Muscle, Protein, and Longevity Daily Habit
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[00:00:00] what if I told you that right now as you're watching this, your body is quietly degrading one of the most important tissues for longevity.
Every single day after the age of 30, you wake up with slightly less of the tissue that keeps you alive, strong, and metabolically active. Here's something that might surprise you, that after age 30, you lose about three to 8% of your muscle mass every decade after age 50, that loss can speed up to five to 10% per decade.
We call this. Sarcopenia and it's not just about looking less tone, it's literally aging you from the inside out. Even if your weight stays the same, your body composition changes where you have less muscle mass and more fat mass. And here's the key. Your muscle is your biggest glucose burner, .
The more you build and maintain it, the better you can handle your blood sugar and [00:01:00] stay metabolically healthy and lower your risk for chronic disease.
Now here's the catch. Your glucose burning engine cannot run without the right fuel and the number one nutrient that decides whether you keep or lose that precious muscle. You guessed it, protein,
every enzyme in your body is made of a protein. Your immune system runs on protein antibodies. Your hormone and neurotransmitters depend on proteins to be formed even the collagen that keeps your skin firm and youthful is protein. Without protein, your health can deteriorate.
amino acids are basically the breakdown products of protein. Kind of like sugar is a breakdown product of carbs.
There are 20 amino acids, nine of them are essential, meaning that your body can't make them. You have to get 'em from food.
And each amino acid has a unique job. Some repair muscle tissue, some build enzymes that drive your [00:02:00] metabolism.
Some form neurotransmitters that affect your mood and focus, and others strengthen your immune system.
One of these amino acids is called leucine. A real game changer when it comes to muscle building. Think of leucine as an ignition key when you get about two and a half to three grams of leucine in a meal. Which you can usually get if you eat about 20 to 30 grams of high quality protein.
It flips on muscle protein synthesis without enough leucine. It's like having fuel in your tank,
But no spark to start the engine.
And timing matters. Eating 60 grams of protein at dinner won't make up for skipping it at breakfast and lunch. Your leucine switch needs to be flipped on multiple times a day to keep your muscle and your metabolism alive and thriving.
Not all proteins are created equal. What really matters is their amino acid profile and how well your body can use them. You have complete proteins like fish, [00:03:00] eggs, beef, poultry, dairy, and even quinoa, which is a vegetarian source. They contain all nine essential amino acids. However, they may vary in the leucine content.
Even though quinoa is a complete protein, it's not protein dense, so you need a large portion to get enough of the leucine for muscle building. Plant proteins can still work. You just require larger servings or smart combinations with other protein sources like beans, rice, or lentils with grains, animal proteins usually deliver enough leucine in one serving to flip on the protein synthesis.
While plant proteins require more of a strategy.
Protein triggers hormones like GLP one and peptide YY, that signal fullness to your brain. That's why you may feel naturally more full when you eat more protein in a meal. Every high protein meal is a deposit into your health savings account.
That leads me to my [00:04:00] daily habit challenge, and that is to get some protein at every meal and to make sure it's a complete protein.
Most adults may benefit from about 20 to 30 grams of protein per meal to support muscle and to get that leucine. Everybody's needs are different. So be sure to check with your healthcare provider to calculate how many grams of protein you may need.
And also do be cautious if you have certain medical conditions where you're not supposed to have. A lot of protein, like chronic kidney disease, or if you have donated your kidney and you only have one kidney left, there may be some restrictions on how much protein you should actually have.
If you enjoyed this video, then please check out other daily habit videos on my YouTube channel or on this podcast. If you are listening to the podcast, please leave a review. That helps other people discover me and can also benefit from these daily habits and functional medicine [00:05:00] information.
Thanks for listening or watching, and have a fantastic day.
