The loss of skeletal muscle mass, strength and function during the ageing process can have an enormous impact on an individual’s life and quality of it. It can lead to mobility disorders, increased risk of falls and fractures, impaired ability to perform activities of daily living, physical disabilities, loss of independence and increased mortality. Maintaining our muscle mass, strength and function as we age, and/or recovering our muscle during or after diseases and rehabilitation is therefore key. Danone Nutricia Research, alongside academic partners, has been working within the field of muscle and sarcopenia for over a decade. We have been examining the changes in muscle metabolism that occur with ageing, with the aim of developing viable nutritional strategies to improve and preserve muscle mass, strength and function in sarcopenic and physically frail older people.
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This understanding led to the development of a medical nutrition product range, which contain a unique blend of muscle building nutrients, i.e. whey protein, leucine and vitamin D, designed to help stimulate muscle protein synthesis and support muscle mass, strength and function. The combination of nutrients in the product have been shown to stimulate muscle protein synthesis1,2,3,4 and muscle mass gain5,6 in healthy and sarcopenic older adults.
