Vitamin E’s Role in Combating Muscle Loss

Vitamin E is a vitamin that health gurus and every beauty blogger talks about to keep their skin youthful, but did you know that Vitamin E can prevent muscle loss in seniors too? Muscle loss in seniors includes sarcopenia and are all symptoms of aging are prevalent during the complex biological process of aging. Loss of muscle mass and strength commonly seen in sarcopenia is induced by impaired neuromuscular innervation, transition of skeletal muscle fiber type, and reduced muscle regenerative capacity, all attributable to chronic inflammation, oxidative stress, and mitochondrial dysfunction.¹

The Basics of Vitamin E

Vitamin E molecules’ antioxidants and anti-inflammatory capabilities. It does this by having antioxidant properties and boosting cellular anti-oxidative capacity to reduce damage. Meaning when you are sore after a workout, Vitamin E helps with the soreness. It is an antioxidant to protect cells from free radicals that are produced during a workout.²

The ‘Why’ for Seniors

Vitamin E can be beneficial for repairing muscles in seniors, thus preventing premature aging of muscles, treating infections, atherosclerosis, cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes mellitus, and other diseases associated with mental health. As vitamin E is an antioxidant, it has been found to reduce age related degenerative diseases, delaying or preventing muscle wasting in the elderly. Throughout your life, muscle is built through a natural tearing and repairing process, but if the repair part doesn’t occur or is not efficient, muscle cell death occurs faster. Unpreventable muscle loss as you age does not mean you can’t do things to slow it down. Even for seniors who only get most of their workout during the weekend, getting Vitamin E from somewhere, will have a better recovery.^{3 , 4}

What and How

Because Vitamin E is an important nutrient for helping to support muscle tissue throughout our lifespan, it is good to get it from a reliable source. For that you can look towards a good supplemental drink like Ensure and their many products that are customizable to your needs. Complete with 28 vitamins and minerals, Ensure can give a balanced nutrition to help you stay healthy, active, and energetic. But supplements work best when accompanied by food. Vitamin E rich foods seniors can add to their diet are sunflower seeds, spinach, vegetable oils in salads or cooking, peanuts, avocados, almonds, shrimp, asparagus, and broccoli.⁵

References:

1. https://europepmc.org/article/med/29420990
2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4109111/#:~:text=As%20vitamin%20E%20has%20been,by%20grip%20and%20knee%20strength.
3. https://www.nutraingredients.com/Article/2015/05/20/Vitamin-E-is-vital-to-building-muscles-and-repairing-cells-say-researchers
4. https://edition.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/01/30/hln.fit.vitamin.e/index.html#:~:text=Vitamin%20E%20may%20help%20ease,cause%20soreness%20in%20the%20muscles.
5. https://food.ndtv.com/health/10-vitamin-e-rich-foods-and-vitamin-e-benefits-you-need-to-know-1246937