Strengthening Golden Years: Whey Protein’s Role in Supporting Healthy Aging and Sarcopenia Prevention

Highlights:

• Older and younger consumers are taking a proactive approach to healthy aging.
• Research is showing protein consumption is even more important to people as they age, yet most people actually reduce their protein consumption as they get older. 
• Whey protein benefits for healthy aging include muscle maintenance, immunity, everyday vitality, and bone support.
• Research shows whey protein with resistance exercise can treat age-related sarcopenia.
• Senior nutrition products can also include vitamins, minerals, fiber, and functional ingredients.
• Enjoyable formats and flavors are important to middle-age and senior consumers.

Strong Consumer Interest in Healthy Aging

Today’s older consumers show a strong interest in preventing disease and maintaining an active lifestyle. In China, most consumers over age 50 regularly exercise (70%), eat a healthy diet (69%), and get medical checkups (65%) and say these are important to do.¹ In addition, nearly one in three take supplements regularly.²

 Consumers are also thinking about healthy aging earlier in life. It’s not just middle-agers and seniors adopting this preventive health approach. Most generations are actively taking steps beginning in their 20s and 30s. Targeted nutrition products, particularly those formulated with a complete protein like whey protein, can support the trend in proactive healthy aging.

Essential to healthy aging is maintaining muscle, a strong immune system, a healthy body mass index, and everyday vitality—-all of which protein consumption can support, whether a person is moderately or extremely active.

Understanding Sarcopenia and Its Impact

One of the most serious health concerns related to aging is the progressive loss of muscle mass, strength, and function, known as sarcopenia. Typically caused by a lack of adequate nutrition and physical activity, sarcopenia is associated with an increased risk of falls, fractures, and disability, which reduces an individual’s quality of life and independence. The risk of disability is 1.5–4.6 times higher for older people who have sarcopenia.³

When protein requirements are not met, the body draws from skeletal muscle protein to meet amino acid demands.⁴ This is why protein supplementation is so effective at mitigating the risk of sarcopenia. Offering products with whey protein for sarcopenia prevention can make a real difference in the lives of older consumers due to whey protein’s complete amino acid profile and other key benefits.

The RDA for adults aged eighteen and older is 0.8 g protein per kg body weight. A person weighing 165 lbs. (75 kg), for example, would require a minimum of 60 grams of protein per day. This RDA baseline is for non-athletes, so even non-athletes still need to consume more protein than they likely consume today.

Whey Protein: A Potent Ally Against Muscle

Whey protein is a high-quality protein, with all the essential acids in the proportions needed by the body to build and repair muscle tissue. It is notably rich in leucine, the branched-chain amino acid that initiates protein synthesis by activating the mTOR pathway, a process that supports muscle mass maintenance and function in the elderly. (Source: Layman, 2003)

While whey protein’s content of leucine and other essential amino acids are significant factors in forestalling and reversing sarcopenia, combining whey protein with vitamin D (which supports muscle contraction and strength) produces a synergistic effect for even greater effectiveness.

Resistance training supported by whey protein is a powerful formula for maintaining and gaining muscle during aging. 

The Science Behind Whey Protein and Healthy Aging

Brands seeking to educate their consumers about healthy aging whey protein-based products will find abundant scientific research on whey protein and elderly muscle recovery—including support for whey protein enhancing muscle protein synthesis, strength, and overall physical health in seniors.

For example, in a 12-week intervention of whey protein supplementation with regular resistance exercise, there were significant improvements in muscle function among frail, elderly participants compared to those who exercised without receiving whey protein.⁵ A meta-analysis that included adults aged 60 and older with sarcopenia showed increases in muscle mass and handgrip strength.⁶

Among elderly men, there was a greater utilization of whey protein (a rapidly digested protein), than casein (a slowly digested protein) compared with younger men, indicating whey protein is a better protein choice for the elderly.⁷ Whey protein also stimulated a net increase in muscle protein content more effectively than casein and casein hydrolysate in older men, likely due to whey's faster digestion and absorption and higher leucine content.⁸

Besides muscle support, whey protein also supports bone health due to its high-quality protein and mineral composition, which includes bioavailable calcium. Together these nutrients support osteoblastic activity, which is essential for the maintenance and repair of bones and reducing the risk of fracture.

Whey protein also contains many beneficial bioactive components, including immunoglobulins, which are antibodies that support the immune system  by providing protection against microbial pathogens. Lactoferrin, another immune-support bioactive found in whey protein, can modulate immune responses, and supports both short and long term immunity by recruitment of cells that target pathogens

Formulating Healthy Aging Products with Whey Protein

Understanding the links between protein and senior health will help brands develop the most effective products for healthy aging and communicate the benefits to consumers. Whey protein can be easily incorporated into supplements, bars, sweet or savory snacks, baked goods and beverages targeting seniors, as well as middle-aged consumers or younger consumers who want to take action on healthy aging earlier. Enjoyable formats and flavors are a must to appeal to this crowd. 

In addition to whey protein, senior nutrition products can be fortified with vitamins and minerals for daily nutritional balance or include targeted preventative ingredients, such as fiber for gut health, functional cognitive health ingredients, or balanced milk mineral complex for bone health.

Innovate in Healthy Aging with Whey Protein

The transformative potential of whey protein in senior nutrition provides an exciting opportunity for brands to reshape the notion of aging—and expand the nutrition market—by including whey protein in products designed to foster health and vitality in the later stages of life. 

Partner with us to create healthy aging nutrition products that truly make a difference. Our high-quality whey protein is the ingredient your brand needs to support the healthy aging concerns of your consumers. 

Contact Glanbia Nutritionals today to explore how we can support your mission to enhance the wellbeing of the aging population.

References

1-2. Mintel, Cater to the evolving needs of healthy ageing consumers, January 2022.
3. Expert Opin Emerg Drugs. 2008 Dec;13(4):655-73.
4. Wolfe RR. The underappreciated role of muscle in health and disease. Am J Clin Nutr. 2006 Sep;84(3):475-82. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/84.3.475. 
5. Kang, L., Gao, Y., Liu, X. et al. Effects of whey protein nutritional supplement on muscle function among community-dwelling frail older people: A multicenter study in China. Arch Gerontol Geriatr. 2019;83:7-12. doi: 10.1016/j.archger.2019.03.012.
6. Cuyul-Vásquez, I., Pezo-Navarrete, J., Vargas-Arriagada, C. et al. Effectiveness of Whey Protein Supplementation during Resistance Exercise Training on Skeletal Muscle Mass and Strength in Older People with Sarcopenia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Nutrients. 2023; 15(15):3424. doi: 10.3390/nu15153424.
7. Dangin, M., Guillet, G., Garcia-Rodenas, C. et al. J Physiol. 2003 Jun 1;549(Pt 2):635–644. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.2002.036897.
8. Pennings, B., Boirie, Y., Senden, J.M. et al. Whey protein stimulates postprandial muscle protein accretion more effectively than do casein and casein hydrolysate in older men. Am J Clin Nutr. 2011 May;93(5):997-1005. doi: 10.3945/ajcn.110.008102.