Muscle Metabolics

Yes, I have been on a health kick lately, but here is something I didn’t know about muscles. Your body’s muscle is a huge metabolic organ. What? I thought muscle was what moves my body parts, (and gets sore when I exercise), and it does, but muscle’s role in our health is so much more than that. Muscle consumes glucose so if there isn't enough muscle to use up the glucose, diabetes here we come. Muscle is also the only place in our bodies where we store amino acids, the building blocks of protein. When someone without enough muscle falls ill there isn't enough in reserve to call on in order to help them get well.

Muscle is especially important as we age since we tend to lose muscle mass with age. As muscle strength in the elderly decreases the odds of falling and breaking a hip goes up. A study in the UK showed that one in every three folks that fracture their hip dies in the next 12 months. The double whammy is that person with the broken hip who was losing muscle mass due to aging probably loses even more muscle due to being bedridden for several weeks after their fall. It’s a vicious circle of circumstance and all the more reason for people in my age group to should work to and maintain good muscle health. I had been told by my doctor how important doing weight bearing exercise is for my bones but now I realize it matters to my muscles too. This is all the more reason to consider adding some kind of (light) weight training to my weekly exercise routine.