Diet And Physical Activity In Older Women

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Top Contributors - Lucinda hampton  

Introduction

Physical activity and diet are vital for retaining good health and staving off development of non-communicable diseases. As both physical activity and nutrition are connected directly to the risk of chronic disease, we need grasp how these modifiable factors relate to related to health status. Women having distinct nutritional needs based on physiological and hormonal changes at several times during their life (e.g., menstruation, pregnancy, breastfeeding, menopause). The study of older womens and dietary needs to promote best physical prowess are lacking. Gender medicine needs an increase in studies dedicated to older women with a view to bringing more life into a longer life.

Older age is associated with many physiological changes that make undernutrition a greater risk eg reduced bone and muscle mass, increased frailty, diminished cognitive function and ability to care for oneself, and thus a higher risk of becoming dependent on care. The ways that diet affects aging are still poorly understood, but evidence points to the probable wide ranging dietary factors that counteract molecular damage (e.g., inflammation, oxidative stress and endothelial dysfunction) and mitigate associated functional changes that are induced in aging.

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It has been reported that the timing of nutrient consumption can influence the metabolism in women. To date, 95% of our nutrient timing recommendations originate from studies conducted in men. The timing of nutrient consumption during exercise directly affects performance, fatigue recovery, fat oxidation and energy expenditure [53]. Interestingly, women often exercise on an empty stomach, driven by a desire to “burn fat”. However, evidence indicates that for women in particular, fasted exercise can attenuate fat oxidation [54]. Alternatively, exercising on a full stomach will result in a higher total daily energy expenditure and increased fat oxidation and, indirectly, improve body composition. A recent analysis suggests that consuming a bolus of protein before exercise, instead of consuming a bolus of carbohydrates, significantly increases energy expenditure and improves fat oxidation after exercise for aerobic exercise, the high intensity interval training and resistance training [55]. When this approach is combined with resistance training, it appears that pre-exercise nutrition may be more effective for women to see improvements in strength and lean body mass, than post-exercise nutrition

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The second topic that dominates the analysis of studies dedicated to adult women is sarcopenia and sarcopenic obesity (Figure 1). Although the role of physical exercise in the prevention of fractures is recognized, there are still few studies that correlate nutrition and physical activity with respect to sarcopenic obesity and bone fragility. The UK Women’s Cohort Study investigated associations between food and nutrient intakes and hip fracture risk in, evaluated the role of body mass index (BMI) as a potential effect modifier. The study included 26,318 UK women, ages 35–69 years, and 822 hip fracture cases were identified. Results of the study suggest that the potential roles of some foods and nutrients in hip fracture prevention. Particularly protein, tea and coffee seem to play a role in prevention of hip fractures in underweight women. Specifically, every additional cup of tea or coffee per day was associated with a 4% lower risk of hip fracture (HR (95% CI): 0.96 (0.92, 1.00)). A 25 g/day increment of dietary protein intake was also associated with a 14% lower risk of hip fracture (0.86 (0.73, 1.00))

Resources

Many peri- and postmenopausal women are deficient in or have low levels of vitamin D and magnesium. Vitamin D is essential for bone health, as well as preventing muscle weakness, protecting against falls, and providing immune support.

Interestingly a recent study found that in addition to vitamin D deficiency being as risk factor for sarcopenia in women, low physical activity was also significantly associated with higher odds of sarcopenia (in women only). Vitamin D deficiency alone was associated with sarcopenia in men

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