Can Seniors Take Whey Protein?

Whey supplement is a popular supplement used by athletes and bodybuilders, but anyone can use it to improve their muscle needs and strength (while losing fat). Of course, you have to check whether or not you’re allergic to whey since there are people with a milk allergy that can’t take whey. 

Weak bones and muscle mass is one of the most common concerns of older people. It’s the reason why older adults are more susceptible to injuries, falls, and accidents. Thankfully, whey can help boost muscle growth and strength and improve your muscles to ensure that you don’t get into accidents. 

What Is Whey?

Whey protein is a supplement that individuals use to boost muscle protein synthesis and increase the growth of lean muscle mass. This supplement is usually used when gym-goers do resistance exercises. However, did you know that even older adults can take these supplements? It can also help in lowering cholesterol levels and weight loss. This supplement is well known for its benefits in amino acids since it contains all nine essential acids. 

Where does whey come from? It comes from milk, one of the two proteins of this product; the other is casein, which is also a famous supplement people take. The supplement is separated from the casein in milk, and whey is the by-product whenever professionals make cheese. Whey is a mixture of alpha-lactalbumin, beta-lactoglobulin, bovine serum albumin, and immunoglobulins. 

As mentioned above, this protein contains all the essential amino acids, e.g., leucine, lysine, threonine, tryptophan, methionine, histidine, valine, and phenylalanine. These acids are essential for our body to function normally. These are also acids that our body can’t produce, and we take to get these acids from the food we eat.

However, it may be hard for seniors to eat as teeth and gums are also getting old. By taking this supplement, your body can absorb it quickly, and you can eventually help relieve the common concerns that older people typically have. You can get these essential acids and live a healthy life. 

How Can Seniors Benefit From Taking Whey? 

One of the seniors’ most common concerns is their less-than-efficient metabolism and, as mentioned above, their muscles. Whey, which is involved with building and improving your muscle mass, including strength, can significantly help older people with problems in these areas. 

As you can see, this supplement can help seniors. But let’s talk about it in a more in-depth manner! 

It Promotes Protein Synthesis

As mentioned above, whey can elevate your leucine, one of the nine essential amino acids. Leucine can generate numerous cellular processes, like tissue regeneration, metabolism, and protein synthesis; more importantly, leucine helps stimulate protein synthesis through the help of mTOR. 

Furthermore, the protein in whey is an excellent stimulant that can stimulate the muscle protein synthesis rate (MPS), which is the process of creating new muscle protein in the body. It can determine the balance and changes in your muscle protein.

Protection Against Sarcopenia and Osteoporosis

Sarcopenia and osteoporosis are the two most common challenges older adults face with their age. Sarcopenia is the loss of skeletal muscle mass and strength due to age, and osteoporosis is a disease that weakens bones to the point that they can easily break. It’s a silent disease that develops without anyone noticing until a bone breaks (usually the wrist, hip, or spine). 

Osteoporosis occurs due to a decrease in estrogen, usually during menopause, and a decrease in testosterone in men as they age. As you can see, these two conditions can occur with age, so older people need to take better care of their health by taking supplements like whey, especially those over 65. Whey is often recommended since it’s easy to include in a diet and due to its numerous benefits, especially to older adults. 

Improve Muscle Performance and Aerobic Capacity

Loss of muscle mass is a common occurrence among older adults. It can happen due to age, health issues, or just their diminished strength to do anything. However, it all typically boils down to their age. 

Taking the recommended protein can help counteract their loss of muscle mass, and by taking whey, they can gain the muscle they’ve lost. Whey can help with muscle repair and regeneration.

Reduce the Risk of Falls and Injury

Thanks to the whey’s aid in seniors’ muscle loss concerns, seniors can better control their body and muscles, lessening the risk of falls and injuries. Older adults tend to experience accidents and fall due to their weakened bones and body, and by taking whey as their protein of choice, they can live their life like they were 40 years old again, or even younger. 

This risk is the reason why there are numerous caretakers for older adults. Remember that purchasing whey won’t cost as much as paying for medical bills when an elderly gets sent to the hospital due to an accident. 

Final Thoughts

Whey is a great supplement to add to an elderly’s diet. In addition to exercise, older adults can prevent any mishaps from occurring and let their bones stay healthy and durable. Walking and a little bit of running can help make those bones healthy in older people.