By Isagenix Nutritional Sciences
Supplementation with omega-3 fatty acids from fish oil can help prevent muscle loss in aging adults, according to a new randomized, controlled trial.
The findings, published in American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, suggest that fish oil supplementation may be useful as a nutritional intervention to counter the onset of sarcopenia, or age-related skeletal muscle loss. The researchers performing the study gave 16 healthy, older adults either omega-3 fatty acids (1.86 grams of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and 1.5 grams of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA)) or corn oil (in equal amounts) for eight weeks.
Each of subjects in this study were considered to be in good health having no cardiovascular disease, hypertension, or diabetes. They did not engage in regular exercise, take medication that could affect protein metabolism, report excessive alcohol intake, or engage in smoking.
By the end of the study, corn oil supplementation showed no effect on muscle, but omega-3 supplementation increased muscle anabolic signaling activity.
The authors write, “Our study provides compelling evidence of an interaction of omega-3 fatty acids and protein metabolism in human muscle and suggest that dietary omega-3 fatty acid supplementation could potentially provide a safe, simple, and low-cost intervention to combat sarcopenia.”
The exact mechanism by which dietary omega-3 fatty acids increase muscle synthesis remains unclear at this time.
Sarcopenia is caused in part by a blunted anabolic response (muscle-building response) that occurs with advanced age because of defects in anabolic signaling. These defects lead to a decreased rate of muscle synthesis and an overall loss in skeletal muscle mass.
Loss of skeletal muscle mass is further influenced by a sedentary lifestyle, or lack of physical activity, and by low vitamin D status, which is often present in older adults.
Source: Smith GI, Atherton P, Reeds DN et al. Dietary omega-3 fatty acid supplementation increases the rate of muscle protein synthesis in older adults: a randomized controlled trial. Am J Clin Nutr 2010. doi: 10.3945/ajcn.110.005611