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MUSCLES – NOT JUST FOR BODYBUILDERS!
by Monica Mollica
For most people, the mere word “muscles” brings to mind huge muscular bodybuilders. The importance of muscle mass, strength, and power for physical performance in exercise and sports is obvious. However, muscles aren’t just for show. Here I will explain why.
ROLE OF MUSCLE IN THE BODY’S METABOLISM
Muscle (or more precisely skeletal muscle) comprises around 45% and 35% of an average young man’s and woman’s body weight, respectively.[1] An adequate muscle mass is essential to ensure basic physiological functions such as movements, strength and respiration.[2] In order for us to survive, certain organs and tissues and, like the brain, heart, liver and skin, rely on a steady supply of amino acids via the blood to serve as precursors for the synthesis of new proteins to balance the continuous rate of protein breakdown that normally occurs as part of protein metabolism.
In the absence of nutrient intake (for example in between meals and during sleep) muscle protein serves as the principal reservoir to replace blood amino acid taken up by other tissues.[3-5] In the fasting state, blood amino acids serve not only as precursors for the synthesis of proteins but also as precursors for hepatic gluconeogenesis.[6] This is how the body is able to keep the protein mass of essential tissues and organs, as well as blood glucose levels, relatively constant despite intermittent food intake.
The primary fate of ingested amino acids is incorporation into muscle protein to replete the reserves of amino acids lost in the fasting state. Under typical conditions, gains in muscle protein mass in the fed state balance the loss of muscle protein mass in the fasted state. When combined with proper nutrition and resistance training, muscle protein gains will exceed muscle protein losses, which results in a net positive muscle protein balance. Over time, this leads to muscle growth.
Muscle, together with the liver, is also the main place for storage of glucose as glycogen after meals, and therefore plays an important role in glucose disposal and glucose metabolism.[7-13] In line with this, a lower muscle mass is associated with higher fasting and after-meal blood glucose levels, as well as elevated insulin levels.[14] Higher levels of glucose and/or insulin reflect some degree of insulin resistance. This suggests that the association of higher glucose and insulin levels with reduced muscle strength [15-17] is mediated, at least in part, by reduced muscle mass. READ FULL ARTICLE
by Monica Mollica
For most people, the mere word “muscles” brings to mind huge muscular bodybuilders. The importance of muscle mass, strength, and power for physical performance in exercise and sports is obvious. However, muscles aren’t just for show. Here I will explain why.
ROLE OF MUSCLE IN THE BODY’S METABOLISM
Muscle (or more precisely skeletal muscle) comprises around 45% and 35% of an average young man’s and woman’s body weight, respectively.[1] An adequate muscle mass is essential to ensure basic physiological functions such as movements, strength and respiration.[2] In order for us to survive, certain organs and tissues and, like the brain, heart, liver and skin, rely on a steady supply of amino acids via the blood to serve as precursors for the synthesis of new proteins to balance the continuous rate of protein breakdown that normally occurs as part of protein metabolism.
In the absence of nutrient intake (for example in between meals and during sleep) muscle protein serves as the principal reservoir to replace blood amino acid taken up by other tissues.[3-5] In the fasting state, blood amino acids serve not only as precursors for the synthesis of proteins but also as precursors for hepatic gluconeogenesis.[6] This is how the body is able to keep the protein mass of essential tissues and organs, as well as blood glucose levels, relatively constant despite intermittent food intake.
The primary fate of ingested amino acids is incorporation into muscle protein to replete the reserves of amino acids lost in the fasting state. Under typical conditions, gains in muscle protein mass in the fed state balance the loss of muscle protein mass in the fasted state. When combined with proper nutrition and resistance training, muscle protein gains will exceed muscle protein losses, which results in a net positive muscle protein balance. Over time, this leads to muscle growth.
Muscle, together with the liver, is also the main place for storage of glucose as glycogen after meals, and therefore plays an important role in glucose disposal and glucose metabolism.[7-13] In line with this, a lower muscle mass is associated with higher fasting and after-meal blood glucose levels, as well as elevated insulin levels.[14] Higher levels of glucose and/or insulin reflect some degree of insulin resistance. This suggests that the association of higher glucose and insulin levels with reduced muscle strength [15-17] is mediated, at least in part, by reduced muscle mass. READ FULL ARTICLE
