ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the evidence that links diet to muscle mass and strength, and implications for strategies to prevent or delay sarcopenia in older age. Sarcopenia is the loss of muscle mass and strength that occurs with advancing age. The nutrients that have been most consistently linked to sarcopenia and frailty in older adults are vitamin D, protein, and a number of antioxidant nutrients, that include carotenoids, selenium, and vitamins E and C. There is increasing interest in the role of oxidative stress in aetiology of sarcopenia, and markers of oxidative damage have been shown to predict impairments in physical function in older adults. The influence of lifelong nutrition on age-related changes in muscle mass and strength has been little studied, but in terms of interventions to delay or prevent sarcopenia in older age, there may be key opportunities earlier in the lifecourse that need to be recognised.
