Post by Rodney Rochester on Jul 7, 2006 16:18:29 GMT -5
Amino Acid thingytail Saves Muscles
Helps maintain strength even without exercise
A thingytail of amino acids and carbohydrates can help maintain muscle mass, even in people who don't exercise.
In a 28-day bed-rest study, researchers from the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) in Galveston have shown that the thingytail, similar to those used by bodybuilders, fights the loss of muscle strength that accompanies a lack of activity.
"We thought it was the most astounding thing that even though our subjects did no exercise, they were able to maintain muscle mass," says Douglas Paddon-Jones, the study's lead author.
Half off
Loss of muscle strength commonly occurs when people can't participate in normal activities, such as when they're confined to hospital beds or, in the case of astronauts, when they experience long periods of weightlessness.
To fight muscle loss and encourage muscle growth, bodybuilders often take amino acid supplements. Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins, and while the human body can manufacture many, adults must get about eight from their diet—the essential amino acids. It is thought that amino acid supplementation can help provide the body with the building blocks it needs to construct muscle.
For their study, Paddon-Jones and colleagues recruited healthy men between the ages of 26 and 46 and confined them to bed rest for nearly a month. Seven were given drinks containing essential amino acids and carbohydrates each day and six were given a placebo.
A series of tests—including protein synthesis measurements, biopsies, magnetic resonance imaging and X-ray imaging—revealed that subjects given the supplements retained their leg muscle mass while the placebo group lost about a pound of leg muscle on average. Those taking the supplements also lost just about half the leg strength of the placebo group.
Space supplement
The researchers say that similar supplementation could help astronauts, trauma victims who have a reduced ability to create muscle and hospitalized elderly people.
"The elderly have less muscle to spare than the rest of us," Paddon-Jones said. "When they get sick or injured and wind up in a hospital bed for a prolonged period, many of them lose so much muscle mass and strength that they don't get back up. For a lot of people, this supplement could make a real difference."
The researchers plan further studies to see whether nutritional supplementation alone or in combination with exercise can reduce muscle loss in elderly men and women during prolonged bed rest.
The research is reported in the The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (read abstract).
Helps maintain strength even without exercise
A thingytail of amino acids and carbohydrates can help maintain muscle mass, even in people who don't exercise.
In a 28-day bed-rest study, researchers from the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) in Galveston have shown that the thingytail, similar to those used by bodybuilders, fights the loss of muscle strength that accompanies a lack of activity.
"We thought it was the most astounding thing that even though our subjects did no exercise, they were able to maintain muscle mass," says Douglas Paddon-Jones, the study's lead author.
Half off
Loss of muscle strength commonly occurs when people can't participate in normal activities, such as when they're confined to hospital beds or, in the case of astronauts, when they experience long periods of weightlessness.
To fight muscle loss and encourage muscle growth, bodybuilders often take amino acid supplements. Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins, and while the human body can manufacture many, adults must get about eight from their diet—the essential amino acids. It is thought that amino acid supplementation can help provide the body with the building blocks it needs to construct muscle.
For their study, Paddon-Jones and colleagues recruited healthy men between the ages of 26 and 46 and confined them to bed rest for nearly a month. Seven were given drinks containing essential amino acids and carbohydrates each day and six were given a placebo.
A series of tests—including protein synthesis measurements, biopsies, magnetic resonance imaging and X-ray imaging—revealed that subjects given the supplements retained their leg muscle mass while the placebo group lost about a pound of leg muscle on average. Those taking the supplements also lost just about half the leg strength of the placebo group.
Space supplement
The researchers say that similar supplementation could help astronauts, trauma victims who have a reduced ability to create muscle and hospitalized elderly people.
"The elderly have less muscle to spare than the rest of us," Paddon-Jones said. "When they get sick or injured and wind up in a hospital bed for a prolonged period, many of them lose so much muscle mass and strength that they don't get back up. For a lot of people, this supplement could make a real difference."
The researchers plan further studies to see whether nutritional supplementation alone or in combination with exercise can reduce muscle loss in elderly men and women during prolonged bed rest.
The research is reported in the The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (read abstract).
