How to optimise muscle strength in older people?

Nutrition

• Nutrition is important in preserving muscle strength in the elderly-what we eat has got essential nutrition?
• Muscle can recover at any age by doing exercise and take nutrition food. Never too late to build your muscle, look at picture below.

• Do you know that Malaysia is most obesity people in South East Asia? 
• We need to ask older people what food they like as they have their own preference of food. Variety of food options is important.
• Risk factors for malnutrition 

1. Physical - Ageing process so you need to divide meals into smaller portion as older people can't eat much.  Smell of their breath whether they have oral problem. Sometimes, older people physical immobility and inability to feed oneself. 
2. Social factor - living alone, financial concerns  as need sufficient fund to buy nutrition food, older people may have restrictive diets. So we need to ask older people depending culture, religions and etc.
3. Medical - Dementia and cognitive impairments.  

• Muscle has many functions

1. Physical movement
2. Strength
3. Maintenance of posture & balance

• Aging and muscle loss

1. We loss muscle is natural part of ageing.
2. How long older people from standing up from chair and walking?
3. More fat than muscle when you get older

BMI is imperfect measure. Check whether you have muscle loss, example Hand grip and Stair climb

Certain food help maintain muscle strength

-how much you maintain from middle age

-How much protein is enough for older adults? As we can’t take too much protein

1.2-1.5g protein/kg body weight/day for older adult

When to take protein?

Give regular interval, breakfast, Lunch and dinner certain gram each time

Several product provide HMB (a metabolte of the amino acid luecine) help muschle strengthen over the time.

Other than nutrition, older people need to exercise.

Exercise

Learn Tai Chi

Grip stregnthe training

Sitting in the chair exercise to start first

You are what you eat. 

Move and Keep on Moving

Learnt from Pro Dr Shahrul