JJ Virgin: Does Protein Prevent or Cause Aging?
Mark Hyman
Mar 6, 2024
Mindsip insights from this episode:
Prioritize power training to combat muscle loss with age
As you age, you lose muscle size by up to 1% per year, strength by 2-4%, and explosive power by a staggering 6-8% per year, making power training critical.
Understand weight gain causes before metabolism decline at 63
Contrary to popular belief, your metabolism doesn't significantly decline until around age 63, so weight gain in your 40s and 50s is due to other lifestyle and hormonal factors.
Prioritize protein to control calorie intake
The 'protein leverage hypothesis' suggests your body will drive you to keep eating until you've consumed enough protein, causing you to overeat calories on a low-protein diet.
Avoid weight loss drugs that compromise muscle mass
Popular GLP-1 agonist drugs like Ozempic can cause up to 40% of the weight lost to be from muscle mass, which is detrimental to long-term metabolic health.
Build muscle to enhance metabolism and reduce belly fat
Muscle acts as 'metabolic Spanx' by holding everything in tighter and as a 'sugar sponge' by absorbing carbohydrates that would otherwise be stored as belly fat.
Increase protein intake to overcome aging-related resistance
As you age, your body develops anabolic resistance, meaning you need to consume more protein (e.g., 40+ grams per meal) to trigger the same muscle-building response.
Address muscle loss to prevent bone deterioration
Poor bone mineral density is often a lagging indicator of sarcopenia, meaning that muscle loss precedes and contributes to weakening bones.
Supplement creatine to enhance women's muscle, mood, and cognition
Women have 70-80% lower natural creatine stores than men, making supplementation important not just for muscle, but also for mood, cognitive function, and skin health.
Stay hydrated to prevent fat storage
Being dehydrated can trigger your liver to convert glucose into fructose and store it as fat, a survival mechanism that essentially turns you into a camel.
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