving the major muscle groups of 8-12 repetitions each).

Notice that there is no either or with these guidelines. The Mayo Clinic and the ACSM both recommend doing AT and RT on a regular basis.

So, if you’re an older adult, you should be getting at least 30 minutes a day of AT and at least 2 days of significant RT.

Now, most health professionals seem to stress AT as the best exercise modality for preventing the chronic diseases of aging. 

But what if you as an older individual are for some reason unable to engage in 30 minutes of AT training every day?

For example, let’s say you’re 65 years old with arthritic knees. A 30 minute brisk walk every day might be too much for you. 

Or maybe you’re 60 years old and live in North Dakota. Walking around the neighborhood in the middle of the winter might not be such a good idea.

Also, if you’re 55 years old, overweight, have type 2 diabetes, and haven’t exercised in years, a 30 minute daily stint on a treadmill might do you more harm than good. 

Or what if you just hate AT because it bores you to death and you refuse to do it!

Does that mean that you as an older individual are consigned to a future of rapidly deteriorating health because you don’t engage in AT?

Not necessarily. I’ll answer that question shortly. Remember, we still have RT recommended by health professionals as a prescription for good health.

First, though, I want to introduce an important factor older individuals must consider when choosing exercise modalities.

Older people: don’t forget your muscles!

If you’re in your 50s or 60s, your muscular physiology is probably very different than it was when you were in your 20s or 30s. That’s obvious right!

However, here’s an important fact of aging.

After about the age of 35, everyone begins to lose muscle mass. This is called age-related sarcopenia. It’s one of the consequences of human aging that we can’t avoid. Like wrinkled skin and gray hair. I didn’t have to remind you of that, did I? Sorry.

However, and this is important, the loss of muscle due to aging is even more acute in someone who has been sedentary for years. That person can lose up to 5% of muscle mass per decade. Most men in fact will lose about 30% of muscle in their lifetime.

If you think that’s no big deal, consider why older people use walkers, higher toilets and prefer ranch homes. 

The loss of muscle happens slowly and imperceptibly at first. But the day will come when you notice that your arms and legs are not as strong as they once were. They may not look like they’ve gotten weaker. That’s because our insatiable desire for donuts has caused some muscle to be replaced with fat.

But you know what? Your muscle mass is deteriorating, and unless you do something about it, your arms and legs are going to get a lot weaker. 

Okay, that’s the bad news. Now the good news. We can slow down the process of muscle deterioration and even increase muscle mass and strength into old age. 

Dr. Thomas W. Storer, director of the exercise physiology and physical function lab at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women’s Hospital, tells us,

Older men can indeed increase muscle mass lost as a consequence of aging. It takes work, dedication, and a plan, but it is never too late to rebuild muscle and maintain it.

As we’ll see later, Storer’s “plan” is the implementation of a good RT program.

Of course, Storer’s insight applies to women as well.

Now, here’s something to carefully consider. The loss of muscle mass will make you weaker. And it will also make you less healthy.

 The lack of muscle mass and chronic disease

It appears that muscle loss is a recipe for a poor aging process. If you lose muscle you’ll get weaker, and if you’re weaker you’ll be more prone to falls. If you suffer a fall in old age, all kinds of bad things can happen. Some of us with older parents know that well.However, many of the diseases of aging are made even worse because people have lost too much muscle mass. Researchers now know that the loss of muscle mass can exacerbate insulin resistance. Insulin resistance is highly associated with type 2 diabetes. And type 2 diabetes is associated with several other metabolic diseases like cardiovascular disease and cancer.

We don’t know all the exact association between muscle loss and poor healing in the aged. But we know for sure that people with poor muscle quality don’t age as well as those who have better muscle mass.

So, we see here that RT is something older people must do. There’s no way around it. Without engaging in some kind of RT, a poor aging process is guaranteed. 

A major limitation of AT for the older adult   

As I said previously, health professionals usually prioritize AT as a prescription for warding off chronic diseases. If they can get their patients off the couch and moving around, it’s a major victory for them.

However, AT will do little to improve muscle quality and mass. Jogging around the block may strengthen your quads a little, but it will not build the muscle your body needs for a good health outcome.

I’m not saying this disqualifies AT as an important exercise strategy for the aging adult. But AT alone is not sufficient exercise for the aging adult.

However, what if we were to prioritize RT over AT as our exercise modality of choice? Would we seriously hurt our chances of aging well?

In other words, if RT gave us little benefit in our ability to fight off type 2 diabetes (T2D), cardiovascular disease, and cancer, would it really be an optimal exercise program? Probably not.

But what if RT helps us to significantly reduce our risk of developing the chronic diseases of aging while at the same time improves our muscle mass? 

Then, if you’re an older person, it may be worth considering prioritizing RT over AT as an exercise modality.

Let’s take a look at what science actually says about how well RT does at improving our ability to fight the chronic diseases of aging.

Resistance training and increased mobility

Check out some of these statistics on falls among our aging population:

• One in four Americans aged 65+ falls each year.
• Every 11 seconds, an older adult is treated in the emergency room for a fall; every 19 minutes, an older adult dies from a fall.
• Falls are the leading cause of fatal injury and the most common cause of nonfatal trauma-related hospital admissions among older adults.

There is little doubt that as we age the loss of mobility and strength are important factors contributing to falls.

Fortunately, there is now significant evidence (see here, here and here) that acombination of AT and RT have a profound effect in reducing age-related declines in physical mobility.

However, and here is the important question, is there an improvement in physical function in older individuals when RT alone is employed?

In fact, there is!

This umbrella review that included 6,927 pre-frail and frail older individuals showed that “resistance training alone also appeared to be beneficial, in particular for improving muscular strength, gait speed and physical performance.”

Another review of 33 randomized controlled trials of 2172 participants found that “PRT (progressive resistance training) is an effective intervention for improving physical functioning in older people, including improving strength and the performance of some simple and complex activities.”

After evaluating the data from 18 RCTs involving 2,580 participants, researchers found that in community-dwelling, mobility-impaired older adults, physical performance was better when strength training was incorporated into the exercise therapy program.

At this time, researchers are not sure which exercise modality, AT or RT, is the best for improving physical performance in the older person. However, there is little doubt that RT significantly improves performance and probably as much as AT.

How does RT improve physical function?

While RT will increase neurological function and bone density, the primary way RT increases physical function is through the increase of muscle mass. 

As I mentioned before, a loss of muscle mass is associated with poor physical performance. RT is a potent stimulant for increasing muscular hypertrophy and mass. See here and here. Increased muscle mass means increased strength, and if you are stronger, then your physical performance will also increase.

Remember that AT alone cannot produce the same increase in skeletal muscle mass and strength as RT.

Okay, so far we have learned that AT and RT combined will probably give us the best opportunity for increasing physical performance. But RT alone is also a potent prescription for guarding against age-related declines in physical functioning.

How much RT is necessary to ward off frailty?

This meta-analysis found that high-intensity RT (?70% of 1RM) tended to be more effective than low-to-moderate intensity RT (30–69% of 1RM) in combating loss of mobility.

In order to reach these kinds of 1RMs, it would appear that heavy-weight might have to be used. However this study found that body-weight exercises (e.g. body weight squats) alone could achieve similar results as those achieved by an external load such as free weights.

I should note here that all of the above studies are extremely difficult to perform. Different parameters such as exercise modalities, frequency of exercise, and measuring methods can differ from study to study.

However, I think it’s safe to say that RT alone is extremely effective in improving physical performance in older individuals. 

Does resistance training help in the fight against type 2 diabetes?

As we age, our body’s sensitivity to insulin and subsequent glycemic control decreases. Again, it’s another one of those consequences of making it to your golden years.

Unfortunately, this predisposes older people to type 2 diabetes (T2D). In fact, about 26.8% of Americans over the age of 65 have T2D.

Now, there’s an important connection between muscle mass and T2D. After you eat,about 80% of the glucose from that meal is deposited into your skeletal muscle. If you don’t have a lot of skeletal muscle, then your body’s ability to effectively clear the glucose will be diminished.

Conversely, the more muscle you have, the better insulin sensitivity you’ll experience. The lack of insulin sensitivity (insulin resistance) is highly associated with T2D.  

Scientific data has also shown that there’s an inverse relationship between lean body mass and insulin resistance. In older people, scientists have shown that this relationship is independent of obesity but does seem to be made worse by it.

Also, as most individuals grow older, their muscles weaken, and they move less. This small study showed that in elderly, obese, pre-diabetic individuals, after two weeks of inactivity (e.g. hospitalization or recovering from and illness), experienced worsening of glycemic control that did not correct after two weeks of normal activity.  

Interestingly, in 2002, a Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) study of individuals who were at a high risk for T2D, showed greater reduction (58 vs. 31%) in the incidence of T2D when diet and exercise were prescribed as opposed to therapy with the drug metformin. Metformin is one of the frontline pharmaceutical treatments for T2D. 

Unfortunately, the main exercise protocol the DPP focused on was AT. There was little consideration of the beneficial effects of RT on glycemic control.

However, we do have some excellent data on the benefits of RT on glucose metabolism.

The benefits of RT on glucose metabolism

The scientific data appears to support resistance exercise training as an excellent prescription for attenuating the effects of impaired glucose metabolism.

In 2017, a study of 170, sedentary, obese, pre-diabetic adults, aged 50–69 was conducted. These individuals were placed on a 3 month, 2 times a week, progressive, supervised, whole-body (1 set at 70–80% of a one maximum repetition) resistance training program. The study revealed that after only three month, about 34% of the individuals were no longer pre-diabetic.

A large analysis conducted in 2012, on data taken from Health Professionals’ Study of approximately 32,000 men between the ages of 40–75 years, showed that men engaging in at least 150 min/week of RET had a 34% lower risk of developing diabetes over an 18-year period. 

More recently, a 2017 meta-analysis of 360 older patients with T2D, who did RT for at least 8 weeks showed clinically relevant improvements in glycated-hemoglobin (HbA1c) and muscle strength.

See also here, here and here.

One caveat to remember here is that these are association studies. Diet plays an important role in the formation and progression of insulin resistance. We don’t know in the above studies how much of a part diet played.

That, notwithstanding, it appears that there’s excellent data to support the conclusion that RT has an important role to play in prevention and treatment of insulin resistance in older adults. 

How much resistance training is enough to help mitigate insulin resistance?

At this time, we don’t know exactly what optimal amount of RT provides the best help for glycemic control.

However, we do have some evidence. Gordon et al., preformed a systematic review in 2009 that suggested that exercise intensity is the key variable and that performing high-intensity RT (?70% 1RM) results in the greatest improvement in glycemic control. 

However, this 2017 study, of 62 T2D patients showed that when matched for volume, there was no significant difference in glycemic control with high- or low-intensity RET (75 vs. 50% of 1RM, respectively).

So the takeaway here is that RT is an excellent prescription for helping to improve glycemic control.

Does resistance exercise training help in the prevention of cardiovascular disease?

The CDC tells us that one person dies every 36 seconds in the United States from cardiovascular disease and about 655,000 Americans die from heart disease each year.

That’s about 25% of all deaths in a year in the U.S.!

There is little disagreement among health professionals that regular exercise, especially AT, will improve cardiovascular health. 

So, it’s not difficult to see why physicians put a greater emphasis on AT rather than RT.

However, does RT also provide a significant benefit to cardiovascular health?

Consider some of these recent findings.

Health professionals’ follow-up study

In 2002, researchers examined data from the Health Professionals’ Follow-up Study with the intent to assess potential coronary heart disease (CHD) risk factors, identify newly diagnosed cases of CHD, and assess levels of leisure-time physical activity.

From the data of 44,452 men, researchers were able to conclude that RT for at least 30 min per week resulted in a similar risk reduction compared to 2.5 h of brisk walking in fatal and nonfatal myocardial infarction

Women’s health study

In 2017, researchers looked at data from 35,754 healthy women (mean age, 62.6 years, range 47.0 – 97.8) from the Women’s Health Study concerning the effect of RT on cardiovascular disease (CVD).

Researchers found that women engaging in 60–120 min of RT per week had a similar 22% reduced risk of incident CVD as women engaging in 60–120 min of AT per week. 

Small comparison study

A small 1992 study of 37 previously untrained males (aged 50 ± 9 years) was performed to gauge the effect of RT and AT on CHD risk factor intervention.

Fourteen participants engaged in RT (whole-body, progressive 2 sets at 60–70% 1RM)), 13 in AT (treadmill walking/jogging (75–85% heart rate reserve)) and 10 did no exercise.

Researchers discovered at the end of 20 weeks that RT and AT have comparable effects on risk factors for CHD. 

Okay, so here we have three independent studies that confirm that RT and AT produce similar results when it comes to reducing your chances of developing CVD.

I’ll throw in two more studies for good measure.

A 2017 study of 403,199 participants revealed that “men and women with greater GS (grip strength) had lower risks of all-cause and CVD mortality, independent of adiposity.”

Apparently, the stronger your muscles are, the lower your risk of dying from CVD.

Getting even more specific, this study showed that RT will improve several risk factors associated with CVD to the same degree as AT. These include blood pressure, blood lipids, insulin sensitivity, and vascular function.

Now check out the benefits RT will offer concerning one specific cardiac risk factor.

Resistance training and its positive effect on lowering blood pressure

Hypertension is a well known risk factor in the development of CDV. Physicians often recommend several life-style strategies to help treat hypertension. These include things like weight loss, lowering stress, and exercise.

But what about RT as a specific modality for lowering our blood pressure (BP)?

Two meta-analyses have shown that in healthy adults, RT can indeed reduce systolic and diastolic blood pressure to the same or greater degree than AT. See here, and here.

Notably the second meta-analyses also showed that individuals with hypertension also benefited from RT and even showed larger reductions in blood pressure than healthy individuals.

So, RT could be an important prescription for lowering the blood pressure for the over 100 million people suffering from hypertension.

Is RT training dangerous for your heart?

If RT is effective for lowering the risk of CVD, then why don’t more physicians prescribe it?

Doctors probably assume the risk of injury from RT is a lot higher than AT.

One specific worry is that high pressure loads from RT can cause cardiac hypertrophy or an enlarged heart. It is believed that this can lead to a higher death rate. 

However, the evidence doesn’t seem to confirm this conclusion. Consider the following.

This study found that excessive blood pressure elevation is seen only with high-intensity RET (?70% of 1RM) while lighter-to-moderate intensity RET (30–69% of 1RM) didn’t appear to be a concern. 

The authors of the study state, “Weight lifting is a relatively safe sport with few instances where the excessive elevations in blood pressure, demonstrated in this paper, are known to result in injury.”

Note, however, this study was done on young healthy men.

Another study that pooled together data from five studies evaluating adverse events during low-to-moderate intensity RT (30–69% of 1RM) in older adults with CVD found that RT was actually associated with a lower rate of adverse cardiovascular complications than AT. 

Finally, a recent meta-analysis of 653 older adults who have or at risk for developing CVD demonstrated that arterial stiffness (a risk factor for predicting CVD mortality) does not increase or worsen following RT. 

So, there doesn’t seem to be sufficient evidence that RT is dangerous to your heart.

Here’s an important point about lower intensity training. If you do RT at a lower intensity, you won’t lose any of the benefits of improved blood pressure.

Okay, have I convinced you yet that RT might be the exercise you concentrate on to improve your aging process?

If you’re wavering, this might tip the scale. Let’s see if RT helps in reducing your cancer risk.

Does RT help to reduce the risk of getting cancer?

The American Cancer Society estimates that “in 2020, there will be an estimated 1.8 million new cancer cases diagnosed and 606,520 cancer deaths in the United States.”

Researchers now know that there seems to be some common risk factors associated with many cancer diagnoses. In particular, T2D, CVD, obesity, and a sedentary lifestyle.

Since we know that exercise will improve the above factors, it makes sense that increasing your level of physical activity will reduce the risk of getting cancer, dying from cancer, and improving recovery from cancer treatment. See here.

But does RT specifically help in our fight against cancer?

This recent meta-analyses of over 80,000 adults over the age of 30 showed that performing RT (at least two times per week) was associated with a 34% reduced risk for cancer death.

However, adhering to the AT guidelines provided no statistical benefit. 

A 2014 study of 2863 male and female cancer survivors, aged 18 to 81years old, showed that RT at least once a week reduced all-cause mortality by 33%.

This large cohort study from 2017 showed that following a diagnosis of cancer individuals who engaged in regular AT and RT “were observed to have a lower relative risk of cancer mortality and recurrence and experienced fewer/less severe adverse effects.”

These findings all make sense in light of the fact that increased muscularity is associated with an overall decrease in cancer mortality.

There have been several reasons offered for the positive effects RT has on reducing the risk of cancer. They include the following:

• Improved insulin sensitivity and body composition
• Improved immune function
• Decreased inflammatory response
• Increased secretion of myokines

So, as we can see, there is excellent evidence that RT is a potent prescription for reducing our risk of cancer.

What’s the best type of RT for warding off the chronic diseases of aging?

It’s difficult to definitively answer this question. It depends on your age, current health, goals, and lifestyle. 

Initially, I started with dumbbells and a month later graduated to a barbell. I set up a power rack in my basement and started using the Starting Strength program.

There are, though, some parameters everyone can follow:

1. Always check with your doctor first before you start any exercise program. Make sure he clears you for the program you want to do.
2. The best program is the one you are committed to do.
3. You don’t have to use a barbell or dumbbells. Bodyweight exercise (squats, push-ups, pull-ups) to failure (you can’t do any more) can be very effective for improving health. Resistance bands can also be used. 
4. Light-to-moderate relative loads (30–69% of 1RM) can be just as effective as lifting heavy relative loads (?70% of 1RM) for exerting health benefits. See here.

Now if you think you’re too old to start strength training watch this.

So my last word is this. If Gussie can do it, you can do it. Just get up and do it!

Thanks for reading. God bless!

Intro photo : Image by Henryk Niestrój from Pixabay

This article originally appeared on glutenfreehomestead.com.

The post Why At 64 I Prioritize Strength Training Over Aerobic Training appeared first on The Progressing Pilgrim.

Many of you in the baby boomer generation have already experienced this terrible scenario: A few years back, you noticed your aged mom or dad starting to forget things. Then it started to get worse. And then before you knew it, they were diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease or dementia.

This is not an unusual occurrence. In the U.S. alone, there are more than 5 million people living with dementia and about 70% of those have Alzheimer’s disease. And these numbers are expected to increase.

But if you think Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is only something “old people” get, consider this. A recent report from the health insurer Blue Cross Blue Shield revealed that AD and early on-set dementia is surging among millennials. 

That’s right. If you’re one of the older millennials and you think that AD is only something you have to worry about when you get older, then think again.

This observation from Blue Cross Blue Shield seems to correlate with a new study performed by researchers at Stony Brook University.

The researchers at Stony Brook found that communication among brain regions can begin destabilizing in individuals much earlier than scientists previously thought. Some individuals showed brain deterioration as early as their forties which worsened with age. 

The importance of this is that as brain destabilization increases, cognition decreases.

The Stony Brook study also found that younger adults who had type 2 diabetes (T2D) exhibited brain network destabilization (i.e brain age) that was found in much older non-diabetics.  

This finding was not novel. Many previous researchers have found that T2D and insulin resistance, a condition found in T2D, are highly associated with AD. 

The bad news and the good news

Okay, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of good news here. Americans are getting dementia at younger ages. Our brains begin deteriorating at much younger ages than we thought. And if we have T2D or insulin resistance, our chances of getting dementia probably increase.

So what do we have to look forward to as we age? A progressive loss of cognition, possibly at a younger age with the possibility of something far worse such as AD. 

Not necessarily! There’s a silver lining in this cloud.

The Stony Brook study also included a unique experiment that seems to confirm what other research has suggested. Dementia may be significantly tied to diet and how our brains use glucose for fuel.

This means that if we can adhere to some common sense dietary guidelines, we may be able to significantly reduce our chances of getting some form of dementia whether in early or later age.

Let’s take a look at the Blue Cross Blue Shield report and the Stony Brook study, and then see what we can do to improve our brain function and cognition throughout our adult life.

Alzheimer’s disease among millennials is surging

The major private health insurer Blue Cross Blue Shield reported that between 2013 – 2017, AD and early onset dementia increased 83% among commercially insured Americans aged 30 to 44.

In 2017 alone, about 131,000 commercially insured Americans between the ages of 30 and 64 were diagnosed with either condition.

Among these Americans, those between the ages of 30 to 64, early-onset diagnoses increased by 200%.

Individuals who were in the 45 to 54-year-old range experienced a 50% jump and those 55 to 64 experienced a 40% increase in diagnoses. 

The average patient diagnosed with either AD or early-onset dementia was 49. Women were disproportionately more affected.

These statistics are nothing less than alarming and seem to be in line with other reports suggesting that early-onset AD is on the rise.

John Dwyer, president of the Global Alzheimer’s Platform Foundation, had this to say about the report,

Research has shown that Alzheimer’s disease starts in the brain years before clinical symptoms become apparent. This report shows that people as young as 30 have outward symptoms.

While the report alerted us to the increased incidence of dementia in younger adults, there were two important things the report didn’t tell us. 

What about the APOE4 gene? 

The first thing I would have liked to have known from this report was how many of those experiencing early-onset AD had the apolipoprotein E4 (APOE4) gene allele.

Okay, I realize the report was not a medical but a statistical report so I understand its exclusion. However, this is something important to be aware of concerning your risk of getting AD, no matter how old you are.

The APOE gene has three alleles or forms. They are APOE2, APOE3, and APOE4.

Each person receives one allele from each parent. If you have one copy of the APOE4 gene allele and one copy of the APOE3 allele (expressed as APOE3/APOE4), you have a 20-25% risk of developing mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or dementia due to AD by age 85. 

If you have APOE4/APOE4 genotype, you have a 30-55% risk of developing MCI or dementia due to AD by age 85. There is also some evidence that individuals who have the APOE4/APOE4 genotype are at a greater risk for developing AD at an earlier age.

However, if you have the APOE4 allele, you don’t necessarily have to get AD.

Now, consider the risk for the other genotypes. The risk for the APOE3/APOE3 genotype is 10-15%, while the risk for someone possessing one copy of APOE2 alleles is less than this.

So, if you carry the APOE4 allele, your risk of developing AD dramatically increases. 

The reason why I stressed this point is that researchers are now finding that the APOE allele may give us a clue on why some people develop AD at earlier ages. This may help healthcare individuals find ways to prevent and successfully treat the disease. More on that later.

Now to the other question I have about the Blue Cross Blue Shield report.

How many younger Americans getting dementia have T2D or insulin resistance?

In the U.S. today, the rates of younger people (<40 years old) with type 2 diabetes and obesity are skyrocketing.

And, as I mentioned before, insulin resistance is closely associated with type 2 diabetes and also obesity. And it’s also associated with dementia. More on that later.

Also, about 1 in 3 Americans have pre-diabetes. While this condition does not have the symptoms of type 2 diabetes, it is also characterized by insulin resistance.

So, we know that insulin resistance is closely associated with dementia, type 2 diabetes, and obesity, and these are all increasing among younger adults. Could this then be a possible reason why younger adults are experiencing increased rates of dementia?

It’s possible, but the report didn’t give us any stats to see if there was a correlation. Also, it would be exceedingly difficult to perform a clinical trial to find out.

Let’s look closer at the Stony Brook Study to see if we can strengthen the link between T2D, insulin resistance, and AD.

The Stony Brook University study on brain network stability

Neuroscientists believe that cognitive function results from interactions of various brain areas operating in large scale networks. Further, as the loss of functional communication between these networks decreases, poorer cognition results.

Lilianne R. Mujica-Parodi and fellow researchers at Stony Brook University used neuroimaging data from almost 1000 people, aged 18 to 88, and observed the stability of brain networks as individuals age.

The images showed that destabilization of brain networks progresses as we age and this can begin as young as 47-years-old with the most dramatic changes occurring at age 60.

The Stony Brook researchers were surprised to see this type of brain aging, as they called it, beginning at such an early age.

As I mentioned before, the researchers also found that young type 2 diabetics showed deterioration consistent with older non-diabetics.

So the Blue Cross Blue Shield report discovered that the number of younger adults who have dementia is rising. And Stony Brook showed that indeed brain aging can occur at younger ages than previously thought, especially among type 2 diabetics.

However, Mujica-Parodi and her colleagues didn’t end their study at just identifying how early brain network stability deterioration starts.

They wanted to see if they could discover the cause of the deterioration process and if something could be done about it. To do this, they added another component to the study.

The hypometabolism of glucose and network stability

The Stony Brook researchers had some clues as to what causes functional communication destabilization between brain regions.

Recently, several important studies have shown that AD and other types of dementia may have a metabolic origin — specifically the hypometabolism or underutilization of glucose by neuronal cells.

In this 2017 study, researchers observed positron emission tomography (PET) scans of individuals with dementia and Alzheimer’s and concluded that glucose hypometabolism was a reliable indicator for tracking the progression of cognitive decline. 

An earlier study also involving PET scans revealed similar results. People at high risk for developing AD showed decreased rates of glucose metabolism in the brain decades before the appearance of AD symptoms. 

What’s glucose hypometabolism got to do with AD?

Although the brain accounts for only about 2% of the body by weight, it requires about 20% of its energy intake. This energy mainly comes in the form of glucose.

In order to get that glucose into the cells of brain neurons, the hormone insulin must work efficiently.

However, in diseases like type 2 diabetes (T2D), metabolic syndrome, obesity, and even pre-diabetes, insulin doesn’t work properly.

Let’s take a quick look at insulin dysregulation as this will help us understand why glucose hypometabolism is so important in the development of AD.

Insulin dysregulation

T2D is a disease primarily characterized by hyperinsulinemia. That means that there is too much insulin being secreted by the pancreas. 

There are several reasons why this happens. I believe the theory that has the most validity is that it is primarily caused by the constant overconsumption of refined carbohydrates including sugar. 

These foods are ultimately broken down in your body into glucose. It’s insulin’s job to get the glucose (fuel) into your cells.

However, the more glucose that’s around (from eating too many refined carbohydrates), the more insulin will be secreted. If this happens for years, and insulin remains constantly high, there’s a good chance your cells will become resistant to the effects of insulin. That means your cells can’t get any more glucose into them.

(This is one reason why T2D is often discovered by high levels of glucose in the blood. Since insulin is having a hard time getting glucose into body tissues, it accumulates in the bloodstream.)

This is the result of hyperinsulinemia and ultimately insulin resistance.

For a good discussion on insulin resistance, see here. For a technical biochemical explanation of insulin resistance, see here.

What’s important though is that as the above process continues, the cells of your peripheral body organs such as the pancreas, liver, and even the brain can become resistant to the effects of insulin.

Insulin resistance in the brain

One of the effects of insulin resistance in the brain is the decreased availability of glucose to its neuronal cells. 

Your brain needs a lot of energy in the form of glucose to function correctly. If it can’t get enough glucose, its structures and functions will break down. This will eventually result in cognitive decline. And the longer it goes on, the worse it becomes.

There are several large meta-analyses suggesting that insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, and poor glycemic control are risk factors for later-life dementia. See here, here, here and here.

Type 2 diabetes is so closely linked with AD that AD is now commonly referred to as Type 3 Diabetes. 

Further, a recent perspective in JAMA titled “In Alzheimer’s Research, Glucose Metabolism Moves to Center Stage” highlights the accumulating research suggesting glucose hypometabolism in the brain is not just a marker of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), but may perhaps be the cause of it. 

So the Stony Brook researchers’ theory that the association of AD with glucose hypometabolism was supported by some solid research.

Stony Brook extends their study using ketones as a brain fuel

The researchers at Stony Brook understood the relationship between insulin resistance, glucose, and the brain, but they also knew that glucose is not the only fuel available to the brain.

The human brain can use ketones as an alternative fuel source. 

Our bodies can access ketones in two ways. We can produce them endogenously in our liver from long-and medium-chain free fatty acids released from adipose tissue during fasting or when following a low-carbohydrate/moderate-protein/high-fat diet.

Or we can get them exogenously through supplementation with a d-?-hydroxybutyrate ketone ester.

The important thing is that ketones can fuel the brain without the need for insulin.

Relying on this concept, the researchers at Stony Brook devised a study to see if network stabilization increased when ketones were used as a primary fuel.

The Stony Brook ketone experiment

The Stony Brook experiment included 41 young (< 50 years old) healthy adults. Each individual was placed on a combination of different diets. They included a standard diet (primary fuel from glucose), a ketone producing diet, a high glucose diet, and a diet that included exogenous ketone.

MRI neuroscanning was used to measure brain stabilization.

Researchers found that brain activity increased and functional networks were stabilized by ketosis (the production of ketones), whether it was induced by a standard ketogenic diet, fasting, or exogenous ketones. All three interventions produced similar results.

The researchers were particularly surprised at how fast the brain responded to ketones. It was one week following a ketogenic diet and one hour after ingesting exogenous ketones.

The standard diet and high glucose diet produced a destabilizing effect on brain networks.

The significance of these findings is enormous for those at high risk for early brain aging, dementia, and AD. 

If these conditions are related to a lack of fuel because of the hypometabolism of glucose, then adding an alternate fuel like ketones has a strong possibility of restoring the brain to a more youthful function.

The study did stress the fact that these were healthy young adults. It also suggested that more work has to be done in older populations.

Nonetheless, Mujica-Parodi explains the significance of their findings,

The bad news is that we see the first signs of brain aging much earlier than was previously thought. However, the good news is that we may be able to prevent or reverse these effects with diet, mitigating the impact of encroaching hypometabolism by exchanging glucose for ketones as fuel for neurons.

The implications of the Stony Brook study

Mujica-Parodi and her colleagues showed that a ketogenic diet can restore energy to the brain and possibly produce a subsequent improvement in brain activity.

However, much more investigation must be done to see if ketones can have a direct effect on increasing cognitive performance in older populations.

But here’s the important point. Insulin resistance and the subsequent hypometabolism of glucose appears to be a large contributing factor in the development of dementia and AD, even in young adults.

And if insulin resistance can be detected early and treated, that could go a long way in preventing or mitigating the severity of dementia for many people, especially for those who are at a high risk.

Detecting insulin resistance

Most people find out they have insulin resistance when their doctor diagnoses them with type 2 diabetes. This usually happens when a blood test reveals that their fasting blood sugar or Hb1Ac test is high.

However, insulin resistance like AD and dementia can be present and progressing long before symptoms arise.

So, if you are significantly overweight or have a body type suggesting you have a lot of visceral fat (skinny-fat) and have a normal fasting blood glucose or Hb1Ac, you might want to ask your doctor about having your fasting insulin checked. See here.

Treating insulin resistance

As I’ve already stressed, a key to fighting AD appears to be overcoming the effect insulin resistance has on glucose metabolism in the brain.

The Stony Brook researchers showed that ketones as a brain fuel can be one way to do that.

However, what about individuals who have insulin resistance and don’t yet show outward symptoms of cognitive decline? Can insulin resistance be treated in order to prevent premature brain aging?

As I mentioned before, insulin resistance is closely related to T2D. The Mayo Clinic even suggests that it’s the cause of T2D.

Most doctors will treat T2D with insulin or some current diabetic drug. While these medications lower blood sugar to normal levels, they don’t really treat insulin resistance. They treat the effect insulin resistance produces

However, there is a treatment for insulin resistance. Very low carbohydrate diets can reverse insulin resistance. Also see here. Okay, that’s a lot harder than taking a pill. It means drastically reducing our consumption of refined carbs and sugar.

Many doctors have had success in curing T2D and insulin resistance by prescribing very low carbohydrate diets. See here and here.

Unfortunately, we don’t know how much of an effect reducing or eliminating insulin resistance will have on reducing or preventing AD and dementia. Those experiments are extremely hard to perform.  But we do know that it’s a large risk factor. And eliminating risk factors is always a good thing.

I want to add one other piece of research that appears to confirm that the Stony Brook researchers are on the right track when proposing that AD is mainly a problem of the hypometabolism of glucose.

Let’s take another look at the APOE allele.

The protective effect of the APOE2 allele

As I mentioned before, if you have one copy of the APOE4 allele, your chances of getting AD are increased. If you have two copies, your odds rise dramatically.

However, research has shown that the APOE2/APOE2 genotype is highly protective against AD.

This recent mouse study might shed light on the reason why.

Researchers discovered that mice carrying the APOE2 allele showed an increased uptake and metabolism of glucose in brain cells while the APOE4 brain displayed the most deficient profile.

Interestingly, the APOE2 and APOE4 brains showed a similar level of robust uptake and metabolism of ketone bodies. 

Again, if the brain cannot metabolize glucose for energy, brain structures will deteriorate. There is recent evidence suggesting that decreased energy metabolism will damage synaptic function. Synapse damage is thought to be an early and progressive event in AD.

So, again, we see that there is evidence that the hypometabolism of glucose is associated with AD. 

Okay, let’s summarize.

The takeaway

Alzheimer’s disease and dementia are occurring more frequently in younger adults. We don’t know exactly why. But we do know that Obesity and T2D are also increasing in younger populations and dementia is highly associated with these conditions.

Advanced brain aging associated with poorer cognition is now known to start in some individuals in their late forties. Research has shown that this process may be the result of the inability of people to metabolize glucose as fuel in their brains due to insulin resistance.

However, since our brain can use ketones as an alternative fuel supply, a very low carbohydrate diet that induces ketosis or the consumption of exogenous ketones has been shown to increase brain activity and network stabilization in healthy individuals.

Researchers at Stony Brook University speculate that if this can be done early enough in dementia, it might have the effect of returning the brain to a more youthful function.

Okay, that’s it for this post. If you have any comments, please let us know. Blessings and have a great week.

*Cover Image by Kalhh from Pixabay

This article originally appeared on glutenfreehomestead.com.

The post Alzheimer’s Disease Is Surging Among Millennials – What’s Going On? appeared first on The Progressing Pilgrim.

Losing weight is probably one of the most popular New Year’s resolutions. This is attested to by the spike in gym memberships seen every January.

While some people successfully follow through on their pledge to lose the extra pounds, most of us seem to fail to win the endless battle against our bulging waist and hips.

We try and try to lose weight, and we may for a little while, but something happens, and we gain it right back.

If this has happened to you, and it probably has if you ever dieted, you’re not alone. In fact, 80 -90% of people who diet and lose weight eventually regain it.

However, there are several strategies you can use to win this battle. For instance, a recently released scientific study has shown that increasing the amount of protein in your diet can help you in your fight against regaining the weight you’ve lost

In this post, I’ll take a look at why we tend to regain weight when dieting. This insight will give us some good clues on how to craft a winning diet loss strategy.

The Biggest Problem With Dieting

You know how it goes: you enthusiastically begin the new year by promising that this will be the year that you definitely lose those horrible pounds that have been plaguing you for years. 

You start out on your mission like a disciplined warrior. Meticulously, you watch your calorie intake. You agonizingly refuse to indulge in mouth-watering desserts and avoid anything that would destroy your daily calorie ceiling. Perhaps you even go so far as to drink your coffee black. No Smoked Butterscotch Frappuccinos for you.

And then you exercise. You toil and sweat knowing that you’re burning off calories, right?

Amazingly, those extra 10 or more pounds disappear. Your efforts were rewarded. You did it. Congratulations, mission accomplished.

But, then, as the months wear on, something nasty happens. Little by little the weight gradually returns. In disgust, you lament, “This diet plan just doesn’t work for me.”

By December, you’re ready to make the resolution all over again.

What in blazes happened? 

The Biggest Loser Fails

Remember that TV show The Biggest Loser from a few years back? The theme was to put 16 extremely obese people through a 30-week intensive diet and exercise program. The individual who lost the most weight would be the winner.

In reality, any time someone who is extremely obese loses a lot of weight they’re a winner.

Unfortunately, though, this story had a sad outcome. After the competition, most of the participants gained back most of the weight they lost, and some were even heavier than when they started.

What happened? Did all of the individuals just pig out after the competition and let themselves go back to their previous lifestyles?

That would seem like the simple answer, but it would be wrong!

Scientific Study On the “Biggest Losers”

Following the 2009 Biggest Losers competition, diet researchers saw a unique opportunity to examine the long term effects of significant weight loss.

Following the end of the 30-week competition, they measured the resting metabolic rate (RMR) and body composition of the competitors.

RMR is the rate that an individual burns calories at rest. They’re expending energy but only on essential things like breathing, circulating blood, digesting, or basic brain functions, etc. 

Body composition was how much they weighed.

Researchers then remeasured these parameters six years after the competition.

After completing their study, the researchers discovered an important clue as to why individuals are generally unsuccessful at keeping the weight off during dieting.

The Expected Finding

At the beginning of the competition, the participants, though obese, had resting metabolisms that were normal for their size. In other words, their calorie expenditure was normal for their weight.

However, when the competition ended, their resting metabolism had slowed down considerably. This made sense to the researchers.

The competitors had in essence starved their bodies. It was already known that during severe calorie restriction, for example during starvation, the body will lower metabolism to preserve calories.

This was shown in an experiment performed in 1995.

Resting Metabolic Rate Slows Down In Response To Weight Loss

In 1995, Dr. Rudolph Leibel performed an experiment to illustrate a key physiologic response associated with weight loss.

He took 41 individuals and increased their caloric intake so that their body weight increased by 10%. Then he allowed them to return to their normal weight.

He then reduced their caloric intake so that they lost 10%. Then he reduced it even more so that they lost 20% of their normal weight.

At each point, he measured the individual’s BMR.

Leibel discovered that at the 10% weight gain, the body burns about 500 calories more per day compared to baseline. After 10% and 20% weight loss, the body burns about 300 calories less per day.

This demonstrated that when a person loses weight their metabolism will indeed slow down to compensate for the weight loss. 

So it was no surprise when this happened to the “Biggest Losers”.

What they didn’t expect was what happened years after the competition.

The Unexpected Result

After six years, researchers discovered that the resting metabolic rate (RMR) of the contestants “remained suppressed at the same average level as at the end of the weight loss competition.”

They also reported that

Mean RMR after 6 years was ?500 kcal/day lower than expected based on the measured body composition changes and the increased age of the subjects.

For most of the competitors, as their weight climbed, their RMR never recovered. For some, it became even slower.

One of them was Mike Cahill, the winner of the competition. After six years, he exhibited the worst RMR recovery. 

As he regained more than 100 pounds, his metabolism slowed so much that, just to maintain his then current weight of 295 pounds, he had to eat 800 calories a day, less than a typical man his size. Anything more he said, “turned to fat”.

Though Leibel, in his 1995 study, didn’t examine the permanence of the changes in rates of energy expenditure, he did expect that the reduced RMR in individuals with weight loss might be persistent.

He noted that,

A reduced level of energy expenditure has been reported to persist in subjects who have maintained a reduced body weight for periods ranging from six months to more than four years.

Leibel had previously shown that in a study he performed in 1984. Leibel and others expanded on this in a 2010 paper. 

Dr. Michael Schwartz, an obesity and diabetes researcher at the University of Washington, gives us insight into how this affected the “Biggest Losers”.

The key point is that… you can lose enormous amounts of weight, you can go on for six years, but you can’t get away from a basic biological reality. As long as you are below your initial weight, your body is going to try to get you back.

Did you catch that?

If you diet and lose weight, your body will fight to get back to the weight you started at. One way it does that is by lowering your RMR.

Wow, what’s up with that! That doesn’t seem fair, does it?

You struggle to lose weight. You deny yourself, you punish your body, and then your own body fights against you. It wants you to fail. What kind of sick joke is that?

But it appears to be a biological fact.

Okay, all is not lost. Take heart. There are still ways to win this battle.

However, you must first understand your enemy before you can defeat it. Well, it’s not really an enemy because it’s your own body. But it is something you must understand in order to win.

It’s called your body set weight (also known as body set point). 

Understanding Your Body Set Weight

Nephrologist and diabetes expert Dr. Jason Fung (Obesity Code), has a helpful explanation on why conventional (calorie counting) diets fail. It essentially has to do with what is called your body set weight (BSW).

Fung likens your BSW to the temperature you set on the thermostat in your home. If you set the thermostat to 72 degrees your heating system will strive to keep your house at that temperature. If your ambient temperature goes under 72, the thermostat will direct the furnace to turn on in order to get back to 72. 

Likewise, in the summer, if the temperature goes up, the thermostat will direct the AC to come on.

Our bodies appear to have a BSW (also called an appestat) that acts as a thermostat for body fatness. Whenever we gain or lose significant weight, our appestat strives to return us to the body weight it considers to have become normal.

So, if you limit your caloric intake as a dieting strategy, your body will compensate for the subsequent weight loss by lowering how many calories you expend at rest. This is its attempt to get you back to what your body perceives is your ideal weight.

Fighting The Uphill Diet Battle

Dr. Fung gives us another illustration of what we encounter when we diet.

Let’s say your thermostat is set to 72 degrees, but you want the temperature to be 70 degrees. 

Instead of lowering the thermostat, we turn on a portable AC and drop the temperature to 70 degrees.

What happens now? The thermostat kicks in and raises the temperature back to 72. But we still want 70 degrees so we turn on another portable AC.

So the thermostat kicks in and raises the temperature. So we get another portable AC and … you get the picture. We are essentially fighting a losing battle, and also maybe stuck on stupid.

The simpler solution, of course, would be to … turn down the freaking thermostat.

Putting It In Practical Terms

This is what happens when we simply try to restrict calorie intake to lose weight. For example, let’s say your BSW is 150 pounds, but you want to get down to 130 pounds.

So you decide to restrict your calorie intake. Theoretically, if you cut 500 calories per day from your diet, you should lose about a pound per week.

Now, let’s assume you lose ten pounds, and you now weigh about 140. What happens?

Your appestat kicks in and tries to get your body to regain the weight you lost. Your metabolism slows down. But then you start experiencing the things that go along with it. 

Have you ever started dieting and then started to feel tired and moody and even cold? That’s the result of a slowing metabolism.

And here’s probably the worst part! You’re getting hungrier. Oh, the hunger! You want to eat so bad! Your body is doing every darn thing it can to get you back to your BSW.

What’s the solution to all this craziness? The answer is obvious. Turn down the thermostat… I mean appestat.

I’ll give you some ideas on how to do that in a second. But, next, I just want to say a few brief words on how the appestat is regulated.

Understanding Weight Gain 

Now, the most common answer as to why people gain weight would be that they eat too much. But that might not necessarily be true in all cases.

Don’t forget about your appestat. If it’s working correctly, you should maintain a relatively constant body weight.

Okay, true, you say, but my BSW is way too high. I’m maintaining too much weight. Fair enough. But is your BSW the same today as it was 10, 20, or 30 years ago?

Probably not. That’s why you want to lose weight. So what happened was that your BSW kept gradually readjusting upwards.

Why?

Understanding Insulin And Weight Control

Our BSW is maintained by what is known as a negative feedback loop. The loop starts with the hormone insulin. Among its many important duties, insulin is responsible for signaling your body to store food energy in the form of body fat.

When you don’t eat for long periods, such as when you’re sleeping, you’ll burn that stored energy for fuel.

Now if insulin secretion becomes excessive, it will try to pack even more fat into your cells. This, however, causes fat cells to secrete a hormone called leptin. Leptin then sends a signal to your brain saying, “Hey, we fat cells down here are getting overloaded. Tell your boss to curb his appetite.”

So the brain complies and restricts our appetite. We then stop eating, insulin levels drop, and we start burning energy which keeps our BSW stable. 

Fine, you say. But how did my BSW reset so far upward?

Okay, this requires that we understand that not all calories are the same.

BSW And Hormonal Imbalances

No one becomes significantly overweight or obese overnight. It’s a process that takes years. Think about it. If you gain only 2 pounds a year for 20 years, all of a sudden you’re 40 pounds overweight.

So the process that causes your BSW to increase is a gradual one.

But it’s important to know how this happens.

Let’s get back to the hormone insulin. If you’re overeating high glycemic foods like refined grains, sugar, or fructose (carbohydrates), or eating often, your insulin secretion can increase to abnormal levels. 

Fat and protein don’t produce nearly the same insulin response that carbohydrates do.

If you are chowing down on a lot of carbs and chowing often, then insulin levels can stay high, even though leptin is doing its best to counter insulin and curb your appetite.

Remember that insulin wants to pack fat into your cells. So if you continue to consume high glycemic foods and eat frequently year after year, you will gain pounds. And, subsequently, your BSW will rise accordingly.

What’s happening here is that insulin is winning the war over leptin.

The Worst Case Scenario

If the above scenario continues for years, an individual could develop a condition called hyperinsulinemia. That means that insulin levels are chronically elevated. 

Again, insulin wants to pack fat into your adipose cells. So, eventually, you’ll gain even more weight.

However, if this continues, an individual could develop insulin resistance. Unfortunately, insulin resistance leads to more secretion of insulin which leads to a host of problems including obesity, metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease.

This is called carbohydrate-insulin model of obesity. For a more detailed explanation of this model, see here.

However, let’s not forget leptin. If insulin continues to rise, then leptin will also continue to rise. However, insulin is winning out because of your diet. But the continued rise of leptin could result in your body becoming resistant to the effect of leptin.

That means insulin will not be opposed. It’s won the war and weight gain is assured. Also, your appetite will not be suppressed, and you’ll be hungry all the time.

Leptin resistance is almost always associated with obesity. 

So, significant weight gain and obesity is not so much a problem with calories as it is a hormonal disorder.

Okay, I think you get the picture.

But you’re still dreaming of losing that weight. You know losing those pounds will make you look better, feel better, and be healthier.

What’s the recipe for success?

The Battle Strategy

The most important strategy for reducing your BSW and maintaining successful weight loss is to reduce chronically high insulin levels. If you can keep insulin levels low, then your body will use your stored fat for the fuel it needs.

That’s the most efficient way to lose weight. But reducing your BSW is key.

Here are some strategies for doing that.

Strategy 1 – Reduce Carbs

Reduction of the intake of sugar, refined grains, and fructose is a sure way to reduce insulin levels. If you don’t put a lot of glucose (carbs) into your bloodstream, insulin secretion will stay low. 

How much should you restrict your carb intake?

This depends on how aggressive you want to be with your weight loss. Dietdoctor.com has some excellent strategies on how to use low-carb and ketogenic diets.

Virtahealth.com is a good source for those struggling with type 2 diabetes.

See our series of posts on our ketogenic diet experience.

Remember, though, that it took years to gain the weight. It’s going to require changing your eating habits for a long time in order to be successful!

*Always check with your doctor before you start any diet. If you have type 2 diabetes and are on insulin medication, a low-carb diet can lower your blood sugar too quickly. So always work with your doctor.

Strategy 2 – Stop eating often

We’re taught that we should be eating every few hours or so in order to suppress our hunger urges. This is completely wrong advice. Eating often means keeping insulin high.

Enjoying that Snickers bar at 4:00 in the afternoon is going to do to your insulin secretion what pouring gasoline does to a fire.

For myself, I limit my eating window to only 8 hours during the day. So, basically, I fast for 16 hours and eat for 8.

Intermittent fasting is also an excellent strategy for limiting insulin secretion and resetting your BSW. Check out Dr. Fung’s site for everything you need to know about fasting.

Strategy 3 – Increase Protein Intake

If you consume more protein, you’re likely to consume fewer carbs. Also by consuming more protein, you’re likely to consume more fat. More fat in your diet is not necessarily a bad thing.

Too much fat is not good especially if you want to lose fat. But the fat found with protein in food such as beef, pork, lamb and salmon won’t raise insulin appreciably. 

Also, protein is very satiating. Eat a 12-ounce ribeye steak and see if you’re hungry after that.

How much protein should you include in your diet?

There’s a big controversy around today on the amount of protein we should get in our diets. Some practitioners believe we should limit the amount of protein in our diet to recommended daily requirement (RDA) of 0.8 grams/kg of bodyweight per day.

As I explain here, the RDA for protein might not be a healthy amount for everyone. 

Maintaining good quality muscle mass is a key component of overall health and fitness. If you have poor muscle quality, especially if you’re in your older years, you are susceptible to a plethora of health issues. See here.

According to the best protein researchers in the world, in order to maintain good muscle mass, younger people should get at least 0.24 grams of protein/meal at least 3 -4 times a day. Each meal should consist of at least 20 grams of high-quality protein. 

Older people (>65 years old) should consume at least 0.4 – 0.6 grams of protein/meal at least 3 -4 times a day.

See my extensive post on current protein recommendations. 

Personally, I was on a ketogenic diet for about 2 years, and now I’m on about a 98% carnivore diet. That means I eat mostly animal protein. My carbs are extremely low.

Since increasing my protein intake, my body composition has improved even more than when I was on a keto diet. My weightlifting totals also are increasing. At 63-years-old and weighing 165 pounds. I can easily deadlift 300 lbs. Not bad considering I suffered from chronic fatigue syndrome for over 25 years.

Red Meat Does Not Cause Heart Disease

There’s been a myth perpetuated for years that red meat is associated with heart disease. Let’s bury that myth right now!

Last December, a team of researchers at Purdue University analyzed 24 randomly controlled studies and found that there was no link between eating a lot of red meat and heart disease.

So have no fear about eating red meat!

Now, let me introduce the study I began this post with.

High Compared with Moderate Protein Intake Reduces Adaptive Thermogenesis

A November 2018 study, performed on 38 individuals, showed that a higher protein diet as compared with a moderate protein diet had the effect of increasing resting metabolic rate.

That’s exactly what you want if your desire is to lower your BSW.

In the study, the moderate protein group had a diet that consisted of 15/55/30% of energy from protein/carbohydrate/fat and the high protein group’s diet was 25/45/30% of energy from protein/carbohydrate/fat.

Needless to say, the high protein diet had a much lower glycemic index.

The researchers’ conclusion at the end of the study was that “These results indicate the relevance of compliance to an increased protein/carbohydrate ratio for long-term weight maintenance after weight loss.”

So higher protein will help to reset your BSW.

Strategy 4 – Low-Carb Recipes

Barbara has created some of the tastiest low-carb recipes. Check them out here.

What About Exercise?

Notice I didn’t mention exercise. Exercise is great for fitness. I lift heavy weights 5 days a week. It’s excellent for building muscle. I walk at least a mile every day. But when it comes to helping with significant weight loss, these things are just not very good.

Lowering your BSW is the key to successful weight loss! 

Thanks for stopping by. And have a blessed week!

*None of the above comments should be construed as medical or dietary advice. Remember always consult with your doctor before making any changes to your diet.

*Cover image  PublicDomainPictures from Pixabay 

This article originally appeared on glutenfreehomestead.com.

The post How To Make Dieting Successful: Strategies For Keeping Off The Weight You Lost appeared first on The Progressing Pilgrim.

* This post is a little long because I couldn’t think of what to leave out. Everything seemed important. Hopefully, when you’ve finished reading you’ll understand the critical importance of adequate protein consumption for good health and aging well. 

As you get older, you begin to take more notice of your age and the age of those around you. 

You start seeing more older men and women who are unable to navigate the simple physical tasks of life without the help of an aid. 

Maybe you’ve seen it amongst your loved ones. Your aging dad’s once powerful arms and legs now have shrunk to what appears to be mere skin and bones.

Your mom, now definitely well into her senior years, seems to be permanently attached to her walker.

Maybe we notice it more because there’s a fear in us that we may end up like that as well. After all, isn’t frailty and weakness just an inevitable part of growing old? 

Well, we may believe that’s what aging is supposed to be like because that’s what we generally see. But does it have to be that way?

Not necessarily.

Often, what we interpret as “normal aging” is a result of the considerable loss of muscle mass experienced by older people.

Health professionals know that good muscle mass is necessary for maintaining good health and mobility.

Unfortunately, most older people simply do not have enough muscle mass to maintain a good quality of life.

But here’s the good news. The loss of muscle mass loss resulting in poor health and disability isn’t necessarily an inevitability of aging.

Today, there are scientifically proven ways to mitigate the loss of muscle as we age.

Studies have shown that the best way to maintain good muscle mass throughout our lives is through the use of resistance training (RT). RT has even proven to maintain and increase muscle mass in individuals in their eighties. 

But there’s another way to attenuate the loss of muscle due to aging. That’s through the proper dietary intake of protein.

Since good muscle health is dependent on proper protein consumption, it’s vitally important you know how much protein you need to consume daily.

Are You Consuming Enough Protein To Maintain Healthy Muscle?

Unfortunately, many of us today, especially those who are over the age of 65, are simply not consuming enough protein to optimally maintain muscle mass and strength.

What’s especially concerning is that while most young adults are consuming more than the recommended daily allowance (RDA) of protein intake, about ? of older people are not meeting that requirement.

Now as if that wasn’t bad enough, the current RDA for protein might actually be underestimating your daily need of protein. 

Many of today’s leading protein researchers have even become openly critical of the current RDA for protein. They suggest that the current RDA for protein is out of touch with the current scientific research and is woefully inadequate as a reference for older adult populations.

But before examining the current RDA for protein intake and exploring what is currently recommended by top protein researchers, I’d like to take a short detour.

The Importance Of Muscle

You know your skeletal muscles are important for enabling you to move from here to there and for helping you lift things. When you suddenly can’t do some of those things, you become acutely aware of how important your muscles really are.

But your muscles are much more important than simply being parts of your body that when contracting and relaxing allow you to be mobile.

Skeletal muscle is an organ that constitutes about 30% – 40% of your body mass.

It can act like an endocrine organ by secreting anti-inflammatory myokines. There is research to suggest that myokines released from muscle may play a role in tumor suppression. 

Muscle is also the largest contributor to resting energy expenditure. More muscle means you’ll burn more calories at rest. That’s good for trying to maintain an optimal body weight.

The primary site for glucose metabolism in your body occurs in muscle. Therefore, better muscle mass means greater insulin sensitivity and a decreased risk of type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome. 

There is also evidence that poor muscle strength is linked to dementia and cognitive decline. Researchers are, however, unsure of the exact link.

Studies have now shown that there is an inverse association between low muscle strength and increased mortality.

As I mentioned before, maintaining healthy muscle, therefore, is a key to healthy aging.

Unfortunately, aging is working against you in this respect. Everyone over the age of 35 is probably losing muscle mass every year.

Age-Related Sarcopenia

Muscle loss is a normal part of aging. Sedentary individuals can expect to lose as much as 3% – 5% of their muscle mass per decade after the age of 30.   

However, after the age of 50, muscle mass loss can be as great as ?0.8% annually.  By the time you’re 75, that can add up to a lot of muscle loss.

Associated with this is dynapena. This is the loss of muscle strength. It can take place at a much more dramatic rate than sarcopenia. Some researchers estimate that strength loss could be as much as about 2–3% annually. 

The only known pharmacological treatment for age related sarcopenia is testosterone therapy.

While RT is acknowledged to be the most potent treatment for age related sarcopenia, researchers now suggest that proper protein intake can work synergistically with RT to attenuate the effects of sarcopenia.

And in some cases even induce muscle hypertrophy in older individuals.

In order to understand why proper protein intake is important for maintaining healthy muscle, it’s important to understand how muscle is synthesized and maintained.

A Muscle Metabolism Primer

Muscle mass is regulated by two processes. These are muscle protein synthesis (MPS) and muscle protein breakdown (MPB). Let’s look at MPS first.

Muscle Protein Synthesis

Protein is the major building block of muscle. To get a picture of how muscle is synthesized consider the analogy of building a brick wall.

As you add bricks to the end of a wall, it gets bigger. As protein (actually amino acids) is added to muscle, it’s like adding bricks to a wall. It gets larger.

This is known as muscle protein synthesis (MPS). However, this is not the whole story. There is also something important going on at the other end of the wall.

Muscle Protein Breakdown

Protein is constantly being turned over by your body. That means that protein is constantly being removed from muscle. This is known as muscle protein breakdown (MPB).

Getting back to the wall analogy: while bricks are being added to one end of the wall, bricks are constantly being removed from the other end.

Net Protein Balance

Now, in order for muscle hypertrophy (growth) to occur, MPS must be greater than MPB. When this is achieved, scientists say we have a positive net protein balance (NPB).

When MPS and MPB are equal, we have homeostasis, and muscle mass is maintained. However, if MPB > MPS, then there is a negative NPB. If this occurs you’ll lose muscle mass.

How Do You Achieve Muscle Protein Synthesis?

The key to mitigating muscle loss is to achieve muscle protein synthesis (MPS). The greater amount of MPS going on in your muscle, the less muscle you’ll lose.

At this point, researchers are unsure of the exact role MPB plays in the process.

Outside of hormone therapy there are two ways to stimulate MPS. This can be done through RT or a sufficient intake of dietary protein. RT, though, appears to be a much more potent stimulus for triggering MPS than consuming protein.

However, when RT and optimization of protein consumption are combined, there is a synergistic effect of MPS.

Now, let me put this all together to see how it affects age-related muscle loss and the building of muscle mass.

Preventing Muscle Loss and Increasing Muscle Mass

We know that if you engage in resistance training, you will significantly increase the MPS occurring in your body. RT during the post-absorptive state (when food has not been consumed prior to or after RT) stimulates MPS by more than 100% above basal levels.

However, it’s uncertain whether RT alone, eg. without the ingestion of protein after exercising, can induce muscle hypertrophy (Atherton, Biolo). 

Because RT also increases MPB, NPB may remain negative.  If NPB is negative, muscle hypertrophy will not result. Also see here.

However, and this is important. Even though RT may not stimulate MPS enough to create a positive NPB, it will aid in the sparing of muscle mass loss.

Protein Consumption And MPS

Now, we also know that protein ingestion will increase MPS. Later, I’ll explain why the proper amount and type of protein, including when it’s consumed, is important for achieving optimal MPS.

However, even though protein ingestion will stimulate MPS (independent of RT) and thus limit muscle breakdown, it will not induce muscle hypertrophy. Again this is because NPB remains negative.

So, while RT and protein ingestion independently increase MPS, muscle mass may still be decreasing. But it won’t be decreasing as fast if neither was employed.

Now, here’s the really good news!

Repetitive bouts of RT in combination with protein intake after exercising can increase NPB to a positive state and promote muscle protein accretion over time.

Therefore, in terms of mitigating muscle loss due to age-related declines both RT and proper protein ingestion combined are excellent strategies.

Both strategies will attenuate the loss of muscle due to sarcopenia. However, when combined they can produce a maximal MPS that can cause a positive NPB and thus muscle hypertrophy.

Okay, this is the third time I’m going to mention this. But I really want to drive home this point. This strategy will even create muscle hypertrophy in eighty year olds.

Okay that’s great news. But there are several questions that have to be answered. You may be asking them already.

What kind of RT are we talking about? My intention is not to focus on RT in this article. You can read about RT here and here.

I’ve already hinted at the other question. If protein consumption is an important factor in achieving MPS and preserving muscle mass, then how much should we consume on a daily basis?

What’s The Current Recommended Daily Allowance of Protein?

The current recommended daily allowance (RDA) of protein for adults is 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day (designated as 0.8 g/kg/d). 

So, according to the RDA, if you weigh 150 lbs (68 kg), regardless of age or gender, you would need a minimum of (68 x 0.8) 54.4 grams of protein per day to stay healthy. 

Hopefully, “healthy” would include maintaining good muscle and fulfilling other protein requirements of your body.

If you were to do a quick google search for the RDA for daily protein consumption, the results probably wouldn’t specify what kind of protein meets the 0.8 g/kg/d requirement.

In some places, the RDA specifies high quality-protein, but it doesn’t define what high-quality means. More on this later.

However, the important thing to understand is that the RDA for protein is not the amount you’re allowed to eat daily. It’s the minimum amount of protein needed to meet the basic nutritional requirements of a healthy person.

Recently, however, the RDA for protein has come under criticism by leading protein researchers. 

One criticism is directed against the method used to determine the RDA.

Another is that the RDA may significantly underestimate protein requirements for older people because it neglects the fact that the ability of protein to stimulate MPS is blunted in older adults.

Let’s take a look at the first criticism.

Is The Current RDA For Protein Determined By A Flawed Method?

The RDA for protein is established by using nitrogen balance technology. This method, which has been used for at least 50 years, basically measures the nitrogen going into your body (food) and the nitrogen coming out (excretion).

It theoretically assumes that nitrogen serves as a proxy for essential amino acid (EAA) utilization by your body. Therefore, the difference between the two measurements will tell whether EAAs are in a deficit or abundance. 

The number they arrived at to achieve a nitrogen balance is 0.8 grams/kg/d.

It’s stated this way: 0.8 g/kg/d is,

…the minimum daily needs for protein to maintain short-term nitrogen balance in healthy people with moderate physical activity. 

However, because the nitrogen balance method has several drawbacks it has fallen into disfavor with current leading protein researchers.

Now, here is another important question to consider. While 0.8 g/kg/d is the absolute minimum protein intake people should be striving for, are there benefits to consuming amounts of protein above the RDA?

The Food and Nutrition Board’s Recommendation For Protein Consumption

Nutrition guidelines from the Food and Nutrition Board (FNB) of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) make up the cornerstone of macronutrient recommendations in the United States. See also here.

Their Dietary Reference Intake (DRI) guidelines specify for males >19 years old a minimum of 56g of protein/day and females >19 years old a minimum of 46g of protein/day.

However, the DRI also recognizes biological differences in individuals and also uses the RDA of 0.8 g/kg of body weight/day as acceptable.

Interestingly, it goes one step further and proposes an Acceptable Macronutrient Distribution Range (AMDR) for protein.

The AMDR for protein as suggested by the FNB lies between 10% – 35% of the total calories you consume in a day.    

This recommendation seems to allow individuals to target specific macronutrients in a complete diet. In other words, you can set protein intake along with fat and carbohydrate intakes.

It also allows you to set protein consumption in accordance with specific dietary goals. For example, an elite athlete might want to maximize their protein consumption.

However, what the FNB has done by proposing a AMDR is suggest that there is an amount of protein above 0.8 g/kg/d that might lead to better health outcomes.

AMDR Versus The RDA: Are They Compatible?

By allowing 10% – 35% range of protein intake, the AMDR has set up guidelines that are not consistent with the RDA.

Consider this.

Let’s say you’re a female weighing 57 kg (125 lbs) and consume 2000 (k)cal a day and 10% of that was protein. Then you’d be consuming about 50g of protein a day. However, using the RDA metric you would need to consume (57 x 0.8) 46 g/day. 

That means the AMDR recommends about 8% more protein than the RDA .

However, if you consume 30% of your daily calories as protein, which the AMDR states is acceptable, it would amount to 150 grams. Now that’s 30% higher than the RDA.

Why such a wide range of protein intake?

While the FNB allows for individual differences in its protein recommendation, it also suggests that higher intakes of protein might account for better health outcomes.

The FNB states that the AMDR,

…is provided to give guidance in dietary planning by taking into account the trends related to decreased risk of disease identified in epidemiological and clinical studies.

Thus, FNB acknowledges that there are protein intakes that are well above the RDA that are associated with good health. 

Researcher Dr. Robert Wolfe observes, “In discussing the RDA for protein, the FNB points out that there may be benefits to eating amounts of dietary protein greater than that in the RDA, and it is extensively documented in the same chapter that no UL for protein intake beyond which adverse effects may result could be identified.”

So what’s the right amount of protein you should be consuming during the day?

Seeing that the amount of protein you ingest is crucial for good muscle and also good health in general, it’s important that we have a clearer answer.

The Indicator Amino Acid Oxidation (IAAO) Method For Determining Protein Requirements

An alternate method now being used to determine minimum protein requirements is the Indicator Amino Acid Oxidation (IAAO) Method.

While there are some shortcomings associated with this method, protein researcher Dr. Donald Layman states that the IAAO does address many of the limitations of the Nitrogen Balance method.

When the IAAO method is used for determining protein intake, it has consistently yielded higher estimates than the nitrogen balance method.

Researchers using the IAAO have found that for normal healthy younger persons a safe minimal protein intake was 1.0–1.2?g/kg/day.

For the elderly, minimal intakes were found to be at least 1.2?g/kg/day and perhaps as high as 1.4?g/kg/day for older persons.

Notice that these minimum intakes are 40% – 50% greater than the current RDA.

Also, remember, these values are minimum values and not necessarily optimum values.

But, again, what is the proper amount of protein we should be consuming? Is the IAAO’s recommendation the final answer?

Advice From Expert Groups

Two independently formed groups of protein experts have recently come out with a call for higher protein intakes, especially for older persons. [Most studies consider older persons to be >65 years old.]

The European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (ESPEN) suggests a protein intake of at least 1.0-1.2 g protein/kg body weight/day. For older people who are malnourished or at risk of malnutrition because they have acute or chronic illness, they recommend 1.2-1.5 g protein/kg/d, with an even higher intake for individuals with severe illness or injury.

The PROT-AGE study group, comprised of world recognized experts on protein nutrition, suggests that to help older people (>65 years) maintain and regain lean body mass and function, they have an average daily intake at least in the range of 1.0 to 1.2 g/kg/d.

The study group further recommends,

“Both endurance- and resistance-type exercises are recommended at individualized levels that are safe and tolerated, and higher protein intake (i.e., ? 1.2 g/kg body weight/d) is advised for those who are exercising and otherwise active. Most older adults who have acute or chronic diseases need even more dietary protein (i.e., 1.2-1.5 g/kg body weight/d).”

As you can see, both the ESPEN group and PROT-AGE group are very similar in their recommendation of protein intake for older people.

Their recommendation is also similar to what the IAAO method suggested for minimal protein intake.

So it would seem that at least for older individuals, the RDA of 0.8g/kgBW/day for older individuals is woefully inadequate. 

Researchers now though are shifting away from considering optimal protein in terms of daily intake.

Determining Optimal Protein Intake Based On A Per Meal Basis

In order to discover an optimal protein intake for young and older adults, protein researchers are now turning their attention to a per-meal basis intake of protein rather than simply focusing on the total daily intake.

This brings us back full circle to the concept of muscle protein synthesis.

Remember that the primary process controlling muscle gain or loss is MPS. The greater your MPS, the better chance you’ll have of mitigating muscle loss or even producing muscle gain.

Researchers now know that there is a relationship between the amount of protein you eat at a meal and the amount of MPS created.

Studies have revealed that as the amount of protein you consume increases, there is a graded rise in the rate of MPS up to a point where consuming more protein has no appreciable effect on MPS. 

Protein researchers Witard, Moore and Areta independently have all determined that consuming approximately 20 g of protein is enough to stimulate optimum MPS in young adults. Moore suggests this is about 0.24 g/kg/meal.

Note that these studies were done on individuals who engage in RT. RT does sensitize the body to MPS, so whether more protein would be needed to induce optimal MPS in untrained younger individuals is unclear.

Also, the type of protein used was high quality (whey, egg). Most of us do not consume this kind of protein throughout the day.

Interestingly, higher amounts of protein did not significantly raise MPS (20 g compared to 40 g) . 

There’s about a 30 min delay in the stimulation of MPS. It then peaks at 2 hours and then reverts back to basal levels after about 2–3 hours regardless if more protein is consumed. This is what researchers call a muscle full effect.

The Problem Of Unbalanced Daily Protein Consumption

Most people eat an unbalanced amount of protein throughout the day, with most of their protein at dinner. This causes a problem for creating and sustaining MPS.

Here’s why.

Let’s assume you eat 10 g of protein for breakfast, 15 g for lunch, and 70 g for dinner.

This means that because it takes 20 g of protein to stimulate MPS, you’ll only get the benefit of MPS for about 3 hours after dinner. For the remaining 21 hours, you’ll be experiencing MPB and losing muscle.

Now what if you have 3 meals at 15 g of protein/meal? Then you may not be in MPS at all, and you’d be in MPB throughout the day.

Because of these scenarios, researchers suggest the optimal strategy for building muscle is to spread protein consumption throughout the day.

Phillips et al, report that cumulatively the findings suggest “that ~20 g of high-quality protein (or ~0.3 g/kg/meal) is sufficient to maximally stimulate MPS after a single meal and, when repeatedly administered 3h apart, optimize MPS throughout the day.”

Therefore, the consensus among leading protein researchers is that young adults should consume at least 20 g/meal (0.24g – 0.3g/kg/) per meal and at least 3 – 4 meals per day.

Notice using 0.3 g/meal at 3 meals would bring you to 0.90 g/d/kg/BW. This is already greater than the RDA of 0.8.

Also note that the phrase “high quality protein” comes up again. If you’re not consuming this type of protein, you may need more than 20g at each meal to optimize MPS. More on this later.

Okay, but what about older people?

Protein Recommendations For Older People

Research has shown that the ability of protein to stimulate MPS is blunted in older people.

Theoretically, therefore, it should take a greater amount of protein to stimulate MPS in older adults than younger.

This is in fact what current research has shown.

Moore et al. compiled data from 6 studies and found that for older males it takes ~0.40 g/kg of protein to cause the same MPS observed in younger males.

This tells us that older people can have the same MPS response as young adults although they have to ingest more protein for it to happen. 

However, two studies have shown that protein requirements for older people may have to be higher than even 1.2 g/kg/d.

This study showed that 1.2 g/kg/d had no greater effect on MPS than 0.8g/kg/d. Further this study showed that MPS rates were higher with 1.5 g/kg/d that 0.8 g/kg/d.

Okay, so based on an increasing volume of epidemiological and experimental data, and several expert groups, it seems as though a higher protein intake of at least 1.0 g to 1.5 g/kg/d is necessary for attenuating skeletal muscle loss in older adults.

Remember, though, that this recommendation should be spread over at least 3 meals throughout the day with at least 0.4 g/kg/meal.

If we express this in terms of how many grams of protein older people should consume at each meal, recent recommendations state this should be at least 25-30 g/meal.

Interestingly, in a recent review, protein researcher Stuart Philipps suggests that older adults should consume 0.4–0.6 g of high quality protein/kg/meal for 3 meals per day to attenuate age-associated muscle mass loss.

This would translate to about 30 – 40 grams of protein per meal.

Okay, Let’s Recap.

According to recent evidence, the recommendations for protein consumption are as follows:

Young Adults: Approximately 0.24 g – 0.3 g/kg/meal of high quality protein spread over 3 – 4 meals with at least 20g per meal.

Older people: Approximately, 0.4–0.6 g/kg/meal of high quality protein for 3 – 4 meals. At least 30 – 40 grams per meal.

Now, this seems to be straight forward but there’s one more variable to the equation.

According to current research, it appears that the essential amino acid leucine is the key to initiating MPS.

If you don’t have enough leucine in your protein, you won’t get any MPS.

The Importance of Leucine In Protein Consumption

Muscle growth is accomplished through a muscle building pathway called mTORC1 (mechanistic target of rapamycin). Researchers now know that the amino acid leucine is responsible for triggering this process.

While the actual amount of leucine necessary to trigger MPS is not known, researchers have a general idea of how much is needed per meal. They know that young adults are more sensitive to MPS activation by leucine (about 1 gram). 

However, for older adults the amount of leucine necessary to stimulate MPS is considerably higher.

Researcher Donald Layman states,

Although dose-response trials are not available, there is a general pattern that appears from clinical trials that meals containing >2.2 g leucine in the form of EAA mixtures or whey protein stimulate muscle protein synthesis and meals containing <1.8 g leucine produce little to no response. It is important to note that these studies were performed in older, sedentary adults and represent the minimum response threshold.

So, older adults need >2.2 g of leucine per meal to stimulate MPS.

The PRO-TAGE group recommends older people get at least 2.5 – 2.8 grams of leucine per meal to optimize the anabolic response in skeletal muscle.

So, it’s not only the amount of protein you consume or when you consume it important, your protein must contain enough leucine to trigger MPS.

This is important because not all protein sources contain the same amount of leucine.

The importance of protein quality

Remember previously I mentioned the quality of protein? Here’s why it’s important.

Most of the protein studies are done using whey protein. Whey contains the highest amount of leucine. 

So when protein researchers say that 20 g of protein in young adults and 30 g in older people is enough to stimulate MPS, they are basing this on an optimal protein source.

However, in the real world people are not usually consuming whey protein all day long.

Because different sources of protein have different contents of leucine, you may be consuming 20 g of protein, but it may not be have enough leucine content to trigger MPS.

For example, three large eggs will yield about 18 grams of protein. However, they will only contain about 1.0 gram of leucine. An older person would have to eat about 7-8 eggs to get enough leucine to stimulate MPS.

Also consider that you would have to eat a lot more plant protein to get the same amount of MPS than you would from red meat.

For example, 6 ounces of 90% lean ground beef contains about 3.5 grams of leucine. That’s more than enough to trigger MPS.

However, 7 ounces of quinoa contains about 28 grams of protein but only 0.5 grams of leucine. To get the required 2.5 grams of leucine to trigger MPS, you would need to eat about 35 ounces of quinoa.

Good luck with that!

You may have noticed previously that Phillips’ protein recommendation for older people was slightly higher than others (30 – 40 g as opposed to 25 – 30 g). I suspect the reason is that a higher protein amount would lead to a possibly better leucine content.

Okay let’s recap again.

Young Adults: Approximately 0.24 g – 0.3 g/kg/meal of high quality protein spread over 3 – 4 meals with at least 20 g per meal. Leucine per meal unsure.

Older people: Approximately, 0.4–0.6 g/kg/meal of high quality protein for 3 – 4 meals. At least 30 – 40 grams per meal. At least 2.5 – 2.8 g of leucine per meal.

Final thoughts

These recommendations are not for those who engage in RT. Phillips and others recommend higher protein intake in this case. See here.

I’m 62 years old and resistance train regularly. So, my protein intake is slightly higher than that recommended for older adults.

To make sure I do get enough protein and leucine, I will supplement with whey isolate after my evening workout.  

What about higher intakes of protein impairing renal function? Layman reports that there is no evidence that higher protein intakes impair renal function.

Layman also reports that,

The International Society of Renal Nutrition and Metabolism recommends, for patients with existing kidney disease, consume 0.6–0.8 g/kg body weight if not undergoing dialysis but to increase to 1.0 g/kg during any illness that is catabolic or limits physical activity. For those undergoing dialysis, International Society of Renal Nutrition and Metabolism recommends daily protein >1.2 g/kg, with at least 50% being of high biological value.

This recent study involving individuals who had type 2 diabetes and consumed a moderate 90–120 g/d found no negative effects on renal function during a 2-y period.

So there you have it.

Sufficient protein is a key ingredient for healthy aging. Make sure you’re getting enough.

God bless, and have a great week.

This article originally appeared on glutenfreehomestead.com.

The post Are You Getting Enough Dietary Protein To Maintain Healthy Muscle Quality? appeared first on The Progressing Pilgrim.

Okay, so you’ve reached middle age. You enjoy your time reclining comfortably on your couch after a hard day’s work. Perhaps tonight you’re watching a show on TV featuring trim athletic people scampering around, and you suddenly let out a sigh.

You remember back 20 or 30 thirty years ago when you yourself were in good shape. Maybe you played soccer or lifted weights or ran 10 Ks. You were fast. You were strong. You were agile. But that was in the past. Now you’ve consigned yourself to being a couch potato extraordinaire.

“What’s the use of remembering the glory days anyway?” you muse. “That was then. This is now.”

But wait a minute. While you may never again be able to look like Brad Pitt in Fight Club or Hilary Swank in Million Dollar Baby (though if you worked really hard you’d be amazed what a proper diet and exercise can do for your physique, even at 60), you still may be able to recapture most of the health benefits you lost by not exercising for 30 years.

That’s right! If you start doing moderate to vigorous exercise every day, right now, you can reap almost the same benefits of longevity as someone who at your age has been exercising their whole life.

It sounds too good to be true, right? But it’s true!

Check out this recently published study.

National Cancer Institute Study

Last month, the JAMA Network Open published a study by the National Cancer Institute that involved 315,059 men and women between 50 and 71 years old.

The study relied on data from the N.I.H.-AARP Diet and Health study which began in 1995. The N.I.H. researchers sent questionnaires to participants asking them to detail their leisure time physical activities throughout their lives from teens years to the present.

The participants were asked questions such as how frequently and how intensely they had walked, played sports, jogged, lifted weights, and even how much heavy housework or gardening they did. This is the questionnaire they used.

The Main Data From The Study

As you can see, the questionnaire lists 16 different types of leisure time activities. From now on, I’m going to call these activities exercise.

Basically, researchers wanted to know how frequently the participants engaged in moderate to vigorous exercise during four specific periods of their lives.

These periods included their teen years, young adulthood (19-29), the mid to late thirties, and also in the last 10 years. In this last period, participants would have been between 40 – 61 years old.

Researchers then took this data and separated the participants into different groups that exhibited different patterns of exercise throughout their lives. These groups were Maintainers, Increasers, and Decreasers. The following is a description of each pattern.

• Maintainers: Those participants who maintained approximately the same amount of moderate to vigorous exercise for their entire lives.
• Increasers: Individuals who increased the amount of moderate to vigorous exercise they engaged in either in early or late adulthood.
• Decreasers: Individuals who, as they aged, decreased the amount of moderate to vigorous exercise they engaged in.

Here is how the exercise data was recorded. LTPA refers to leisure-time physical activities (exercise). I’ve highlighted some categories so you can see the difference between each group. Notice that in the Increaser category some individuals increased their exercise activity in early adulthood while others increased theirs in later adulthood. This will become important later on.

Researchers also took into consideration a number of variables such as race, gender, education levels, smoking, BMI, etc.

The Control Group

The study’s control group consisted of individuals who never or rarely exercised throughout their entire lives. Researchers used this group to evaluate the all-cause mortality, cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk, and cancer risk of the other patterns.

The Results Of The Study

 Maintainers

The researches found that individuals who maintained or increased moderate or vigorous amounts of exercise (2-8 hours per week) throughout their lifetimes experienced a 29% to 36% lower risk of all-cause and cardiovascular disease (CVD) related mortality than those who seldom exercised.

In the graph to the right, groups 7, 8, and 10 are Maintainers.

The result above also holds for individuals who exercised quite a bit in their teens, reduced in their thirties, but continued up again.

Individuals who practiced one hour of exercise per week throughout their lifetime (group 5) only experienced a 16% lower risk.

Group 1 was the control group.

Increasers

In the graph to the right, groups 2 and 3 are Increasers.

As you can see, some individuals started exercising in young adulthood while others started to intensify their exercise after 40 years old.

Now here’s the amazing finding!

Researchers found that individuals who increased their exercise routine either early or later in adulthood had a 32% to 35% lower all-cause mortality risk.

Note that this risk factor was very similar to those people who maintained higher exercise levels from adolescence to 40 to 61 years of age (29%-36%).

Additionally, the CVD-related mortality risk for participants who increased exercise in later adulthood (40-61 years of age) was 43% lower when compared with the group who seldom exercised.

Did you get that? If you start doing moderate to higher amounts of exercise later in adulthood, even if you hadn’t exercised for decades, you could reap the same health benefits as someone who has exercised their whole life.

Decreasers

Individuals who reported high levels of exercise early in adulthood but lower levels by ages 40 to 61 appeared to have little all-cause or CVD-related mortality protection in midlife.

So, if you engaged in moderate to intense exercise in early adulthood and then stop exercising, you will lose the benefits you gained from all that effort you expended.

Cancer-Related Mortality

The results for cancer-related mortality weren’t as impressive as those for all-cause or CVD mortality but the trend appeared to hold.

Maintainers

Maintaining at least 2 to 7 hours per week resulted in a 14% lower risk when compared with participants who were consistently inactive throughout adulthood

Maintaining some exercise (1 hour/wk throughout adult life course) was associated with similar risk for cancer-related mortality as the control group.

Increasers

Increasing exercise during adulthood was associated with lower cancer-related mortality. Participants who increased exercise in later adulthood (40-61 years of age) had a 16% lower risk when compared with the control group

Decreasers

There were no significant differences in risk for cancer-related mortality between participants who were consistently inactive (the control group) and those who decreased exercise across the course of their lives.

Again, if you exercised intensely when you were an adolescent or in young adulthood but then stopped, you would have essentially the same risk factor as someone who never actively engaged in any serious exercise.

The Bottom Line

If you’ve done moderate to intensive exercise your whole life, that’s great. You’ll reap many more health benefits than someone who never exercised. But don’t stop now or you could lose all the health benefits you’ve accrued!

But here’s the exciting news!

Let’s say, you’re in your forties, fifties, or even sixties, and you’ve done little to no exercise your entire life. If you get off that couch now and begin a moderate to a vigorous exercise program, you may gain the same health benefits as someone who exercised their whole life.

In my case, because of chronic fatigue syndrome, the only exercise I was able to do from 30 years old until 58 years old was brisk daily walking. But for the last four years, I’ve been able to strength train 5 days a week.

And now I’m the healthiest and strongest I’ve been in 28 years. That’s my N=1 study proving that it’s never too late to start exercising.

One Important Limitation To The Study: Moderate Or Vigorous Exercise

I couldn’t find in the study’s data how different kinds of moderate or vigorous exercise affected the risk results. In other words, did 4 hours of playing baseball or golfing equate to 4 hours of jogging? The researchers might have felt this factor didn’t affect the results. I don’t know.

However, looking at the hazard ratio data, the study did tell us that most Maintainers and Increasers reach their maximum health benefits at between 6 – 8 hours a week of moderate to vigorous exercise.

That may sound like a lot of exercise, but it’s not. A half hour brisk walk and a half hour of strength training 5 days a week will give you 5 hours of vigorous exercise.

Here, though, is something key. If you can engage in high-intensity interval training (HITT), then you can cut this time down even more! See here.

Other Limitations To The Study

The N.I.H. study did have some other limitations. First, researchers had to rely on participants’ memories for data. This means the data reported might not be entirely accurate.

Second, all participants had to be free of colorectal cancer, breast cancer, prostate cancer, or renal disease. However, the researchers could not be sure of every participant’s health status at the beginning of the study.

I would also have liked to know if diet played a significant part in the final results.

Nevertheless, the authors of the study were confident that after adjusting for many risk factors their results were highly accurate.

They also pointed out that their results were consistent with other studies but that this study was unique in that it recorded 46 years of data. That is considerably longer than any previous study.

What also makes this study quite compelling is the large number of participants that were included.

Exercise And The Quality of Your Life As You Age

The N.I.H. study told us that if we get up off the couch and start a moderate to vigorous weekly exercise program, we can regain many of the benefits of longevity that lifelong exercisers enjoy.

However, what the study didn’t tell us was how much 6 hours of moderate or vigorous exercise will improve our quality of life as we age.

In other words, if your exercise program prevented you from dying prematurely, getting CVD, or cancer, that’s good. But if you can’t climb the stairs or get off the toilet at 70 years old, how well are you really living?

So, the big question becomes which form of exercise will give you the benefits of longevity and also increase or maintain your quality of life as you age?

Strength Training: The Best Bang For Your Exercise Buck

Last year, a University of Michigan study of 8,326 men and women found that “people with low muscle strength are 50 percent more likely to die earlier.”

Another recent study of 12,591 individuals (mean age 47 years) showed that even 1 hour of strength training per week reduced the risk of total CVD events by 40%-70%. A similar result held for CVD morbidity and all-cause mortality.

However, remember that no amount of exercise can guarantee that you will live longer. Our life span is always in the hands of the Lord.

So strength training can provide the benefits of longevity. But it will also provide you the means to have a better quality of life.

It definitely will improve your muscle quality and mass. That means you’ll look better, and that’s always important to us and our significant other, right?

However, you’ll also become a stronger you. That means you’ll be able to do the things you want to do well into old age.

I like what strength coach Mark Rippetoe says about people who strength train:

Strong people are harder to kill than weak people and more useful in general.

But there are still more benefits to strength training. This next one is remarkable.

Strength Training And Anti-Aging

Did you know that strength training has been shown to reverse aging in muscle tissue? That’s right! Strength training can actually make your muscles young again.

See my post here describing studies that show how strength training in older individuals caused their muscular gene expression and mitochondrial health to become consistent with that in much younger individuals.

Strength training may be a modern fountain of youth.

Reasons I Prefer Strength Training Over Running

I know, I know. We were always told if you want to get into shape, get yourself a good pair of trainers and start jogging. 

But, in my opinion, strength training for overall longevity and health benefits is superior to long slow cardio. I’m probably biased here, but these are my reasons.

While steady-state aerobic activity like jogging will provide some cardio benefits, there are some negatives which us older persons have to be aware of.

1. Running will build up your legs, but it won’t build up your whole body.
2. Lower body injuries like sprains, shin splints, tendonitis, and stress fractures are common running injuries.
3. Running requires good weather or a treadmill.

On the other hand, consider the positives of strength training.

1. Strength training may improve cardiovascular health as much as running. Also, see here.
2. Increased muscle mass means better insulin sensitivity.
3. Stronger and denser bones.
4. Improved cognitive health when you train your legs. See my post here.
5. Improved mobility and balance (that means less chance of falling)
6. A stronger back which means you’ll have fewer back problems See my post here.
7. Strength training can be done in a variety of different ways (body weight, barbells, circuit training, etc.)

For a more detailed look at why everyone over 40 should strength train, see my post here.

If I’ve convinced you to start a strength training routine, see my post on how to begin strength training here. I started this program when I was 58 years old, and I continue to train at 62.

But, remember, the best exercise is the one you consistently do!

That’s it for this week. I hope you start your exercise routine this week. Remember to check with your doctor first to see if you can start exercising.

If you have any comments we would love to hear from you.

God bless and have a great week!

This article originally appeared on glutenfreehomestead.com.

The post Can Starting An Exercise Program In Your 50s Help You Live Longer? appeared first on The Progressing Pilgrim.

As Beatles lovers, Barbara and I have sometimes laughed about what it would be like when we turned sixty-four. If you’re a Beatles fan, you know why.

Their song When I’m Sixty-Four is a story about a young man wondering if the love of his life will still cherish him when he’s sixty-four. The man recognizes that growing older changes you. He sings,

“When I get older losing my hair
Many years from now
Will you still be sending me a Valentine
Birthday greetings bottle of wine.”

Then he laments,

“Will you still need me
Will you still feed me
When I’m sixty-four”

Well, at sixty-four, Barbara and I still need each other, and we still feed each other. And, as you can see from her recipes, I get fed pretty good. 

As far as the negative effects of aging go, we’re not experiencing a lot of downside to being sixty-four. We’re both stronger, healthier, and have more vitality than we had 20 years ago.

However, health officials are constantly reminding us that there is a downside to being 64. We’re told that because of our age, we’re close to that “high risk” category for catching “bad things”. You know what I mean.

That may be so. But it’s not really a major concern for us. Here’s why.

This recent virus has taught us that maintaining good health into old age is critical for helping us survive stressful health events. This is obvious when we consider that a large percentage of older individuals who succumbed to the illness had other health issues such as diabetes, pulmonary disease, heart disease or obesity.

So, over the last 10 years, Barbara and I have done much to strengthen our bodies so that even if we did “catch something bad”, we could quickly heal from it, God willing. And, yes, we also still take all the sensible precautions that are recommended.

But our major strategy for protecting ourselves from the harms of a stressful health event in our older years is to strengthen our bodies to heal quickly or fight off any bad things that may come our way.

In this post, I’ll tell you how we’re doing that.

Two major keys to maintaining good health

In order to maintain good health into your older years, health professionals have stressed two lifestyle areas that you must try to optimize.

The first, of course, is a good diet. Second, health professionals have also stressed our need for a regular exercise program.

Regular exercise is so critical to good health that recently the Academy of Medical Sciences has called it a “miracle cure”. 

Since we haven’t shared our current diets and workout programs recently, we thought we’d take the time to give you an update.

As I mentioned before, we don’t feel like 64. Barbara certainly doesn’t look a day over 39 (see why I’m her DH). We’re both stronger than we were at 34 years old, and neither one of us takes any prescription meds.

Okay, let’s get to it. Barb first.

Barbara’s diet

I’ll start by introducing a sensitive issue. Barbara says be very careful when discussing this topic. Okay, I can do that.

Maintaining a healthy weight has been a central focus of our diet plan for at least 10 years.

For Barbara, however, it’s been a 40 year battle. One that she’s actually won! She’s maintained an ideal weight for about 3 years now. She fluctuates about 2.5 pounds in either direction depending upon the season.

Nope, I’m not going to tell you her weight! But it’s ideal. Not only according to me but according to the ideal weight charts from 1960.

This is how she does it:

Macronutrients

We don’t count macronutrients anymore. We’ve come to know approximately how much carbohydrates, protein and fat are contained in our food. And since we know what our targets are for our macros, we eat accordingly. 

Here’s a general analysis of Barb’s diet.

Carbohydrates

Limiting carbs is Barbara’s central focus. Her carb intake is always lower than 40 grams a day. Some days lower than thirty. Her carbs come from low glycemic vegetables, but she does like blueberries and the occasional apple.

There is a caveat here. We do drink red wine occasionally. We are currently enjoying the wines from Dry Farms Wines. They are billed as a keto-friendly wine because of their low sugar content. So far they haven’t had any effect on her weight.

Protein

Both of us are very conscious of our protein intake. Maintaining good muscle mass is extremely important at our age. In order to do this, we must get adequate protein intake.

Barbara consumes at least 30 grams of protein three times a day. This is the minimum amount someone our age needs. We both eat high quality protein such as beef and chicken. To find out why adequate protein is important for older adults see my post here.

Fat

Several years ago Barbara and I went on a ketogenic diet. The problem here is that some keto diets tend to be high in fat. She found out that too much fat in her diet is a no-no!

At first she lost significant weight, but then hit a plateau and couldn’t lose any more. She found that when she cut down her fat intake, the excess weight came off like butter. Maybe it was the extra butter in her coffee, lol.

There is a caveat here as well. She does take 1 tablespoon of MCT oil everyday. Her mom suffered from early Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and she really wants to guard against that. MCT oil is converted directly into ketones in our body. Researchers now know that ketones are an excellent fuel source for the brain in lieu of glucose. 

One theory on the cause of AD is the brain’s inability to use glucose as a fuel. This is why AD is commonly called Type 3 diabetes. If the brain can’t utilize glucose, it will essentially be starved and begin to break down. But ketones can replace glucose as a fuel. See my post on Alzheimer’s here.

Remember, though, oil is a type of fat. To minimize its dreaded effect of causing weight gain, Barb puts in some extra time on the treadmill or goes for a walk outside. 

One note here is that Barb is 100% gluten-free. She doesn’t have celiac, but three of us in the family have non-celiac gluten sensitivity so she just refrains as well. 

Fasting

Barbara tried intermittent fasting (24 – 48 hours) several years ago. She found that this didn’t help her significantly. What does appear to help is time delayed eating. We generally allow at least 16 hours of fasting between our last meal of the day and our first of the next day.

An overall low-insulin producing diet

Overall, Barbara’s diet can be characterized as a low-insulin producing diet. By limiting high glycemic carbs, her overall glucose intake is low.

Remember that one of insulin’s primary jobs is to transport glucose out of your bloodstream and bring it to cells for energy. If you consume a lot of complex high glycemic carbs over a span of years, you’ll definitely gain weight. I didn’t have to tell you that, right?

But this continued consumption of carbs will also cause an enormous flow of glucose into your bloodstream. That means your pancreas is going to secrete huge amounts of insulin. Over time, this over secretion of insulin can lead to a condition called insulin resistance.

Insulin resistance has been highly associated with Type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer and Alzheimer’s disease.

As I mentioned, since Barb has a family history of AD, she wants to maintain good insulin sensitivity.

Also, as we age, our body’s sensitivity to insulin decreases and subsequently our glycemic control decreases. That means your chances of developing type 2 diabetes is increased. It’s one of those consequences of making it to your golden years.

So increasing insulin sensitivity is key to maintaining good health, at any age!

Okay, I’ll mention one more caveat. We’ll both have a small piece of 88% dark chocolate once a day with our green tea. The sugar content is pretty negligible, but the taste is divine.

Let’s take a look at supplements.

Barbara’s supplementation

Barb swears by her collagen supplement. She says it keeps her nails strong and her hair lustrous. Who am I to argue with that? She adds one scoop a day to her first cup of coffee.

Okay, let’s look at vitamins. We both take 5000 IU of vitamin D3 a day. Definitely make sure you get your Vitamin D levels checked. It’s critical to your health. Many people who didn’t do well with the current virus had low vitamin D levels.

We both also take magnesium daily. If you’re on a low-carb diet, you need extra magnesium.

Okay, here’s something we take just to be on the safe side. It’s reported that vitamin K2 is helpful in guarding against heart disease. See here. This is the one we take.

That’s about it for Barb’s diet. Let’s move on to exercise.

Barbara’s exercise program

Barbara and I have been going on a 30 minute brisk walk five days a week for about 10 years. When the weather is bad, she’ll

use our treadmill instead.

While Barbara really enjoys walking, she’ll tell you that it’s not the most important part of her exercise program.

You see, Barb is also a strength trainer. She’s been doing barbell and dumbbell training for over 5 years. (In my next post I’ll explain why strength training is so important for us older adults).

This is her routine (all exercises are done once a week):

Bench Press: Barbara is currently doing 4 sets x 3 repetitions x 45 pounds. That’s an olympic bar with no weights on it. She was up to 65 pounds but reduced after she hurt her shoulder.

No, she didn’t hurt it by lifting weights. I think it was from holding, with one hand, her humongous Lodge cast iron skillet. She’s said she’s feeling better now and is ready to start increasing her weights.

Squat: Because of her shoulder, she had been doing bodyweight squats with a 25 pound weight. She had been doing 3 sets of 5 repetitions. This week she went back to the 45 pound olympic bar for squats with no more shoulder pain. She’ll be gradually adding more weight to get back up to her max of 70 pounds.

Barbara used to have terrible knee pain. Now it’s a thing of the past. She attributes a big part of this to squats.

Overhead Press: She does 3 sets x 5 repetitions with 15 pound dumbbells. She has no pain at all with this exercise now.

Deadlift: Barbara is actually an excellent deadlifter. She was up to 130 pounds for 3 reps. Deadlifts are necessary to build up overall body strength. Unfortunately Barb’s recent shoulder injury prevented her from doing them. However, she says she’s ready to get back to “pulling a lot of weight again.” That means heavy deadlifting in powerlifting lingo.

She’s a pip.

Okay I think that covers her diet and exercise program. If you have any questions, shoot her a message.

John’s diet

First, I’m 100% gluten-free. Fifteen years ago, after trying everything to recover from years of severe chronic fatigue syndrome, I learned about the problems that gluten could cause in the areas of intestinal impermeability. This permeability can allow all kinds of toxins to enter your bloodstream and affect your immune system. 

Also, it turned out I had many of the symptoms associated with non-celiac gluten sensitivity. So I ditched the gluten.

Did I feel better immediately? No, it was just the beginning of the journey.

The problem with going GF was that I’m a carboholic. At the time, manufacturers were coming out with their new GF brands (alternatives to wheat products), and I was consuming them like crazy. Thus I ballooned up to 193 pounds. Unfortunately, most of that weight was in my abdomen.

Okay, long story short. I discovered the paleo diet and lost about 10 pounds. I also started feeling much better. Read my post on the differences between a GF and paleo diet.

Then I went low carb and lost another 10 pounds and was feeling even better. I was well enough to even start lifting weights.

Even though I was feeling much better, I still had a big problem. I was carrying too much weight around my abdomen.

My skinny-fat body type

I have a classic skinny-fat body type. Others call it TOFI (thin-outside-fat-inside). The problem with this body type is that while you may not look obese on the outside, on the inside there’s a disproportionate amount of fat stored in your abdomen.

Many skinny-fat individuals also have a lack of lean muscle mass. 

Health experts tell us that this is an extremely unhealthy body type where the risk of heart disease is significantly increased. See my post here.

So my goal was to see if I could improve my health in this area. Since I was already low carb (< 70 carbs/day), I had to do something more drastic.

I started reading about the benefits of the ketogenic diet (I was consuming <25 grams of carbs/day). This was 3 years ago. See my post on keto diet here. 

So I went keto. Within 3 months, I was down to 163 pounds, lost most of the fat around my waist, was making consistent strength gains, and I FELT GREAT. I wasn’t 100%, but I was getting there.

A year and a half ago, I went on a carnivore diet. Have you heard of that diet? I eat a 95% animal based diet. 

Because the carnivore diet is the ultimate elimination diet it has lately gained a lot of popularity. So if you have any kind of suspected autoimmune problems, it may be a way to help in that area.

The second reason is because I wanted to increase my protein intake. I was still lifting heavy, and you need protein to make muscle. Also older individuals need more protein, not less protein, than younger people. See my post on protein here.

Now, I’ll get into some specifics.

Protein

My diet is protein centered. I consume at least 40 grams of protein three times a day. 

Breakfast protein: (like Barb I eat at about 12PM) 3 eggs, bacon or ham, some chicken or ground beef.

Lunch Protein: ground beef (minimum 7 oz.)

Dinner Protein: one of the following — steak, chicken, ground beef, liver

I will supplement with 20 grams of whey protein after working out. I also take a scoop of collagen at 12PM.

There’s been some controversy over the fact that too much protein can damage your kidneys. This recent review says this belief has not been scientifically proven.

Carbohydrates

My carbs are usually under 25 grams/day. I will have some broccoli or zucchini daily but not a lot. I may have a small portion of white rice after a heavy bench session just to get a glycogen refeed for my muscles.

Fat

My fat intake is generally from the food I eat and whatever fat Barb cooks with (olive oil or butter).

Treats

I’ll have some dark chocolate daily and some non-fat Greek yogurt after dinner. Like Barb, I’ll occasionally have a small glass of the low-sugar wine.

Supplements

I take 5000 units of vitamin D3 daily. Magnesium is another important supplement, especially if you’re on a low-carb diet. I take this one. It’s a large tablet and little more difficult to swallow than the one Barb takes.

Like Barbara, I take vitamin K2 daily.

Sodium is another important part of a low-carb diet. Throughout the day, I’ll take some Redmond’s Real Salt. See here.

As you can see, my diet, like Barb’s, is insulin friendly. There’s not a lot of glucose in it.

John’s exercise program

Like Barbara, I go for a brisk walk (3.5 mph) at least 5 days a week. While walking will give you some cardiovascular and psychological benefit, it will not build muscle to any significant amount.

And maintaining good muscle mass is critical to aging well. See my upcoming post.

In order to maintain and even increase muscle mass as you age, you must do some kind of resistance training. Yes, you can build muscle even into your eighties.

Currently I’m using the Wendler 5/3/1 barbell program. This program focuses on four main lifts – deadlift, squats, bench press, and overhead press. Each lift is done on one day. So I lift heavy at least four days a week. Each session takes about 40 min.

These are my current 1 repetition maximum lifts. I’m 64 years old and weigh 164 pounds. Just to note, I’ve been lifting for over 6 years. I started by lifting 20 pound dumbbells.

Deadlift: 300 pounds

Squat: 205 (yes, my legs are my weakest link ? )

Bench Press: 190

Overhead Press: 115

These totals represent the strongest I’ve been in over 30 years.

After I became strong enough to use a barbell (45 pounds), I used the Starting Strength Method. In my opinion, this is the best strength training program available for someone who wants to get started, regardless of age. Of course, you should always first check with your doctor before you start any exercise program!

As I’m about to turn 64, I will say that I feel the best that I have in 30 years. I’m stronger and have more vitality than I thought possible only a short 6 years ago.

Okay, so these are our strategies for aging well. We’ve incorporated these into our overall lifestyle so it’s not really difficult to follow.

So far, we think it’s working well. Thanks for reading!

God bless and have a great week!

This article originally appeared on glutenfreehomestead.com.

The post How We’re Staying Healthy At 64: Barbara and John’s Diet And Exercise Strategy appeared first on The Progressing Pilgrim.

Barbara and I are quickly approaching our 63rd birthdays. November for me and December for her. And now, even though we are kind of “senior citizens”, we are healthier, stronger, more agile, and trimmer than we’ve been since our thirties.

To be honest, I feel the best I have since I was 32 years old. For me, that’s especially significant because I suffered from chronic fatigue syndrome for about 25 years. But, thankfully, I’ve overcome that and now I have enough energy to strength train and enjoy life.

As for Barbara, well, she looks “mahvelous”. And her energy levels are amazing. Take a look at her Instagram page here. At 63 years old, she deadlifts, squats, overhead presses, and bench presses every week. And after lifting, she heads to the kitchen to whip up one of those awesome recipes she features here on the blog.

Neither of us takes any prescription meds and we look forward to aging as an adventure to share together instead of something to be feared.

Now, I’m not saying that we never wake up with some assorted aches and pains. We do. But most times it’s related to that heavy weight lifting session we had the evening before. Barbara is always quick to remind me that, “It’s a good pain.” She’s right, of course.

In this post, I’d like to share with you what we’re currently doing to stay fit and trim. Our strategies are pretty much the same but in different degrees.

Perhaps you may consider adding them into your daily fitness routine.

Diet Is The Foundation Of Our Health Strategy

First We Went Gluten-Free 

Barbara and I both went gluten-free (GF) about 15 years ago. While we don’t have celiac disease, we went GF for some specific reasons.

The gluten protein found in wheat causes intestinal permeability (leaky gut). A leaky gut can lead to all kinds of autoimmune and other health problems. So, since I was looking for healing solutions for my CFS, improving my gut health was a priority.

I also suspect that I have non-celiac gluten sensitivity. 

Though wheat wasn’t a problem for Barbara, she didn’t want the potential intestinal problems associated with gluten, so she just stopped it altogether as well.

Paleo – Low – Carb Phase

Our health journey really started in earnest about 7 years ago when we decided to adopt a paleo diet. We ate a lot of whole foods and cut out all processed foods, even the GF ones (bread, pasta, etc.). For the differences between a paleo and GF diet see my post here.

From paleo, we transitioned to low-carb (<100 grams of carbs), then to very low-carb (<50 grams). 

Ketogenic Diet Phase

Two years ago we went extremely low-carb (<25 grams). I suspect we both were in nutritional ketosis at that point. Nutritional ketosis is a natural metabolic state where your body adapts to burning fat rather than carbs as your main fuel source.

Barbara’s blood test came back positive for ketones. At less than 25 grams of carbs, I had no doubt I was in ketosis as well. For more on a ketogenic diet see here.

We just never had the initiative to check our ketones. Less than 25 grams of carbs (total) should be sufficient to keep us in ketosis.

However, we definitely both wanted to be in ketosis. I needed to lose some extra inches off my waist, and I also wanted the powerful anti-inflammatory effect of ketones. I was still suffering from some effects of CFS and I needed something to get me over the top.

Amazingly, it worked! 

Barbara wanted to lose some stubborn pounds that were refusing to come off under low-carb. But she had another reason. Her mom suffered terribly from Alzheimer’s disease. 

Medical professionals are now calling Alzheimer’s type 3 diabetes because of a type of insulin resistance found in brain cells. These cells cannot use glucose as a fuel and thus become damaged.

But they can use ketones as fuel. So by having her body produce ketones, Barbara can have a healthier brain and increase her odds of avoiding Alzheimer’s.

Type 2 diabetes is also an increased risk factor for Alzheimer’s. Barbara, even though not overweight, was borderline pre-diabetic.  After going keto, her A1C normalized rather quickly.

Oh, and she lost those unnecessary pounds as well.

A Low Insulin Lifestyle Is A Key To Good Health

So our ultimate diet strategy is that we maintain a low insulin lifestyle. 

Insulin is a hormone produced by your pancreas. One important function of insulin is that it builds muscle in your body.

Another important function it has is promoting the removal of glucose from your blood so that it can be sent to your liver, fat, and muscle cells.

When you ingest carbohydrates, they are broken down by your body into glucose which finds its way into your bloodstream. Excess glucose can’t remain in your blood so insulin is secreted to remove it.

However, if your insulin levels remain persistently high over an extended time (years), a situation called hyperinsulinemia may result.

Hyperinsulinemia may then result in a condition known as insulin resistance. This is the inability of cells to respond to the effect of insulin.

Insulin resistance is now known to be associated with cancer, coronary heart disease, metabolic syndrome, obesity, PCOS, type 2 diabetes, and Alzheimer’s disease. See here.

While there are several causes of insulin resistance the primary drivers are the persistent overconsumption of refined carbohydrates and polyunsaturated fatty acids (omega-6 linoleic acid).

So, in order for us to maintain a low insulin lifestyle, we keep our carbs very low and avoid vegetable seed oils (canola, vegetable, cottonseed, soy, and corn) like the plague. See my post on healthy fats here.

Now, there are some people who tolerate carbs really well. You know those people. They can eat anything they want, and they never get fat.

Well, I’m not one of them. For me, carbs have a tendency to manifest as fat around my waist. I tend to a skinny-fat or TOFI (Thin Outside – Fat Inside) body type. This means my body weight was normal, but inside I was carrying a lot of fat. This is a very unhealthy body type. See my post here. So avoiding carbs is necessary for me.

Here’s a tip for anyone trying to optimize their diet. Avoid consuming refined carbs mixed with fats. This is an especially poor diet practice for anyone. Those combos (french fries, potato chips, etc.) are especially tasty, but do a lot of harm to your body. 

Needless to say, we also avoid all processed food as much as possible.

Another good way to improve insulin sensitivity is through exercise. More on that later.

Getting Healthier By Increasing Our Protein Intake

Anyone over 50 years old, especially if you’re doing any kind of strength training, should evaluate their protein consumption.

Current protein experts now recommend that older people consume at least 30 – 40 grams of high quality protein at least three times a day. Each meal should contain at least 2.5 grams of the essential amino acid leucine. See my post on protein here.

These amounts assure us that we’re protecting ourselves against excess muscle loss due to aging.

Supplementing With Whey Protein

So, yes, we consume a minimum of 30 grams of protein three times a day. In the evening, I’ll add a protein shake to my meal to ensure it’s at least 30 grams. Since I’m lifting heavy, I need at least 40 grams to ensure good muscle growth.

Yes, your muscles can still grow at 60 years old and beyond. See here.

This is the whey protein we take.

Barbara finds it hard to consume all that protein so she often substitutes a protein drink for lunch instead of a full meal.

Since upping my protein intake, I’ve noticed a significant increase in muscle strength. This is not subjective. Because I train regularly, I can measure my strength in how many pounds I can lift.

When I lost about 10 pounds after going keto, my lift totals declined slightly. That was expected. Since upping my protein, I’ve gained back all the strength I lost and then some, even though I weigh 10 pounds less!

Consuming Meat

In order to get all that protein, a large part of our diet consists of meat and eggs. They constitute around 90% of what we consume. We’re not quite carnivores but almost.  

Our meat basically consists of beef, pork, and chicken. We’ll also have liver and salmon at least once every two weeks.

Is there a danger to consuming too much meat? This recent report says no!

What about Vegetables?

Our vegetable consumption is limited to broccoli or cauliflower every evening. Barbara’s sautéed broccoli in olive oil is to die for. I never tire of it. We’ll also add in sauerkraut and pickles often. We might occasionally also have some sautéed bell peppers or Brussels Sprouts. 

That’s it for veggies. 

You Can’t Forget Snacks, Can You?

Okay, here’s our main indulgence. Every day we’ll snack on 1-2 small squares of 80% dark chocolate. Sometimes we’ll also sneak a few macadamia nuts or almonds, but not often.

I’ll also occasionally have a small portion of low-fat Greek yogurt during the week.

That’s it for snacks.

Because of all the protein we eat, we’re seldom hungry. So we rarely have food cravings.

A Typical Daily Meal

Breakfast 12:00 – 1:00 PM

3 eggs (Here’s our favorite omelet)

4 – 5 pieces of bacon or some other kind of meat (leftover chili, meatloaf, chicken, etc.)

Green tea

Lunch 4:00 PM

Steak

1-2 squares 80% dark chocolate

Green tea

Dinner 8:00 PM

One Pan Chicken Thighs (See all of Barbara’s low-carb recipes here)

Broccoli, sauerkraut, or cauliflower

1 scoop of whey isolate protein powder

A small portion of low-fat Greek yogurt if I’m feeling hungry.

Green tea

Time-Restricted Eating

If you notice above, we don’t eat our first meal until at least 12:00 PM, usually later though. Our last meal is at 8:00 PM. This means that we consume our food in an 8-hour window.

So, in essence, we do a 16 hour fast every day. This is another strategy that allows up to keep our insulin levels low. If you’re not eating, your insulin levels will decrease. That’s why fasting is such an important strategy for those trying to lose weight. See here.

Our 16 hour fast may also allow for some autophagy (removal of damaged cell structures) to take place in our bodies. Maintaining proper autophagy is a key strategy for longevity.

Okay, that’s about it for diet. Let’s get onto the second most important strategy we use to stay strong and healthy.

Getting Healthier With Barbell Strength Training

Barbara and I have been strength training with barbells for over four years.

Along with our gluten-free low-carb diet, it’s an essential core of our health routine. You simply cannot age well if you don’t maintain good muscle mass and quality.

Many of the lifestyle diseases we see today are directly associated with poor muscle. See my recent post on protein here.

Also, strength training is the only non-pharmaceutical treatment for age-related sarcopenia. Everybody over the age of 40 is losing muscle mass. It’s a fact of life. However, if you’re sedentary, you could be losing a lot and not even realize it until you can’t get up the stairs anymore.

Sorry about this but I’m going to mention insulin again. Skeletal muscle is the primary site for glucose disposal in your body. If you want better glucose control, then build up your muscles. The best way to do that is through strength training. 

Our Strength Training Routine

We do at least 4 basic exercises during the week. These are bench press, squats, overhead press, and deadlifts. These lifts work the major muscle groups of our body.

Barbara does 3-5 reps for 3-4 sets on each exercise not including warmups. Shhh… here’s a secret. She’s not really a strength training fanatic. She would much rather be drinking a hot cup of coffee and reading a good book.

But she is diligent at her lifting because she likes the results it gives her. She also covets the health benefits strength training offers.

Here’s one benefit she really wants. Remember I mentioned that her mom had Alzheimer’s. Well, strong legs have been positively identified with better cognitive performance in aging people.

Now, on the other hand, I enjoy working out. Maybe that has something to do with the fact that I suffered from CFS for 25 years. Once I was able to start lifting at 57, it was as if I had a new chance to start getting strong again.

Okay, we understand that at our age we have to be careful. Older folks can’t lift like the younger generation. So we’ve listened to what the experts say. We follow a good program, rest often, lift conservatively (don’t max out often), and listen to our bodies. So far the results have been impressive.

Here’s a recent deadlift of mine. Age:62, Body Weight: 165,  Lift: 293 lbs     View this post on Instagram           

A post shared by John Bianchi DPM (@johnbianchi56) on Nov 6, 2019 at 8:11pm PST

Here’s Barbara knocking out some bench press reps. 70 lbs x 3     View this post on Instagram           

A post shared by Barbara Bianchi ? Easy Recipes (@glutenfreehomestead) on Sep 3, 2019 at 12:35pm PDT

If you want to start strength training and you’re over 40 years old, see my post here.

I started at 57 years old following 25 years of CFS and two frozen shoulders from bursitis. If I can do it, and unless you’re severely debilitated, you can probably do it too. If you do choose to strength train make sure your doctor says it’s okay.

Just as an aside, Barbara no longer has knee pain which bothered her for years and my fingers are virtually pain-free from arthritic changes.

Oh, you say you have a bad back? Well, so did I. I had two lumbar herniations and one cervical. Since lifting, my back has never been better. See my post here.

One last reason to strength train. Did you know strength training can make you younger? See my Medium article here.

Supplements

Okay, the supplements we take may not be as important as our previous two strategies, but they still play an important part in our health regimen.

On a very low-carb (ketogenic) diet, there’s a tendency to lose electrolytes like magnesium and sodium.

Therefore, to maintain good magnesium levels, we take at least 2000 mg of magnesium every day. This is the one we take. 

To make sure we’re getting enough sodium, we salt our food at every meal. We also take a pinch of salt with water three times a day. We favor Redmond Real Sea Salt.

Adequate vitamin D3 is also essential for good health. Of course, the best way to get vitamin D is through sun exposure. If you’re not getting enough sun, make sure you get your D levels checked.

We take 5000 IU a day. This is the one we take.

Vitamin K2 is another key element in our supplement plan. K2 is an important compound for promoting heart health. Incidentally, it is thought that vitamin D may work synergistically with vitamin K2 to decrease vascular calcification.

This is the vitamin K2 we use. It has one of the higher concentrations of K2 on Amazon.

There are others with higher concentrations on the web, but they are rather expensive.

Watch this video on how one man reversed his coronary artery disease. 
https://www.youtube.com/embed/X4RipKub_Y8?start=32

Betaine HCL

Okay, as you get older, your production of stomach acid decreases. This means that your food digestion might suffer, but you may not absorb nutrients as well as you used to. 

Betaine HCL promotes the production of additional hydrochloric acid in the stomach, which aids digestion. It also assists with absorbing important nutrients, especially proteins. Remember, we need those proteins for building muscle.

We take one capsule with each meal. Here is the one we take.

MCT Oil

Okay, I’m going to get a bit nuanced again. I mentioned previously about our desire to have our bodies produce ketones. When you reduce your carb intake drastically and consume adequate fat, your body will direct your liver to make ketones.

Instead of using glucose as a fuel source, it can use these ketones. Ketones are thought to be a much cleaner and efficient fuel. The brain especially seems to do well when fueled by ketones.

Remember I mentioned that the brain can develop insulin resistance. When this happens, the brain cannot get enough glucose for fuel. But the brain can use ketones for fuel. See here.

Now, back to MCT oil. MCT stands for medium chain triglycerides. It’s made from coconut or palm kernel oil. 

Here’s the thing. MCT oil gets broken down into ketones directly by your liver. That means you’ll have extra ketones for your body and brain. See here. 

Some people anecdotally relate that they have better cognitive power after taking MCT oil. This would make sense since it’s an efficient fuel for your brain. Since I’ve experienced this, I agree with the anecdotal reports.

This is the best MCT oil for the best price we have found so far.

If you’re trying to lose weight beware that MCT oil is a fat and will add extra calories.

We take one tablespoon at our first meal. Barbara has it in her coffee; I put it in my green tea.

COLLAGEN

We’ve been taking collagen peptides for about 3 years. Collagen is reported to support bone, joint, and skin health. Barbara says that since taking collagen her knee pain, which she had for years, has disappeared.

Since I’ve been taking the collagen, I haven’t sustained any major injury from lifting. So, I’ll keep doing what I’m doing and that includes taking the collagen.

This is the one we use. Again we put one scoop in our hot beverage along with MCT oil.

Getting Healthier With Our Walking Routine

Barbara and I have had a walking routine for over 10 years. We walk at least five days a week during the warmer weather. Our pace is brisk (about 3.4 mph) and we usually do at least 1.5 miles. That includes hills.

While walking doesn’t offer a lot of cardio benefits (most of that that comes from high-intensity lifting from squats and deadlifts), the other health benefits are tremendous. See my post here.

Fortunately, here in North Carolina our walking season lasts a lot longer than in New York. However, we hate walking in the cold, so during the winter we use our treadmill.

While walking provides excellent health benefits, remember it won’t help you a lot if you want to lose significant pounds. You just don’t burn enough calories to make a difference. The best way to shed pounds is through diet.

For me, walking is a great stress reducer. For Barbara, well, she has my full, undivided attention for the entire walk.

Hey guys and gals, here’s a longevity tip. You can increase your own longevity by keeping your spouse as healthy as you are. See my post here.

Stress Reduction

Okay, who doesn’t need a strategy to deal with stress? Besides the obvious ways to reduce stress like uncomplicating your life, working at a job you love, avoiding toxic relationships, and letting today take care of today, we use two main techniques to deal with stress.

I already mentioned one of them.

Walking

Walking is a great way to reduce stress. By going for a walk you have to break away from whatever you’re currently engaged in. It gives your mind a chance to calm down and be more reflective.

This seems to be especially true when walking through green spaces. A small study from the UK showed that the brain enters a more meditative state when going through green spaces.

This study showed that walking through forest environments can reduce stress hormones and lower blood pressure.

There is also some evidence that trees give off a substance that helps our immune system. If you have a stronger immune system, you’ll have a lot less stress.

Diaphragmatic Breathing

For the last couple of years, we’ve used deep breathing as an important strategy for stress reduction.

This is an especially essential tool for me because along with CFS, I have an associated condition called postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS). It involves a dysfunctional autonomic nervous system (ANS).

Briefly, the ANS control unconscious body functions such as heart rate, respiratory rate, and digestion. The ANS consists of two main branches. These are the sympathetic (SNS) and parasympathetic nervous systems (PNS). The SNS controls what is known as the “fight or flight” response while the PNS controls the “rest and digest” response.

With POTS, my SNS often would go into overdrive resulting in significantly raised heart rate, palpitations, IBS, insomnia, fatigue, and headaches, among other things. As you can see, all of these symptoms are highly related to the stress response.

One important way to deal with POTS is through deep breathing techniques. Our breathing is the only part of the ANS we can control. And if you learn how to breath correctly and practice it daily, it’s amazing what it can do for your nervous system.

Most people don’t realize that they don’t breathe correctly. See here.

We use this method as illustrated by the Cleveland Clinic. It may take you a little while to get it right, but it’s easy to learn.

See my post here on how stress can increase your cortisol levels and increase your belly fat.

Getting Proper Sleep

If you don’t sleep well, you can’t recover from stress well. It’s that simple.

Unfortunately, this concept has probably been the hardest one for me especially to accomplish. I tend to be a night owl. And because of that Barbara stays up later than she wants.

Nonetheless, we know what to do to get a good night’s sleep. Instead of listing all the things we do to improve our sleep quality, see my posts here, here, and here.

Here’s something that works well for me if I’m having trouble getting to sleep. I use the diaphragmatic breathing technique. I use it almost every night. And it works like a charm.

Barbara is like, “How do you fall asleep so fast?” The key is the proper breathing, my dear. It really does work.

Cultivating A Thankful Spirit

We’re told so often that cultivating thankfulness is a powerful tool for obtaining health and wellness. We believe it is, but it ultimately has to be directed to the one who governs our body and soul.

We’d be foolish to think that the above strategies are the ultimate source of our health. It’s the LORD who keeps us well and we thank Him for every blessing we receive. Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD Almighty.

Okay, that’s it for the main things we’re doing to stay healthy and active. If you have any questions, please let us know.

Blessings on your health journey and have a great week.

This article originally appeared on glutenfreehomestead.com.

The post Our Strategies For Getting Healthier And Stronger at 63 appeared first on The Progressing Pilgrim.

How do you feel about aging? The answer to that question really depends on who it’s being asked of, right? If you’re under 40, this question probably seldom enters your mind. Like relationships, raising kids, and paying bills.

However, for those of you over 40 who know your body is starting to betray you, it might be a question that’s been entering your mind more often these days.

So, how do you feel about aging? Do you embrace the fact that you’re going to be a senior one day or do you despise it?

Your answer to the question really matters because it can profoundly affect how well you age.

A study conducted last year by the Yale School of Public Health showed that how you feel about your own aging can have a profound impact on your risk of developing dementia and even Alzheimer’s disease.

Dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease – The Dreaded Diseases of Our Time

Currently, about 10% of Americans over the age of 65 have Alzheimer’s disease (AD). However, AD accounts for only about 60% – 70% of dementia cases. Comedian Robin Williams was suffering from dementia at the time of his death. But it was Lewy body dementia, not AD.

Nonetheless, if you make it to age 65, your chances of developing some kind of dementia are greater than 1 in 10. Those odds, however, will increase after the age of 65.

If you’ve ever had a loved one suffer from AD, you know the devastation caused by this disease. Barbara and I watched in horror as Alzheimer’s eventually left her mom without a memory or even the ability to perform simple tasks. All the while, we were powerless to do anything to reverse its course.

It appears now that many Americans are also becoming aware of how devastating this disease is. And they’re scared of it. Americans fear losing their mental capabilities twice as much as they fear losing their physical abilities.

While there are several interventions that you can take to lessen your risk of getting dementia or AD (see here and here), the Yale study highlighted how your view on growing older can actually help you in your fight against dementia.

Let’s take a look.

Positive Beliefs on Aging Protect Against Dementia

There has been considerable research performed showing that amongst seniors positive beliefs about aging predict better cognitive performance; whereas, negative age beliefs correlate with worse cognitive performance. See here, here, and here.

One meta-analysis even showed that negative views on aging have a worse effect on cognitive health than the promoting effect of positive views.

More recently, research has shown that there is even the possibility of a link between aging beliefs and the risk of developing AD.

Beliefs About Aging Might Be Predictive of Alzheimer’s Disease

In 2016, Becca Levy, Professor of Epidemiology at Yale School of Public Health, and her associates published a fascinating study on age stereotypes and AD.

They recorded aging stereotypes from dementia-free patients decades before yearly magnetic resonance images and brain autopsies were performed.

The study found that,

Those holding more-negative age stereotypes earlier in life had significantly steeper hippocampal-volume loss and significantly greater accumulation of neurofibrillary tangles and amyloid plaques, adjusting for relevant covariates.

Okay, I’ll translate that. The individuals who had negative aging beliefs had greater signs of the markers for AD.

Levy’s next study, however, showed an even greater correlation between negative aging stereotypes and dementia, including AD.

Levy’s 2018 Yale Study

In 2018, Levy and her associates published another study on the relationship between negative aging beliefs and cognitive decline. This study included 4,765 Health and Retirement Study participants who were at least 60 years old and dementia-free at the beginning of the study.

The participants were also assessed as to whether or not they possessed the APOE 4 gene. This gene variant is highly associated with an increased risk of AD. Among the participants, 1,250 had at least one form of the gene (more on that later).

In order to assess age beliefs, the researchers used the five-item Attitude toward Aging (ATA) subscale of the Philadelphia Geriatric Center Morale Scale. This survey asked participants to rate on a scale from strongly disagree to strongly agree on questions such as, “Do you feel that as you get older you are less useful?” or “Do things keep getting worse as you get older?”

The individuals were followed for 4 years and were on average 72 years old at the end of the study.

The Results Concerning Aging Beliefs And Cognitive Health Were As Predicted

The first conclusion of the study came as no surprise to the researchers. They stated,

The impact of positive age beliefs as a protective factor against developing dementia was suggested by our finding that in the total sample participants holding these beliefs at baseline had a 43.6% lower risk of developing dementia over the course of 4 years, compared to those holding negative age beliefs at baseline.

Okay, this study confirmed what others had found. If you feel good about your aging process, you are a lot less likely to develop dementia.

However, where the study really shines is in its discovery about aging beliefs and AD.

Aging Beliefs And Alzheimer’s Disease

Levy and her associates found that “Among those with APOE 4, those with positive age beliefs were 49.8% less likely to develop dementia than those with negative age beliefs.”

Remember that the APOE 4 variant is highly associated with an increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease.

They also found that of the 1250 carriers APOE 4 that had positive views on aging, there was a 3% risk of dementia. Those carriers of the gene who had a negative view had a 6% risk of dementia. That means those who had negative attitudes on their aging had twice the risk of getting dementia over the four-year duration of the study.

So, the study seems to suggest that positive age beliefs among those with APOE 4 could be capable of helping them offset the influence of this genetic risk factor.

The study concluded that “APOE 4 carriers with positive age beliefs had a risk of developing dementia that is similar to the risk of their same-aged peers without APOE 4, regardless of age beliefs.”

This study is encouraging news. It confirmed for us that,

1. Positive views on aging decreased the risk of getting dementia
2. Positive views on aging also reduced the risk of developing AD in the largest at-risk population

While researchers believe that more work has to be done in this area, the study once again shows that some of what we believe may be inevitable age-related diseases can be mitigated, even for those who are at a genetically high risk.

In order to get a fuller picture of the study, it’s important to understand a few things about the APOE 4 gene in the context of this study.

The APOE 4 Gene and Alzheimer’s Disease.

APOE (Apolipoprotein E) is a class of proteins that are responsible for transporting lipids (fats) around your bloodstream. The APOE gene provides instructions for making this protein.

The APOE gene, however, can exist in different forms (alleles). The major alleles are termed E2, E3, and E4. About 7% of the population has the E2 gene, 79% has E3, and about 14% have the E4 allele.

Remember that since we get one copy of a gene from each parent these genes can exist in a number of different combinations, eg. APOE 4,4, 4,3 or 3,2 etc.

Now here is the significance of this for the general population.

1. APOE 4 is the strongest known genetic risk factor for AD.
2. 40–65% of AD patients have at least one copy of the E4 allele.
3. Not everyone who develops AD has the APOE 4 gene (this suggests that there are other risk factors involved).
4. Not everyone who has the APOE 4 gene develops AD (this also suggests that there are other risk factors involved).
5. People who have two copies of the APOE 3 gene have about a 9% genetic risk of getting AD (Dale Bredesen MD, The End of Alzheimer’s, p. 100).
6. Individuals with a single copy of APOE 4 (eg. APOE 4,3) have a 30% increased risk of developing AD (Bredesen).
7. Individuals with two copies (APOE 4,4) have a 50% or greater risk of developing AD (Bredesen).
8. Individuals with two copies (APOE 4,4) have an increased risk of developing AD by 12-fold, as compared to the most common version of the gene, APOE 3.

While researchers are not sure of the exact role of APOE 4 in AD, the predominant theory is that it prevents the clearance of amyloid beta plaques from the brain. Dr. Bredesen and others believe it also promotes inflammation within the brain (Bredesen, p.100).

Now, what does this have to do with the above study?

The Yale Study Revisited

In Levy’s study, the 1250 individuals with the APOE 4 gene had the following variants: 85% E4/E3, 8% E4/E2, and 7% E4/E4.  

Since there was no data reported for the different alleles, we don’t know if the results were positive for the people who had the high risk ApoE 4 allele.

What we can say is that positive attitudes toward aging significantly helped the individuals with the E 4,3 variant to decrease their risk of AD.

Why Do Negative Views on Aging Increase Our Risk Of Dementia?

Researchers are not exactly sure why a negative view on aging adversely affects dementia, but they theorize that it may have something to do with stress.

There is abundant evidence to support this view. Poor aging beliefs have been shown to cause cardiovascular stress on our bodies. See here and here. These two studies both show that stress is connected to dementia. See here and here.

The causal connection between stress and dementia may be tied to the hormone cortisol.

Chronic Stress, The HPA Axis, and Dementia

The HPA axis is a subsystem in your body that includes the hypothalamus, the pituitary gland, and the adrenal glands. This system controls a major part of your physiologic response to stress.

When you face a stressor, be it physical or psychological, your HPA axis will act to produce among other things the steroid cortisol. Cortisol allows your body to deal with the stressor. When the stressor leaves or you have dealt with it successfully, the HPA axis returns to its normal homeostatic state and cortisol levels return to normal.

However, when you are chronically stressed, the release of cortisol from your adrenal glands may become excessive and eventually become detrimental to your body, especially your brain.

The Association Between Cortisol And Dementia

Excess glucocorticoids (cortisol) in the brain have been linked to dementia and AD. See here and here.

Individuals with significantly prolonged cortisol elevations showed reduced hippocampal volume. The hippocampus is the part of your brain that is responsible for forming memories.

Researchers believe that cortisol may in some ways damage neurons in the brain though they are not sure exactly how. See here.

And, finally, seniors who had negative age beliefs had cortisol levels that were elevated as compared to those who had positive beliefs.

Even though most of the studies I presented are correlation studies and don’t provide exact causation, I think the connection is clear. If you have a negative attitude toward your aging process, you will be under constant stress. And that stress will increase your risk of dementia.

It’s almost as if it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you think badly about aging, you’ll increase your risk of aging badly.

The Role Of Conscientiousness In Dementia And Longevity

Interestingly, there is one personality trait that has broad scientific support of a positive influence on cognitive health and longevity.

This study released in 2013 from Wayne State University argues that after 20 years of study by numerous researchers, the psychological attribute of conscientiousness has been shown to have a significant positive effect on health and longevity.

The authors of the study define conscientiousness this way:

…the relatively stable pattern of individual differences in the tendencies to follow socially prescribed norms for impulse control, to be goal-directed, planful, to delay gratification, and to follow norms and rules.

Sounds like the personality trait we’d all love our children to have.

But you get the picture. According to the numerous studies and meta-analyses presented in this paper, conscientiousness will improve your longevity and lower your risk of getting dementia, including AD.

The reason for this seems pretty obvious. Conscientious people will probably be more diligent in taking care of themselves, particularly in the area of diet and exercise.

How Can You Have A Better View Of Aging?

Your views on aging might have been developed since your childhood or they could have developed as your years mounted. What I know from experience is that there are a number of factors that can increase your negative attitude toward aging.

If you can correct these factors, it may do a lot to help improve your attitude. Let’s briefly take a look at these.

Feeling Unhealthy

If you feel unhealthy all the time, it’s hard to feel positive about aging. After all, you’re going to get older and weaker, right? I suffered from severe CFS until I was 58 years old. I was frightened of what this would mean for me at 65.

Not only did I have poor energy levels, but also because of inactivity, my muscle mass had decreased significantly. I was facing the likelihood of becoming more and more debilitated as the years continued. That didn’t make me a happy camper when it came to my aging process.

Some of you out there are suffering from chronic lifestyle diseases like diabetes, CVD, metabolic syndrome, or obesity. (These are all risk factors for AD by the way).

My friends and family members who have these diseases tell me that they generally feel unwell and are not looking forward to living out their seniors years with them.

However, there are things you can do to improve your health. I’ll stick with the main ones for now.

Diet

Doctors are having great success with low-carb and ketogenic diets in improving weight loss and reversing the above diseases. See here and here.

These diets promote better insulin sensitivity which is important for good health.  They also generally avoid gluten (important for healing gut permeability) and industrial seed oils (important for correcting a poor Omega6/Omega3 ratio).

Hey, if you can reverse your poor health and feel better at 60 than you did at 45, then you’ll feel a lot better about your future aging. I know I did.

Exercise

We all know that exercise improves fitness and makes you feel better about yourself. However, did you know that it’s a proven fact that poor muscle strength is another risk factor for poor cognitive health decline? See here and here.

I like what strength coach Mark Rippetoe had to say, “A weak man is not as happy as that same man would be if he were strong.”

Some kind of resstrength training is must for anyone wanting to improve their risk of avoiding dementia. See my post here. 

Read here about how walking can improve your health and cognitive function.

Eliminate Toxins

Eliminate or reduce as many toxins as possible. You know what the big ones are: smoking and alcohol. Mold is another common toxin and has been linked to AD.

Get Good Sleep

It’s difficult to recover from the stresses of life if you don’t sleep well or you don’t get enough sleep. Lack of sleep will also increase inflammation in your body and inflammation is closely linked to dementia and AD. See my post on sleep here.

Dealing With Stress

The above interventions will help lessen stress on your body. However, dealing with life stress is a different subject.

Guided diaphragmatic breathing is one thing I practice to help me deal with the negative effect of life stress and a dysfunctional autonomic nervous system associated with CFS. If your autonomic nervous system (ANS) is dysfunctional, your stress response will be dysfunctional, and you’ll be pumping out excess cortisol. It’s guaranteed that you’ll not feel well.

Guided breathing (this is not meditation) at least 10 minutes a day is one method that will help bring your ANS back into balance.

Loneliness

For those of us who have lost a parent, we know the toll it takes on the surviving parent. It’s hard to have joy in old age when your partner is gone. While I can’t offer a solution to this, there is a way to limit the risk of losing your partner.

The key here is to keep your spouse as healthy as you are. Studies have shown that you’ll increase your own lifespan as well.

Spiritual Awareness

Researchers have found that religious belief is a positive factor for how well individuals age. Faith brings comfort, strength, and hope when times become difficult. As we get older, we’ll lose family members and friends. Faith helps us make sense of that.

Religious belief also provides a community to mitigate against loneliness and a sense of abandonment.

Let’s be honest. As you get older, your number of years on this earth are declining. One day you will have to face the inevitable thought of where will you spend eternity. Some people shrink in terror at this thought. Especially as that day grows nearer and nearer. It’s hard to have joy in your senior years when you don’t know where you’re going.

Now I’ll preach a little and end with this verse,

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16).

That’s it for this post. I encourage everyone to read Dr. Bredesen’s book, The End of Alzheimer’s. AD might not be as uncurable as most people believe.

God bless and have a great week. Let’s us know if you have any comments. We would love to hear from you.

The post Your Attitude Toward Aging Might Influence Your Risk Of Alzheimer’s Disease appeared first on The Progressing Pilgrim.

I recently received a call from my sister asking me for some suggestions on what kind of weight bench she should buy.

Being the inquisitive fellow that I am, I asked, “What in the world do you want a weight bench for?”

“Really, don’t know what a weight bench is used for?” she answered.

Touché. I deserved that. Wiseguy older brothers deserve to be knocked down a peg or two.

What my sister was really asking me though, was how she, a mature woman, should go about getting stronger.

In my last post, I explained why everyone over 45 years old must strength train. In today’s post, I’ll introduce you to a strength program that is guaranteed to improve your muscle mass and make you stronger.

And here’s the icing on top of the cake.

It’s uncomplicated, time efficient, inexpensive, can be started at any age, can be done at home, doesn’t require prior experience, and has delivered amazing results for thousands of people. Even for those in their nineties.

The program is called Starting Strength. This method is so efficient that it may make you stronger and healthier than you’ve been in decades.

Before getting into the program, I’d like to touch on some fundamental concepts you should know about strength training.

It’s Never Too Late To Start Strength Training

Again, I made the case last week that everyone over the age of 45 must strength train. If you don’t, your muscles will dissolve into a mushy mess a lot sooner than you desire.

And if you want to maintain wellness into old age, you must not ignore the quality of your muscle mass.

Now, if you’re over the age of 45 and have never strength trained, don’t despair. It’s never too late to improve your muscle mass regardless if you’re a woman or a man.

Here’s 90-year old Virginia strength training.

I started strength training three and a half years ago at age 58, after recuperating from bilateral shoulder bursitis and 28 years of severe chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). Unless you have a debilitating illness, you too can strength train.

Strength Training Is A Lifelong Journey

If you want to maintain good health and a good quality of life, strength training is something you must do for the rest of your life. That makes strength training a part of your life’s journey.

It’s similar to eating food everyday day or taking the medicine your doctor prescribed for you. Strength training is a type of medicine that keeps you well. 

During your strength training journey, there will be ups and downs. You’ll get aches and pains. And at times it’ll be hard.

But you also will receive the satisfaction that comes with knowing that you’re improving your health so that you can be there for the people you love and for those who love you. You’ll also feel great knowing that you’ll probably be one of the strongest guys or gals amongst your friends.

Before getting into the nitty-gritty of the program, let me explain why I chose the Starting Strength program.

Proper Goal Setting For Strength Training

In order for your strength training plan or any fitness plan for that matter to be successful, you must have a definable goal.

When I started strength training, my goal was very specific. I wanted to build strength which meant building muscle mass. At the time, I didn’t care about weight loss, body recomposition, increasing endurance, or aerobic capacity.

I wanted to get stronger. Not simply fitter. But stronger. Regaining and building muscle mass was my chief priority. Now, this goal, when it comes to strength training, may seem to be rather specific. But it’s not specific enough.

In order to reach my goal, I needed a program that would work for me in accordance with some specific needs.

Let me use the SMART Goal Setting System to show you what I mean.

The SMART Goal Setting System

SMART is an acronym that stands for: specific, measurable, actionable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART).

If you include these considerations when goal setting, your chances of reaching that goal will improve dramatically.

Let’s take a brief look at each component of the SMART system as it applies to strength training.

• Specific – The more specific your goal, the easier it will be to achieve it. For example, saying that you want to get fitter is a lot less specific than saying that you want to increase your squat lift from 45 pounds to 100 pounds in 2 months. The better your squat total means more strength which means more muscle.

• Measurable – In order to determine if you’ve successfully reached your goal you must have some way to measure success. That means that a good training program must have some kind of gauge to indicate that you are indeed getting stronger. Yoga may be a great exercise, but there’s no way to accurately determine if it’s making you stronger. But let’s say you start out by lifting 10 pounds, and in 3 months you’re lifting 100 pounds. Now you know, without a doubt, that you’ve gotten stronger.

• Actionable – How will your goal of strength be achieved? In other words, what actions are required to achieve success? The goal of any good strength program has to be actionable. Can you do the program you’ve chosen? In my case, something like CrossFit or high-intensity training was out of the question. They both bring good strength results, but I couldn’t do them because of my health status. I also wanted a program that was uncomplicated, and that I could do at home. If my program didn’t have the above criteria, I would have failed at strength training.

• Relevant – Is the goal relevant to your situation? Setting a goal to become an Olympic weightlifter is not a relevant goal for a 62-year-old. But having a goal to increase your squat total is relevant. Stronger legs mean you can accomplish a lot more in your life.

• Time Bound – Your goal should have a specific time in which the goal can be accomplished. This allows for you to monitor progress and provides incentive. For example, if your goal is to get stronger from bodyweight exercises, how long will it take you to get to where you want to be? There’s no way to really know. But if you start lifting 10 pounds and add 2.5 pounds per week, you’ll have an idea where you should be in two months. A good strength program should be structured and have a definite schedule attached to it. That’s the difference between training and exercising.

Was I asking for too much from a strength training program? Did such a program for us masters even exist?

Yes, it did! After searching online for several weeks, Providence directed me to the program that matched all of the criteria attached to my SMART goal.

It’s the Starting Strength program.

The Starting Strength Program

The Starting Strength method is a free weight barbell program that involves basically 4 main lifts: the squat, bench press, overhead press, and deadlift.

Ok, I hear you saying, “Wow, I can’t do those exercises. I’m too out of shape or I’m too old.” That’s not necessarily true.

Can you lift something from the driveway and put it in the trunk of your car? Can you lift a child off of your chest? Can you rise from a chair? If you can do those things, then you can do these exercises. The only difference is that you’re doing it with a barbell.

Because this program uses exercises that mimic everyday human movements, it can be started at any age.

Watch this video of a 72-year-old untrained gentleman.

Now, obviously, you’re going to need some equipment to do these exercises. I’ll address that below, but first let’s look at the program in more detail.

The Lifts

As I mentioned, the main lifts are the back squat, bench press, overhead press, and deadlift. The technical reason these lifts are used is that they use the most muscle mass, across the longest effective range of motion, and allow us to lift the most weight, making them the biggest and most general movements for developing strength.

Translation: These lifts are the best for producing overall body strength.

As I mentioned before, the practical reason is that they involve multiple major muscle groups that mimic simple normal human movement patterns.

For example, the back squat involves muscles you would use to get off a toilet. The deadlift strengthens muscles you would use to pick something off the floor. The overhead press will help you put that stuff you’re not really sure what to do with onto the top shelf of your closet.

During the lifts, muscles are stressed by the weighted barbell. Eventually, the body adapts to this stress and overall body strength is developed.

Once the novice (beginner) trainee has gained strength and mobility with the main lifts, some accessory exercises can be added in if desired. There is, however, no need for targeted arm or abdominal muscles exercises as they are worked sufficiently with the four main exercises

Remember the idea here is to get stronger and build muscle mass not to body build or gain endurance.

The Importance Of Proper Form

The exercises used in Starting Strength are not hard to learn. However, whenever exercising with weights, it is important to perform the lift correctly.

I started with the minimum weight possible so that I could learn proper form.

Now, this is important. To make sure I was doing the exercises correctly, I watched this excellent series of videos by Mark Rippetoe on the Starting Strength website.

When the weights are light and you follow the video instructions, you should have little problems with your form. But! As the weights get heavier, you’ll have to pay more attention to form.

After you really get into it and need outside help, you can find a gym with a good coach. These, however, tend to be hard to find. Starting Strength is now offering online video coaching.

Okay. Let’s get to actual programming.

The Starting Strength Schedule

This chart explains the basic schedule for the novice Starting Strength Program.

A glance at the chart shows that this method uses a three day per week ABA BAB schedule. Squats are done every day, deadlifts are done once a week and bench press and overhead press rotate over a two week period. After two weeks, it’s back to ABA.

The reason deadlifts are done once a week is because they are the most neuromuscularly taxing exercise, and it takes longer to recover from their effects.

Now, for you, over 50-year-olds out there follow closely.

The Schedule For The Master Population

When I began Starting Strength, I used the above program, except for power cleans (not recommended for older individuals) and chin-ups. While the weights were light, I did well. But as the weights became heavier, I began to notice that I wasn’t recovering as well. I was having a lot of aches and pains and I was not feeling refreshed from the previous lifting session.

The reason for this is that most of us over the age of 50 don’t recover as well from the stress of weight lifting as the younger generation.

To solve the problem of recovery, there is an alternative schedule for us masters. Here’s what a typical 2 week period would look like.

Notice that the exercises, except squats, alternate by day. Also, chin-ups are a good accessory exercise to add into the routine if you can do them.

There is less lifting volume (total pounds) on this schedule. Remember, what I said above about goal setting. This plan is a lot more actionable for over 50 novice lifters. While there is less volume in this program, I guarantee you can still make excellent gains.

I used this schedule until I was finished with the novice program. I never experienced an issue with recovery. That’s saying a lot for someone who was recovering from CFS.

Okay, let’s get to the actual workout.

The Workout

The lifts are performed for 3 sets of 5 reps each. This means that the weight will be lifted 5 times with proper form. Rest between sets can be anywhere from a few minutes to 8 minutes depending on what you need. Then the weight lifted in like manner two more times.

A caveat here is that deadlifts, because of the strenuous nature of the lift, are only performed for 1 set of 5 reps.

Warm-ups are performed by lifting the weights at sub-workout levels for 5 reps. The weight for your warm-ups will depend on the weight you are using. A good rule of thumb is to perform warm-ups at 40%, 50%, and 60% of your workout weight.

What Weight Do You Begin With?

Generally, for the untrained, the bench press, overhead press, and squats should begin with an empty bar so you can learn the lifts. A standard Olympic bar weighs 45 lbs. For those who cannot start with this weight, a lighter bar can be used.

There are lighter bars made specifically for women. Barbara started with dumbbells on bench press and overhead press and then worked up to an empty bar.

Deadlifts can be started with an Olympic bar and 10-pound bumper plates.

How Do You Progress?

Once 3 x 5 is accomplished, the lifter will add weight to the bar at the next session.

A beginning novice will find that they can add 5 -10 pounds (depending on the exercise) per session when first starting out. Generally, this is 5 pounds to the OHP and bench press and 10 pounds to the deadlift and squats.

However, as the weights get heavier, the amount added to the bar will decrease sometimes to only 1 pound.

The process of adding weight to the bar at every session and completing your lift of 5, puts additional stress on your muscles. This stress causes your muscles to adapt to that stress by getting stronger.

As long as you can continue to add weight to the bar, you are getting stronger. Remember that’s our goal.

This is called the novice linear progression.

The Novice Effect

Novices generally find that they can get stronger very quickly. I was amazed at how fast I was able to gain strength. Personal records can be set each week for a long time on the novice program.

It’s like that story about how we only use a fraction of our brain’s capacity. Well, you’ll be surprised at how much strength potential you actually have. Good progress can be made sometimes for up to a year or more before a program change is necessary.

These are the basics of the Starting Strength program. If you’re going to start this program, you should purchase the book Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe.

The book presents detailed information on exactly how and why this program works.

Equipment Needed For Starting Strength

To perform the above exercises, you’re going to need some equipment. There are two ways to do that.

You can become a member of a gym that has free weights or you can set up your own home gym as I did.

If you choose to lift at home, this is what you’ll need to get started:

1. A garage, basement, or a room with a sturdy floor is an absolute must. In order to accommodate the overhead press, a ceiling over 8′ high is necessary.
2. An Olympic bar and weights. I use a Rogue 2.0 Olympic bar (7′), and an assortment of iron and bumper plates. You’ll need about 200 pounds to start, including 2.5-pound weights.
3. A Squat stand. I use a Rogue 70″ Monster Squat Stand and bench. I purchased the 70” stand because my basement ceiling was low. If it wasn’t, I would’ve purchased a power rack. My stand has safety bars that protect me from injury in case the weights were to drop on me. I also purchased some dumbbells.

The total cost for my equipment was about $1400.

Recovery Sleep And Diet

Proper rest and sleep are a priority with any strength program.

Without rest, you can’t recover. And without recovery, it’s difficult to get stronger. Concerning proper diet, I’ve been on a very low carb diet for over a year with adequate protein and am doing well. Adequate protein is the key here. I aim for at least 1.7 grams per kg of lean body mass. See our series on our ketogenic diet here.

My Status When Beginning Starting Strength

Each individual has their own particular situation when starting strength training. Some of us are overweight, some underweight, some are naturally already strong, some weak, some of us are recovering from an illness. That means that you’ll begin training at your own unique situation.

In my case, because I was recovering from CFS and bursitis, I had to start really slow. For a few months before beginning Starting Strength, I did the exercises with dumbbells only.

Most of you can probably go right to a bar and weights. But if you have to start with dumbbells, just do it and build up to a bar. Remember, don’t despise the day of small beginnings.

Shoulder bursitis left me with a limited range of motion in my shoulders. This prevented me from rotating my arms fully so as to allow my hands to grip the bar while it was on my back. Once I was strong enough to squat with a bar, I still had to do this exercise for weeks before I could grab the bar correctly. 

Starting Strength Works

I started strength training with a bar only. Now, this 62-year-old, still recovering from CFS, can deadlift 300 pounds and squat almost 200 pounds. If Starting Strength can do that for me, imagine what it can do for you.

Disclaimer: The information contained on this site is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any medical condition and is not to be used as a substitute for the care and guidance of a physician.

The post How To Start Strength Training If You’re Over 45 Years Old appeared first on The Progressing Pilgrim.

Everyone wants to find a fountain of youth. But it’s only a myth, right? However, what if I told you there is something you can do that’s scientifically proven to help you live a longer, healthier life? And, it’s safe, effective, efficient, inexpensive, and only takes about 30 – 40 minutes three times a week.

Oh, and you can start doing it no matter how old you are! Sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it! 

But it’s not. At 62 years old, I’ve done it, and it works. It’s called strength training.

When I started strength training, I was a muscular mess. Due to 28 years of severe chronic fatigue syndrome and shoulder bursitis, I was weak and brittle. But in three years I was able to regain muscle mass and become stronger than I ever was.

Here’s a picture of me 10 years ago. I was weak, soft, 52-years-old and I weighed 192 pounds. 

Here’s me deadlifting 300 pounds last summer at a body weight of 165 pounds.

 

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A post shared by Barbara Bianchi ? (@glutenfreehomestead) on Jun 26, 2018 at 4:31pm PDT

In today’s post, I’ll show you why strength training, even if you’re over 40 years old, can help you increase your healthspan (how well you live) and, perhaps, even your lifespan (how long you live). In my next post, I’ll show you how to do it easily, safely, and efficiently.

Before I get into how strength training will help you live a healthier and longer life, let’s consider our aging process.

How Well Will You Age?

Aging is a normal human process. You’re going to age. I’m going to age. There’s no fountain of youth or magic elixir we can drink that will give us perpetual youth.

However, even though we can’t stay young forever in this world, that doesn’t mean that we should pay no mind at all to our aging process. God has created us for a purpose. And more likely than not in order to fulfill that purpose we need good health, even into our senior years.

But also consider how much time you spend preparing for your senior years. You contribute to your IRAs. You closely monitor your retirement accounts and hope that your pensions will be there when you retire. But what about your aging process? What good is preparing for your monetary future if you can’t enjoy your life because of poor health?

Therefore, one of the most important questions anyone over the age of 40 should ask themselves is “how well will I age?” Now I’ll ask you a question. Do you know that how well you age is related to how much inflammation you have going on in your body?

Aging And Inflammation

Researchers how found that inflammation plays an important part in the aging process. See here and here. One of the culprits in this process is a cytokine called IL-6. IL-6 is a small protein your body secretes to signal an inflammatory response. Inflammation is not always a bad thing. However, when IL-6 is chronically over secreted bad things happen. Among those are poor aging (disease, disability, and frailty) and early mortality.

Researchers have given a term to poor aging caused by chronic inflammation. It’s called inflammaging.

Now, here’s the important thing for us. One thing that causes IL-6 to increase in our bodies is chronic disease. Unfortunately, in America today the number of us being plagued by a number of chronic diseases is staggering. Sixty percent of Americans have one chronic disease and 4o percent have two or more.

This means that a large amount of our population is experiencing a significant amount of chronic inflammation. Which means, yeah, we’re not aging well.

The Sick Aging Phenotype

Medical doctor and strength coach Jonathon Sullivan in his book The Barbell Prescription: Strength Training for Life After 40, has described a phenotype of our population that exhibits chronic inflammatory diseases.

He calls this the sick aging phenotype. It is characterized by the following medical conditions.

The first is the metabolic syndrome. This disease, which is largely caused by lifestyle factors, includes:

• Abdominal or Visceral Obesity – In 2014, it was estimated that more than 1 in 3 adults were considered to be overweight and more than 2 in 3 adults were considered to be overweight or have obesity.
• Insulin Resistance & Hyperglycemia (Type 2 Diabetes) – It is estimated that more than 100 million U.S. adults are now living with diabetes or prediabetes.
• Hypertension – In 2013 about 78 million Americans had hypertension. That number has recently grown since medical guidelines have changed.
• Dyslipidemia (Deranged serum HDL & triglyceride levels) – In 2013, about 40 million Americans were taking a statin. NB: This does not necessarily mean that everyone who has been prescribed a statin has dyslipidemia. See my post on why I rejected statin therapy.

Metabolic syndrome, insulin resistance (type 2 diabetes) and obesity have all been associated with chronic inflammation.

Polypharmacy

Polypharmacy is another aspect that Sullivan includes in the sick-aging phenotype. It’s a word you don’t hear that often. But I guarantee you know of it. Polypharmacy refers to the simultaneous use of multiple drugs by a single patient, for one or more conditions.

Most of my friends and family members my age, and probably yours as well, are either on a statin, a hypertensive med, a heart med, a diabetes med, a prostate med, a pain med, an arthritis pill, a depression pill, a purple pill, a pill for a delicate male problem (you know what I mean), or some other medicine used to treat some chronic health condition. And most of them are on many of these drugs at the same time.

Have you ever stopped to think what’s going on here? Are we really that unhealthy of a nation?

Age-Related Sarcopenia: Everyone Over 35 Years-old Is Experiencing Muscle Decline

The above diseases are not, however, the only diseases particular to the sick-aging phenotype. Aging itself has consequences.

Did you know that if you’re over the age of 30 you will begin to experience some amount of muscle loss every year? It’s called age-related sarcopenia. Now, if you’re a couch potato like I was, then the amount of muscle you lose can be even worse.

Researchers estimate that physically inactive people can lose as much as 3% to 5% of their muscle mass each decade after age 30. After a while, that can add up to some serious muscle loss.

Also, consider that older people can experience up to a 40% reduction in type II muscles fibers. These are the muscles fibers responsible for explosive movements like lifting 300 pounds over your head. They’re also responsible for movements like getting up from a chair or off the toilet. These are not movements you want to see a decline in.

Obviously, you can only ignore this kind of muscle loss at your own peril. Consider what it may mean for you as you age.

A Loss Of Muscle Means A Loss Of Strength

If you don’t stop the loss of your muscle mass, you will get weaker. That’s a fact of life. And weakness is not something you want, especially as you get older. Consider some of the consequences of weakness in old age.

1. Your quality of life becomes seriously compromised. Simple tasks like climbing stairs, lifting your grandkids, or lifting groceries out of the car will become a struggle
2. Your independence will suffer as you begin to rely on others for help
3. People with lower levels of strength don’t live as long as people with higher levels of strength
4. Older individuals with weak leg power have poorer cognitive skills
5. Older individuals without strength can’t help others
6. Individuals with less lean mass are less insulin sensitive meaning they are more susceptible to chronic illnesses such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and metabolic syndrome
7. Older people with low muscle mass are more likely to experience a fall

The good news is that you don’t have to follow this path. Even if you have some of the above conditions, there is hope.

Thankfully, Your Future Is Not Set In Stone

Recently, I watched the movie Scrooge starring Alastair Sim. This was the 1951 adaptation of A Christmas Carol. Towards the end of the movie, the Ghost of Christmas Past shows Scrooge a gravestone. Horrified that his name is on it, Scrooge asks the spirit if his future is unalterable or if there is something he can do to change it. As we know, Scrooge did change this vision of the future by keeping Christmas as well as any man in England.

When it comes to the sick-aging phenotype, you can have a say in your future. Strength training can make you healthier and stronger. It’s even possible to reverse years of damage caused by years of poor lifestyle choices.

We can’t completely stop the aging process, but we can do things that will improve the quality of life as we age. We can get stronger, stay stronger, and stay healthy even into our 80s and perhaps 90s.

Turning It Around

You can age well, and there is one medicine that has been scientifically proven to help you do it. And it may even extend your lifespan as well.

The medicine is called strength training. Although strength training is not a panacea for all that ails you, it is a necessity. While proper diet is also essential for keeping you well into old age (see my posts on diet), even Hippocrates in the 4th century B.C. knew there was more,

Eating alone will not keep a man well; he must also take exercise. For food and exercise, while possessing opposite qualities, yet work together to produce health.

Many researchers today are coming to the conclusion that strength training is a key ingredient to maintaining health and aging well. In fact, it may be the next best thing to a fountain of youth!

Let’s see how strength training can do this, and we’ll see if strength training can actually increase your lifespan.

You Can Build Muscle At Any Age

There have been numerous scientific studies done that prove strength training will improve the muscle mass of people even if they are well into their senior years. See this recent study here.

Another incredible study showed that seniors who strength trained for 4 months were able to improve the mitochondrial age of their muscle tissue. That means their muscle tissue actually got younger. See my post here.

Joseph Signorile, the author of the book Bending the Aging Curve provides this enlightening graph to show us how resistance training can affect your muscle mass.

According to Signorile, someone who started training in their forties was able to substantially improve muscle quality. In fact, that person at 80 years old had the same muscle as someone 20 years younger. Further, the person who started strength training in their forties was able to have almost the same muscle mass in their eighties as someone who had been training for their entire life.

I’m not saying that strength training will absolutely increase your lifespan. Those years are determined by the Lord. Though it may. But what I can say is that if you do strength train, you will build muscle. And more muscle means you will be stronger. And that means you’ll really be helping yourself avoid the negative health consequences associated with sarcopenia.

Also, remember that more muscle mass improves insulin sensitivity. This is what you want, especially if you suffer from metabolic syndrome.

Is there scientific evidence though that suggests a stronger body increases healthspan and lifespan? In my best Stallone voice, “Absolutely”.

Grip Strength Studies

Grip strength is used by health professionals as a gauge for overall body strength. In 2015, researchers in Germany reviewed 14 epidemiological studies and found that increased strength (as measured by grip) was significantly associated with lower all-cause mortality. They also found that this pattern held for cardiovascular and cancer mortality.

The Pure Study

The Pure Study (Prospective Urban-Rural Epidemiology), published in 2015, studied 139,691 individuals from 2003 – 2009. There was a 4 year follow up with each individual. The study found that low grip strength was associated with all-cause mortality, cardiovascular mortality, non-cardiovascular mortality, myocardial infarction, and stroke. They even found that grip strength was a stronger predictor of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality than systolic blood pressure.

In 2015, the Lancet published a paper which examined several systematic reviews and a meta-analysis on the significance of grip strength. They concluded that grip strength is a simple but powerful predictor of future disability, morbidity, and mortality. This trend held not only in older people but also the middle-aged and young people.

If you’re looking for a biomarker of aging, look at strength!

Does Increased Grip Strength Lessen the Negative Health Effect of Obesity?

In 2017, a UK study of 403,199 individuals with obesity found that greater grip strength was associated with an 8 percent lower risk of mortality. Men and women with greater grip strength had lower risks of mortality, independent of adiposity (body fat).

They concluded their study with this statement,

Lower grip strength and excess adiposity are both independent predictors of higher mortality risk. The higher mortality risk associated with excess adiposity is attenuated, although not completely attenuated (emphasis mine), by greater GS. Interventions and policies should focus on improving the muscular strength of the population regardless of their degree of adiposity.

Again, increased strength appears to increase longevity.

Okay that all sounds good. But we know that correlation doesn’t mean causation. The question really is can strength training increase longevity.

Does Strength Training Increase Longevity?

In 2016, Penn State University performed a 15 year, large cohort study of individuals over the age of 65. The researchers found that those individuals who strength trained (n=30,162), 46% had lower odds of all-cause mortality than those who did not. Therefore, seniors who strength trained not only improved their fitness but also their survival rate.

Once again we cannot prove causation here. But the cohort was large, and the implication that strength training increases physical health and longevity is extremely strong.

Possible Reasons Why Strength Training Increases Health And Longevity

It’s nearly impossible to prove exactly why strength training improves health and longevity, but here are some possible reasons:

1. Improved neuromuscular coordination and balance – Decreased possibility of a fall
2. Increased insulin sensitivity – see here
3. Improved cardiovascular conditioning
4. Improved myokine production

Okay, so there you have it. Maintaining strength is essential for living a healthy long life. And the only way to maintain strength is by improving your muscle mass. The only way to do that is by doing some kind of strength training.

In that respect, strength training may be the next best thing to a fountain of youth!

Now, don’t you want to jump right in and start training? Not so fast. There are some things you have to know first. In my next post, I’ll discuss how I started training, and I give you in detail the program I used to get strong at 62.

God bless. See you next time.

The post If You’re Over 40 Years Old And Want To Live a Healthier Longer Life You Should Strength Train: Here’s why appeared first on The Progressing Pilgrim.