Reducing your daily caloric intake by 12% would help fight against muscle aging and boost your strength.
- An American study suggests that a small reduction in calories absorbed is beneficial for muscle health by fighting against aging.
- Although the volunteers’ muscle mass decreased over the two years of the study, their strength remained similar. This indicates that calorie restriction improved the amount of force generated by each unit of muscle mass.
- By studying genes, scientists confirmed that calorie restriction affected the same gene pathways in humans as it does in mice and primates.
If you want to regain your former strength, reduce your daily calorie intake a little. A new study, published in the journal Aging cellsuggests that slightly reducing the number of calories you eat during the day can help rejuvenate your muscles and activate biological pathways linked to good health.
Lower Caloric intake of 12% boosts health muscular
This work, carried out by the National Institutes of Health (NIH)followed 90 participants who participated in CALERIEan experiment on the long-term effects of reducing energy intake. The objective for the volunteers was to reduce the number of daily calories absorbed by 25% over the two years of the study, but the largest drop achieved by the group was 12%.
However, this slight decrease was enough to activate most of the biological pathways that participate in healthy aging. Additionally, participants who followed calorie restriction also showed weight loss. average 9 kilos during the first year then they managed to maintain their figure during the second.
Members of the group who consumed fewer calories also showed a decrease in muscle mass. However, their strength was not diminished. “This indicates that calorie restriction improved the amount of force generated by each unit of muscle mass, called muscle-specific force.”write the scientists in their communicated.
“A 12% reduction in calorie intake is very modest”notes the corresponding author and scientific director of the National Institute we Aging (NIA), Pr Luigi Ferrucci. “This kind of small reduction in calorie intake is doable and can make a big difference in your health“he adds.
Muscle and calorie restriction: the genes involved?
To determine which genes are impacted during calorie restriction, the scientists in a second experiment isolated and analyzedRNA messenger in muscle samples. These tests confirmed that calorie restriction affected the same gene pathways in humans as in mice and primates. For example, lower calorie intake regulates genes responsible for energy production and metabolism, as well as those involved in fighting inflammation.
“As inflammation and aging are strongly coupled, calorie restriction represents a powerful approach to preventing the pro-inflammatory state that is developed by many older adults”concludes Professor Ferrucci.