Experts urge focus on muscle quality for overall health and longevity

Experts are now suggesting that evaluating muscle health could be as important as monitoring blood pressure. Muscle tissue serves as the body’s primary storage system for blood sugar, contributing to a healthy metabolism and reducing inflammation. While muscle mass is often associated with health in younger individuals, this relationship becomes less reliable with age.

Muscle health is a complex assessment that includes strength, balance, physical function, activity levels, and the amount of fat within the muscle itself. Women, who typically have less muscle mass than men, can still maintain comparable muscle health.

The growing awareness of muscle health’s role is particularly relevant given the popularity of GLP-1 medications like Ozempic and Zepbound, which, while beneficial for blood sugar and cardiovascular risk, can also lead to loss of both fat and lean mass, including skeletal muscle. Fatima Cody Stanford, an obesity medicine physician-scientist at Mass General Brigham, emphasizes the importance of adequate nutrition for individuals taking these medications to preserve muscle function.

To protect against muscle loss, experts recommend a sufficient daily intake of high-quality protein, including sources like fish, poultry, eggs, dairy, tofu, beans, lentils, nuts, and seeds. The U.S. dietary guidelines suggest 1.2 to 1.6 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight. Regular physical activity, including resistance exercises like weight training, body-weight exercises, or using resistance bands, is also crucial.

Muscle power, the ability to generate force quickly, is an often-overlooked aspect of muscle health that declines with age. Handgrip strength, measured using a dynamometer, provides a simple assessment; a threshold of 57 pounds for men and 35 pounds for women is considered low. Other functional tests, such as the 6-Minute Walk Test, the Timed Up and Go Test, the 30-Second Chair Stand Test, and the 5-Repetition Sit-to-Stand Test, can further evaluate endurance, power, and mobility.