Older adults are at a greater risk for losing muscle mass and strength during inactivity. Many experience lasting impairments in physical function following an illness or injury that requires hospitalization. We hypothesize that providing older adults with a high quality protein during inactivity will partially preserve muscle mass and function during bed rest and promote recovery during rehabilitation. Up to this point in recruitment, men and women (12 male, 7 female) with an average age of 68.6 years old have been randomized and admitted to the Institute for Translational Sciences' Clinical Research Center for 7 days of bed rest followed by 7 days of inpatient rehabilitation. Dietary intake was strictly controlled and energy intake was calculated for subjects' level of activity. The protein composition of the subjects randomized to the control group (Mixed; n=10) was a mixture of moderate to high quality plant and animal protein. Subjects randomized to the whey group (Whey n=9) received 70% of their protein as whey protein isolate. We are assessing body composition using iDEXA, measuring muscle strength using isokinetic dynamometry, aerobic capacity via VO‐2‐ max testing. Preliminary findings indicate that consuming whey may slow the loss of lean leg mass (−1035 ± 167 vs. −709 ± 101 g for Mixed vs Whey), promote fat mass loss (−14 ± 92 vs. −407 ± 155 g for Mixed vs. Whey) during inactivity. Furthermore, consuming whey protein during rehabilitation accelerates recovery of relative VO2 max (−8.9 ±3.6 vs. 0.41 ± 3.65 ml/kg/min for Mixed vs. Whey).Support or Funding InformationThis research was supported by: Dairy Research Council, RO1 NR012973, and P30 AG024832.
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