Journal
CLINICAL NUTRITION
Volume 41, Issue 5, Pages 1034-1045Publisher
CHURCHILL LIVINGSTONE
DOI: 10.1016/j.clnu.2022.02.017
Keywords
Protein supplementation; High protein diet; Resistance training; Muscle quality; Physical function; Older adults
Categories
Funding
- University of Vienna
- EU-program Interreg SK-AT (NutriAging)
- Open Access Publishing Fund of the University of Vienna
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The study aimed to evaluate the feasibility of increasing protein intake in older adults through dietary supplementation and determine whether this increase would lead to greater improvements when combined with resistance training. The results showed that a substantial increase in protein intake was achievable within 17 weeks in community-living elderly individuals. However, the additional protein intake had minor effects on body composition and did not impact physical performance or muscle quality.
Background & aims: Resistance training and a sufficient amount of dietary protein have been suggested to build up and maintain muscle mass, strength and function into old age. As there is still no consensus on the optimum amount of protein intake in older people, this study aims to evaluate first whether it is achievable to double the recommended amount, which is 1 g/kg BW/d in German speaking countries, via food administration and secondly whether this would lead to stronger improvements when subsequently combined with resistance training. Methods: In total, 136 community-dwelling older adults (54% females, 72.9 +/- 4.8 yrs) were randomly assigned to one of the three study groups: observational control (CON), recommended protein (RP + T) and high protein (HP + T) intake groups. After six weeks of observation or nutritional counselling to achieve the respective protein target levels, eight weeks of resistance training (2x/week) were applied in RP + T and HP + T groups. Parameters indicative for muscle mass, strength and function were measured at baseline (t1), before (t2) and after the training period (t3). Results: Baseline protein intake for the different groups were 0.83 (CON), 0.97 (RP + T) and 0.78 (HP + T) g/kg BW/d and increased by 0.18 +/- 0.31 (RP + T, p = 0.003) and 0.83 +/- 0.33 (HP + T, p > 0.001) g/kg BW/ d between t1 and t3 while CON remained unchanged. Most of the physical performance parameters improved over time, but no interaction effects between group and time could be observed. While body fat mass initially increased from t1 to t2 (0.8 +/- 2.3 kg, p = 0.001), skeletal muscle mass decreased (-0.5 +/- 1.9 kg, p = 0.025), a trend which was reversed from t2 to t3 only in HP + T group (body fat mass: -0.47 +/- 2.12 kg, p = 0.041; muscle mass: 0.51 +/- 1.57 kg, p = 0.021). Conclusion: The findings suggest that a substantial increase of habitual protein intake above the currently recommended levels is achievable within 17 weeks in community-dwelling older adults, whereby the extra amount of protein led to minor changes in body composition but not physical performance or muscle quality (NCT04023513). (c) 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.
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