Tufts University. US: A cup of tea and a cookie for an afternoon snack, while
a pleasant routine, may not be supplying adequate nutrition for many baby boomers, a recent Tufts study suggests.
Substituting a glass of milk or a hard-boiled egg would better
fuel the person who has reached that time in life—that is to say, anyone older
than 50—when muscle mass declines at a rate of 1 to 2 percent annually.
“It’s estimated that 20 percent of people between the age of 51 and 70 have
an inadequate protein intake,” Paul Jacques, D.Sc., director of the Nutritional
Epidemiology Program at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research
Center on Aging at Tufts, told the
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
.
Jacques and
his colleagues reported in the
British Journal of Nutrition
that physical activity (working with weights or aerobic exercise, such as swimming or cycling)
plus sufficient protein intake can halt and even reverse the normal muscle
loss associated with aging.
Research done by the U.S. Department of Agriculture shows that consuming 90 grams of high-quality protein a day helps strengthen muscles.
For reference, there are seven grams of protein in an ounce of cooked meat,
eight grams in a cup of milk and six grams in an egg. Experts say it’s best to
pace your protein consumption throughout the day, so muscles have a steady
supply of amino acids to draw upon.