Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2017 Jun;28(6):1817-1833.
doi: 10.1007/s00198-017-3980-9. Epub 2017 Mar 1.

Nutrition and physical activity in the prevention and treatment of sarcopenia: systematic review

C Beaudart  1   2 , A Dawson  1 , S C Shaw  1 , N C Harvey  1 , J A Kanis  3   4 , N Binkley  5 , J Y Reginster  2 , R Chapurlat  6 , D C Chan  7   8   9 , O Bruyère  2 , R Rizzoli  10 , C Cooper  11   12 , E M Dennison  1 ; IOF-ESCEO Sarcopenia Working Group
Collaborators, Affiliations

Nutrition and physical activity in the prevention and treatment of sarcopenia: systematic review

C Beaudart et al. Osteoporos Int. 2017 Jun.

Abstract

This systematic review summarizes the effect of combined exercise and nutrition intervention on muscle mass and muscle function. A total of 37 RCTs were identified. Results indicate that physical exercise has a positive impact on muscle mass and muscle function in subjects aged 65 years and older. However, any interactive effect of dietary supplementation appears to be limited.

Introduction: In 2013, Denison et al. conducted a systematic review including 17 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to explore the effect of combined exercise and nutrition intervention to improve muscle mass, muscle strength, or physical performance in older people. They concluded that further studies were needed to provide evidence upon which public health and clinical recommendations could be based. The purpose of the present work was to update the prior systematic review and include studies published up to October 2015.

Methods: Using the electronic databases MEDLINE and EMBASE, we identified RCTs which assessed the combined effect of exercise training and nutritional supplementation on muscle strength, muscle mass, or physical performance in subjects aged 60 years and over. Study selection and data extraction were performed by two independent reviewers.

Results: The search strategy identified 21 additional RCTs giving a total of 37 RCTs. Studies were heterogeneous in terms of protocols for physical exercise and dietary supplementation (proteins, essential amino acids, creatine, β-hydroxy-β-methylbuthyrate, vitamin D, multi-nutrients, or other). In 79% of the studies (27/34 RCTs), muscle mass increased with exercise but an additional effect of nutrition was only found in 8 RCTs (23.5%). Muscle strength increased in 82.8% of the studies (29/35 RCTs) following exercise intervention, and dietary supplementation showed additional benefits in only a small number of studies (8/35 RCTS, 22.8%). Finally, the majority of studies showed an increase of physical performance following exercise intervention (26/28 RCTs, 92.8%) but interaction with nutrition supplementation was only found in 14.3% of these studies (4/28 RCTs).

Conclusion: Physical exercise has a positive impact on muscle mass and muscle function in healthy subjects aged 60 years and older. The biggest effect of exercise intervention, of any type, has been seen on physical performance (gait speed, chair rising test, balance, SPPB test, etc.). We observed huge variations in regard to the dietary supplementation protocols. Based on the included studies, mainly performed on well-nourished subjects, the interactive effect of dietary supplementation on muscle function appears limited.

Keywords: Dietary; Intervention; Physical activity; Sarcopenia.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

N Binkley received research support from Amgen, GE Healthcare, and Lilly, Merck and consultant/advisory board fees from Amgen, Astellas, Lilly, Merck, Nestle, and Radius. J-Y Reginster received consulting fees or paid advisory boards from Servier, Novartis, Negma, Lilly, Wyeth, Amgen, GlaxoSmithKline, Roche, Merckle, Nycomed-Takeda, NPS, IBSA-Genevrier, Theramex, UCB, Asahi Kasei, Endocyte, and Radius Health; lecture fees from Merck Sharp and Dohme, Lilly, Rottapharm, IBSA, Genevrier, Novartis, Servier, Roche, GlaxoSmithKline, Merckle, Teijin, Teva, Analis, Theramex, Nycomed, NovoNordisk, Ebewee Pharma, Zodiac, Danone, Will Pharma, Amgen, and PharmEvo; and grant support from Bristol Myers Squibb, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Rottapharm, Teva, Roche, Amgen, Lilly, Novartis, GlaxoSmithKline, Servier, Pfizer, Theramex, Danone, Organon, Therabel, Boehringer, Chiltern, and Galapagos. ML Brandi is a consultant and grant recipient from Alexion, Abiogen, Amgen, Bruno Farmaceutici, Eli Lilly, MSD, NPS, Shire, SPA, and Servier. C Beaudart, A Dawson, S Shaw, N Harvey, JA Kanis, R Chapurlat, D Chan, O Bruyère, R Rizzoli, C Cooper, EM Dennison, G Adib, T Chevalley, P Clark, B Dawson-Hughes, A El Maghraoui, K Engelke, R Fielding, J Foldes, G Guglielmi, JM Kaufman, B Larijani, W Lems, L van Loon, G Lyritis, S Maggi, L Masi, E McCloskey, OD Messina, A Papaioannou, P Szulc, and N Veronese have nothing to declare.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Flow chart of literature search
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Cruz-Jentoft AJ, Baeyens JP, Bauer JM, et al. Sarcopenia: European consensus on definition and diagnosis: report of the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People. Age Ageing. 2010;39:412–423. doi: 10.1093/ageing/afq034. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Cooper C, Fielding R, Visser M, et al. Tools in the assessment of sarcopenia. Calcif Tissue Int. 2013;93:201–210. doi: 10.1007/s00223-013-9757-z. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Beaudart C, Rizzoli R, Bruyère O, et al. Sarcopenia: burden and challenges for public health. Arch Public Heal. 2014;72:45. doi: 10.1186/2049-3258-72-45. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bruyère O, Beaudart C, Locquet M, et al. Sarcopenia as a public health problem. Eur Geriatr Med. 2016;7:272–275. doi: 10.1016/j.eurger.2015.12.002. - DOI
    1. Cruz-Jentoft AJ, Landi F, Schneider SM, et al. (2014) Prevalence of and interventions for sarcopenia in ageing adults: a systematic review. Report of the International Sarcopenia Initiative (EWGSOP and IWGS). Age Ageing. doi: 10.1093/ageing/afu115 - PMC - PubMed

Publication types