Dr. G’s Trick for Stopping Muscle Loss

Dear Reader,

When I was younger, I was a bit of an extreme athlete. I like to push my body to its limits.

I climbed some of the highest mountains, hiked the Grand Canyon, and biked thousands of miles.

But I’m 64 now, and like it or not, I just can’t do everything I used to do.

Although I’m happy to say I can still beat my 24-year-old son in a foot race (as long as the race is over two miles long and uphill). Hey, the old man’s still got it!

But whether you’re trying to climb mountains or just carry some groceries… if you’ve found that you just don’t have the strength you used to, I have good news for you today.

Because one simple change to your diet could be the key to SAVING your muscles.

Researchers tracked 1,700 men and women from 67-84 years old for three years. Throughout that time, the participants kept track of what they ate, and they underwent strength testing.

In general, the participants lost muscle strength over the course of the study. That wasn’t unexpected. After all, you start losing muscle mass as early as your 30s.

But the researchers noted an interesting trend. The people who ate protein throughout the day – as opposed to just at one meal – didn’t lose ANY muscle strength.

The key wasn’t the amount of protein consumed in one day, because even people who ate the recommended amount – but crammed it into one meal – still lost strength.

But those who ate the SAME amount of protein – spread over three meals – were just as strong at the end of the study as they were at the beginning.

In other words, it’s not just about how MUCH protein you’re eating… it’s about WHEN.

That makes perfect sense.

Muscles are similar to our bones, in that they are constantly being broken down and built back up. Problem is, as you get older, you lose muscle much faster than you build it.

This means you have to take extra steps not just to BUILD muscle—but even to MAINTAIN it.

That’s one of the reasons why older people need to eat more protein in general. But as this study points out, simply eating MORE might not be enough.

The steadier the supply of protein you feed your muscles, the more consistently it will be able to help in the critical muscle-building process.

I recommend eating at least 5-7 ounces of protein every day. When you spread that over three meals, it’s fairly easy to do.

And it’s pretty tasty, too.

To a brighter day,

Dr. Richard Gerhauser, M.D.