Over 50? Then you probably DO need to supplement!

Introduction

The NHS are now telling us that we should all be taking Vitamin D as a supplement and at double the RDA (recommended daily allowance).

I’m afraid that this is just the tip of the iceberg, as it is well documented in countless government surveys that most of us, especially as we age, are hopelessly deficient in many key vitamins and also some minerals too.

Healthy nutrition combined with regular exercise will benefit us enormously as we get older. Also, there is growing evidence that certain nutrients can bring us significant health benefits as we age.

As we get older, we lose muscle mass and strength, we lose bone density, especially post-menopausal women and we also may find that our Vitamin D levels are significantly lower than what is recommended. Our joints suffer too and our general energy levels are not what they used to be.

There have been many detailed nutrition and food intake studies carried out across the world, which have reported that there are many nutrients of concern, ie those nutriets that are being consumed at lower levels than the target RDA (recommended daily allowance). The analysis clearly shows that the vast majority of us are just not getting what we need from food alone, unless we happen to have a very good diet indeed, which is actually rare in day to day reality. In fact this is a little theoretical in all honesty.

In a large piece of research with over 50s (and beyond) consumers, we found that when we asked questions about what the over 50s really wanted as they got older, the vast majority told us that they simply wanted to remain mobile, independent and stay active, allowing them to do what they have always done like go on holidays, play with the grandkids, go shopping etc.

This means looking after our ‘musculo-skeletal health’ ie our bones, our muscles, our joints and also having enough energy to carry on doing what we want.

The Importance of Bone Health as we Age

Bones are living tissue that includes the combination of bone, nerves, cartilage and connective tissues, with blood vessels supplying important nutrients to the bones.

Only around 65% of bone is actually composed of hard mineral substances, with the rest being organic providing extra strength, durability and flexibility. Collagen is a key protein which is also present in bone and literally holds the calcium structure together, rather likes bricks and mortar.

By the time we reach 30 years old, our bones have reached peak bone strength and mass, with post 35 yrs being the start of quite fast bone mass decline. This is significantly speeded up in post-menopausal women, though men do not escape this bone loss with age.

In younger adults, resorption (loss) and formation of bone is equal, but as we age, the process of bone resorption sets in, resulting in a loss of bone density over time. Hence our bones become more brittle.

Dietary calcium is needed to ensure that healthy bone is built. Failure to get enough calcium can result in severe bone loss with the result being osteoporosis. This can of course then lead to fractures.

Many diet & nutrition studies across the world have shown quite conclusively that many over 50’s adults are not getting nearly enough calcium….in fact, in the UK, nearly 50% of older adults fail to reach RDA levels of calcium. In addition, over 90% are failing to get enough of that vital vitamin D in their diet either. Vitamin D can be synthesised on our skin in bright sunlight but typically this is a very inefficient process, especially during Autumn/Winter periods. This double failure leads to an even greater risk of potential bone fractures.

Even if calcium is in plentiful supply, the calcium absorption is very much dependent on vitamin D and therefore it is also vital to get enough vitamin D.

It is important to ensure that both calcium and vitamin D intake is at least as much as the recommended intake, though many scientists will also argue that an even higher dose of these nutrients is essential as we age. This is due to the fact that vitamin D synthesis in our skin is typically less efficient as we age.

Another key nutrient that is often forgotten about is vitamin K , which also plays a key role in the formation of bone and there is growing evidence that diets rich in vitamin K could play a role in increasing bone density in people with osteoporosis, which in turn has been shown is some studies to reduce fractures too.

The Importance of Joint Health as we age

As we all age, our joints tend to give us pain from time to time and in some cases the pain can be considerable. But why does this happen as we get older? The most common forms of joint pain are arthritis of the knees, hips, hand and wrist, spine and sometimes shoulders.

In essence, at the end of each of our bones, is a smooth lining of protective cartilage and other soft tissues that also produce a liquid called synovial fluid. It is the combination of this soft cushion of cartilage and the lubricating synovial fluid that helps our joints remain mobile and healthy.

However with ageing, the cartilage can deteriorate from wear and tear and the protective membranes can tend to dry out, allowing the bones to start rubbing against each other. This in turn leads to inflammation and pain.

The first and most obvious way to push back potential joint problems, is to ensure that your weight is under control. According to a national study, you are four times more likely to develop arthritis if you are obese, so this is a major risk factor which can be controlled. Studies also show that exercise can significantly reduce the onset of arthritis, with the best exercises being swimming, cycling and even using weights providing they are reasonably light. Joint movement is key to healthy joints.

In addition, there are a variety of nutrients that are used in joint health products such as glucosamine, chondroitin and hyaluronic acid. These materials are all implicated in the day to day function of healthy joints. Also the use of hydrolysed collagen has been shown in some studies to contribute to joint health too, as it plays a major role in healthy connective tissues such as tendons and ligaments.

Micronutrients too have been shown clearly by scientists to contribute to the maintenance and formation of connective tissues (tendons and ligaments) such as vitamin C, manganese and also copper.

The Importance of Muscle Health with ageing

As we get older, we tend to start losing muscle mass. In fact after the age of around 45 yrs old, we lose around 1-2 % muscle mass each year, which means that by the time we are 65 yrs old, we may have lost a quarter of our muscle mass or even more!

This is an alarming fact to most people. In fact there is a medical term for this, and it is ‘sarcopenia’.

Of course, loss of muscle mass leads to a reduction of strength too and even the onset of frailty later on. Frailty can in turn lead to a higher incidence of falls and fractures, the hip fracture being the most common. This is something we all want to avoid if possible. But we can fight back against this quite easily with a two pronged approach.

The first is to eat plenty of protein. The minimum daily intake for protein used to be around 60 grams a day for a 70kg (11 stone) person. Most of us get this if our diet is good, BUT it is now well proven that a higher protein diet is necessary to combat this muscle wasting and the suggested intake of protein is nearer 90-100 gms a day, not 60 gms. This new recommendation has been the subject of a major international conference , in which top international ‘ageing muscle’ scientists collaborated together in coming to an overall conclusion about ageing and protein intake.

However, eating 100g daily is not that easy as this amount of protein is roughly the same as four chicken breasts or eighteen eggs!! This is why additional supplementation is so helpful as we age.

The second way of fighting back against muscle wastage is to remain active. The ‘use it or lose it’ saying is quite true when it comes to ageing and muscle mass.

Furthermore, if this exercise can be weight bearing, then this will be even better, as this will help strengthen legs, vital in gait, posture and balance.

The very best form of exercise is called ‘resistance’ exercise, in which weights or stretchy bands can be used to stress the muscles. The muscles then want to recover afterwards and this is when they use protein from the diet or supplements to rebuild themselves, so leading to enhanced strength over time.

The combination of both resistance exercise and a high protein intake is a proven combination to help inhibit sarcopenia or muscle loss.

Energising, Fighting Fatigue and Overall Vitality

Staying active as you get older is probably the most important thing you will do, in order to have a long and healthy life, whether this is at pre-retirement and still working hard, or whether this is post retirement.

A failure to keep active as we age, can lead to an overly sedentary lifestyle, which if continued, can lead to rapid loss of muscle mass and strength and bring on the onset of frailty far too early on in life. No-one wants to lose strength and mobility as they age. Keeping active also has positive effects on many other aspects of health too such as heart health and brain health…and of course your weight too!

Keeping bones strong and joints as healthy as possible, has been discussed in many other narratives. Also muscle health and overall strength is key to musculo-skeletal health and fitness, most notably balance, as good balance can help prevent falls, which tend to be more and more common as we age.

Maintaining energy levels through the day is more and more difficult as we age, so we need to ensure that our nutrition is healthy, as this is a major contributor to how we feel from day to day.

Getting those essential B Vitamins (and there are many types such as B1, B2, B3, B6, B12, folate and pantothenic acid) is important if we are to ensure that our energy producing metabolism is at its best. But another vitamin is also absolutely key to muscle function….and that is again the master vitamin D, which is SO important across many health areas.

Minerals too play a vital part in helping us generate energy efficiently. Such minerals include iron and magnesium. Iron of course is an integral part of haemoglobin, our oxygen carrier in our red blood cells, while zinc and magnesium also contribute by helping to maintain our muscle function efficiently. Vitamin C also helps to increase the absorption of iron.

In summary, as we age, then supplementation can be a good strategy to ensure we get all these key micronutrients into our diet. As we need so many of these front line nutrients due to our deficiencies, then the best strategy is to take a high quality multi nutrient formulation, which will give you optimal amounts of these vitamins and minerals. In addition, black pepper extract is another excellent ingredient which will help the ageing gut much better absorb the nutrients which you are taking, so do look out for formulations with black pepper extract too.

BUT, do stay active, as exercise is the absolute silver bullet of health and sensible supplementation should help you achieve this by helping to ensure you have a solid nutritional base on which to build.