duh
[www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov]

Alkaline diets favor lean tissue mass in older adults.Dawson-Hughes B, Harris SS, Ceglia L.
Jean Mayer US Department of Agriculture Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, Boston, MA, USA.

BACKGROUND: Maintaining muscle mass while aging is important to prevent falls and fractures. Metabolic acidosis promotes muscle wasting, and the net acid load from diets that are rich in net acid-producing protein and cereal grains relative to their content of net alkali-producing fruit and vegetables may therefore contribute to a reduction in lean tissue mass in older adults. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to determine whether there was an association of 24-h urinary potassium and an index of fruit and vegetable content of the diet with the percentage lean body mass (%LBM) or change in %LBM in older subjects. DESIGN: Subjects were 384 men and women > or =65 y old who participated in a 3-y trial comparing calcium and vitamin D with placebo. Potassium was measured in 24-h urine collections at baseline. The %LBM, defined as total body nonfat, nonbone tissue weight/weight x 100, was measured by using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry at baseline and at 3 y. Physical activity, height, and weight were assessed at baseline and at 3 y. RESULTS: At baseline, the mean urinary potassium excretion was 67.0 +/- 21.1 mmol/d. Urinary potassium (mmol/d) was significantly positively associated with %LBM at baseline (beta = 0.033, P = 0.006; adjusted for sex, weight, and nitrogen excretion) but not with 3-y change in %LBM. Over the 3-y study, %LBM increased by 2.6 +/- 3.6%. CONCLUSION: Higher intake of foods rich in potassium, such as fruit and vegetables, may favor the preservation of muscle mass in older men and women.

"..Urinary potassium (mmol/d) was significantly positively associated with %LBM."

Very interesting.. so at the onset of the study, those who had been eating potassium rich foods, i.e. fruits and vegetables, tended to be leaner. Over the course of the 3 year study, those eating calcium (alkaline) and vitamin D supplemented diets maintained their %LBM (percent lean body mass) and even improved (but not by a statistically significant amount?)

Seems like progress.. first the association of alkaline diets and preserving bone density, now %LBM.

Here's a lovely pic for those who forgot about it or haven't seen it:

That photo of Arnold is doctored/photoshopped.

etd: Storm and Jinjee eventually took that shot off their site because they hadn't realized etc



My website: The Coconut Chronicles



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/01/2008 11:09PM by TheCoconutChronicles.

"That photo of Arnold is doctored/photoshopped."

Yeah, that photo keeps popping up in the united states in various formats. Apparently it began as a dot.com advertising gimmick playing on the popular celebrity "then and now" theme. It was transformed and adopted as political humor in California where they like to poke fun at themselves for electing "Conan the Barbarian" to govern them.. he's really quite popular as governor. Any insiders...

Arnold Schwarzenegger now (all smiles):

[www.imdb.com]