Preserve Your Muscle Mass by Consuming This Vitamin

It pays to stay “topped up” on vitamin C. eldar nurkovic/Shutterstock

Vitamin C, also known as ascorbic acid, is so essential for protecting and enhancing immune function that it is often referred to as “the muscle of the immune system.” However, new research published in The Journal of Nutrition shows that it may also help people over 50 retain muscle mass.

For the graying population of the United States, this could be welcome news indeed. Experts say that people over age 50 lose up to one percent of their skeletal muscle each year, potentially leading to age-related loss of muscle mass and muscle wasting.  While natural healers have long lauded vitamin C for its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and immune system-boosting properties, the study is among the first to investigate the importance of dietary vitamin C intake for older people. So let’s take a look.

Large Study Highlights the Ability of Vitamin C to Protect Muscle Mass

The study, which involved more than 13,000 middle- and older-aged participants between the age of 42 and 82, examined whether people eating more vitamin C had more muscle mass than other people. Maintaining muscle mass is increasingly important as we grow older–as age-related muscle wasting (known as sarcopenia) is associated with physical disability, frailty, increased likelihood of falling, Type 2 diabetes, and increased mortality.