Why Muscle Is the Organ of Longevity

The search for the proverbial foundation of youth has been a human endeavor for millennia, yet the answer lies within the human body. More specifically, as researchers continue to unravel the aging process, it turns out that the 600+ muscles in your body play a significant role.

Not only can muscle strength prolong your life, it can prevent injury and help you live far more comfortably as you age. Starting in your 30s, the body can lose about 3%-5% of its muscle mass per decade, which is called sarcopenia, and the goal should be to offset this loss.

As a longevity and metabolic wellness expert, endocrinologist Sean P. Nikravan, MD, FACE, understands the importance of maintaining muscle strength as you age, helping you live stronger AND longer. 

Measuring how well you’re aging through muscle strength

As research piles up underscoring the benefits of strong muscles as you age, a few metrics have emerged that help determine longevity. A great example of this are three areas that we measure to determine your strength and predict your longevity as you age:

1. Grip strength
2. Knee strength
3. Balance

After age 50, many people experience significant declines in each of these areas, which can greatly speed up the aging process and increase the risks for injury.

For example, with a loss in balance comes a greater chance for falls, which is the leading cause of injury in people age 65 and older. Playing this out even further, many older people who fall and break bones don’t fully recover and end up with physical disabilities that can further hamper longevity.

Losing weight can affect muscle mass

The success of GLP-1 weight loss medications in helping millions of Americans to lose weight is remarkable. About 11% of adults currently take these medications in the United States.

While the health benefits that come with weight loss are great and can very much improve your longevity, we caution users about muscle loss. When you lose weight quickly, you can also lose muscle mass, and this is one side effect that’s important to address as quickly as possible.

Promoting longevity through muscle strength

No matter where you are in age, or in overall health, strength training that beefs up the muscles in your body is paramount for living long and strong.

Through our longevity program, we show people how to best preserve muscle mass and which muscles to really focus on. We also show patients how certain nutritional practices, such as adding protein, can support muscle-building efforts.

As important, we also conduct a comprehensive baseline evaluation of your muscle strength to give us an idea about your starting point, which allows us to better gauge where you should be. From there, we design a comprehensive muscle strengthening program that involves resistance training, balance work, and shifting your muscle-fat ratio toward a healthier balance.

If you’re serious about longevity and living strong and healthy, please contact Sean P. Nikravan, MD, today at our office in Newport Beach, California.