How to Eat to Keep Muscle

By Lizzie Streit, MS, RDN, LD

While you probably know the phrase “use it or lose it,” you may not realize just how applicable it is to maintaining muscle as you age. Preventing muscle loss is vital to good health, with benefits ranging from better metabolism to not-so-creaky joints. You don’t have to be a body builder to reap the benefits either.

This post is full of tips for eating and exercising with muscle in mind. Keep reading to learn about foods to incorporate, all of which can fit into a 1200 calorie meal plan, and effective ways to “use” your muscles!

Benefits of Muscle

Maintaining muscle mass improves strength, balance, and joint health, which prevents falls, injuries, and pain and preserves quality of life. In addition, muscle plays a role in storing and releasing sugar as well as amino acids. It helps the body burn calories, maintain a healthy weight, and regulate blood sugar. The wide-reaching role of muscle in overall health suggests negative implications when that muscle is lost.

Starting as early as age 30 and picking up by middle age, muscles start to lose their individual fibers and overall mass. As a result, aging individuals experience losses in physical function, bone strength, and metabolic health. Declines in muscle mass have also been associated with higher risks of metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease, and type 2 diabetes, among many other health problems.

What to Eat to Maintain Muscle

Muscle loss is a normal consequence of aging, but there is so much you can do to preserve as much as you can and prevent negative effects. Eating a well-planned diet, especially one that resembles the Mediterranean eating pattern, can have a huge impact.

Getting enough protein, the building block of muscles, is key for muscle function. In particular, studies suggest lean red meat helps preserve lean muscle mass. Eating fruits and vegetables, dairy products, and foods that are rich in iron, vitamin D, vitamin C, and omega-3 fatty acids also help maintain muscle.

Examples of these muscle-strengthening foods include:

  • Meat, especially lean red meats like ground beef and loin cuts

  • Fish, particularly salmon and cold-water fatty fish

  • Nuts and seeds, like flaxseeds and walnuts

  • Dairy products, including Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, and milk

  • Fruits and vegetables, especially Brussels sprouts, bell peppers, and citrus

Strength Training Recommendations

What you put on your plate isn’t the only thing that matters when it comes to preserving muscle mass. Exercise is also incredibly important.

Research suggests that aging adults need to use their muscles or risk losing them. While cardiovascular activity is important for overall health, strength training is key for keeping muscles strong as you get older. Current recommendations, from expert sources like the American Heart Association, suggest 20 to 30 minutes of strength training for all major muscle groups at least twice a week.

Start with a warm-up, such as brisk walking, then progress to doing sets of 12 to 15 repetitions lifting weights that tire your muscles. Some examples of appropriate exercises include bicep curls, overhead presses, triceps extensions, and squats. If you need assistance, work with a qualified trainer who can help you safely build strength.

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Stef Keegan