If you want healthier muscles, especially as you get older, you must eat a diet rich in vitamin C. It is said that vitamin C can promote good muscle quality. With the growth of age, people tend to lose the quality of skeletal muscle, which leads to sarcopenia (the characteristics of loss of skeletal muscle quality and function), weakness and decline in quality of life, which becomes particularly important.
Want to exercise healthy muscles? Eat more foods rich in vitamin C.
The study published in the Journal of Nutrition shows that people over 50 lose as much as 1% of skeletal muscle mass every year, which is believed to affect more than 50 million people all over the world. AilsaWelch, a researcher at the University of East Anglia (UEA), said: "This is a big problem because it may lead to weakness and other adverse consequences, such as muscle loss, physical disability, type 2 diabetes, decreased quality of life and death." Britain.
Welch added: "We know that vitamin C intake is related to skeletal muscle quality. It helps to protect the cells and tissues that make up the human body from potentially harmful free radical substances. "
Effect of vitamin c on the elderly
But so far, few studies have investigated the importance of vitamin C intake to the elderly. The research team wants to find out whether people who eat more vitamin C have more muscles than others. The research team studied the data of more than 65,438+03,000 people aged 42-82 who participated in the Norfolk study of EPIC.
Help improve skeletal muscle quality
They calculated their skeletal muscle mass and analyzed their vitamin C intake through a 7-day food diary. They also checked the content of vitamin C in the blood. It is found that people with very high vitamin C content in diet or blood have higher estimates of skeletal muscle quality than those with ultra-low vitamin C content. RichardHayhoe, a researcher at UEA, said: "Our findings are very exciting because they show that vitamin C in the diet is very important for the muscle health of elderly men and women and may be useful for preventing age-related muscle loss."
This is an easily available vitamin.
This is especially important because vitamin C can be easily obtained from fruits, vegetables or supplements, so it is relatively easy to increase the intake of this vitamin. The author of the study wrote: "We are not talking about people who need large doses. Eating citrus fruits every day, such as oranges, and adding vegetables to the rice is enough. "