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Australia:
Meat, Exercise Good For the Elderly
The Age July
17, 2003
Australia -
Red meat and regular exercise are the ingredients for improved mobility
and quality of life in elderly Australians, new research has found. A study by the
Smart Foods Centre at Wollongong University examined the lifestyle habits
of 65- to 75-year-old men and women, finding that red meat could be
critical to increasing muscle strength in older people. The centre's
scientific director Professor Peter McLennan said a separate national
nutrition survey had found a big drop in red meat intake for Australians
over 65. The
university's study showed that elderly people who doubled their usual red
meat intake and underwent progressive resistance training twice a week
increased their muscle mass more than those who did not eat more meat. "We
know about problems with (elderly) people falling and injuring themselves
having a major negative impact," he said. "And
a major contributor to falls is a lack of muscle strength which
contributes to a lack of balance." The
subjects in the study displayed no adverse effects to the increased
consumption of meat, he said. Prof
McLennan attributes this to the regimented exercise which prevented the
rise in blood pressure or cholesterol often associated with high meat
intake. However,
he warned that as this study was aimed at elderly Australians, it was
unlikely to have the same effect on younger subjects. Copyright
© 2002 Global Action on Aging
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