If you have hit your mid-thirties like I have, you might start paying serious attention to your health and general fitness. What do I do to ensure I am fit and healthy and live a long life?
Whilst there are many answers to this question, is building muscle something you have considered? Can packing on some muscle have an impact on your lifespan?
This research article delves into that very question! Researchers examined almost 12,000 individuals to explore the impact of muscle mass on the relationship between BMI and mortality.
Are you over 30 and have you started paying more attention to your health and fitness?
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To make sense of the study lets first understand what BMI is.
Body mass index [BMI]
Per the NHS.uk website;
“BMI is a measure of whether or not you are a healthy weight for your height
For most adults, if your BMI is:
below 18.5 – you're in the underweight range
18.5 to 24.9 – you're in the healthy weight range
25 to 29.9 – you're in the overweight range
30 to 39.9 – you're in the obese range
40 or above – you're in the severely obese range”
Several studies over the past 2 decades suggest that having a normal body mass index is linked to living the longest! Great news! Surely that means I can measure my BMI and as long as I am in the normal range, I should be okay?!?
Hmmm, not quite
There have been other big studies in different groups of people which have suggested the opposite – that being in the overweight or even obese range might be better for survival?!? What?? This idea, called the "obesity paradox," is still debated, and it's super important for public health because of the message this research sends to the public.
The precise BMI range associated with the lowest risk of death is still a debate.
But here's a twist: maybe the reason why people with a normal BMI don't live as long as those who are overweight is because they lose muscle mass?? When researchers leave out people who used to smoke or have long-term illnesses (which can make you lose muscle and weight) from their studies, they find that the healthiest BMI for living a long time is lower than what we thought. Most big studies still just use BMI as the main measure, and none have really looked at how muscle mass affects the relationship between BMI and how long we live.
So, which one is it?? Does a normal BMI mean I could live longer or does a higher BMI [because of building some muscle] mean I could extend my years on this planet?
To find the answer this research brings 2 scenarios into question.
Lets consider people with low muscle mass and see if we find different groups of people within each BMI category who have different risks of dying.
Lets also consider muscle mass. Does it change what BMI is healthiest for living a long time?
RESULTS : WHAT THE RESEARCH SHOWS
And here it is, the highlight reel that advocates for strength and longevity.
Higher Appendicular Skeletal Muscle mass Index [ASMI] was independently associated with lower mortality MEANING having more muscle mass lowers your risk of death thus giving you a bit more time on this spinning rock we call home.
At any level of BMI at or above 22, participants with low muscle mass
1. Had a higher total body fat percentage.
2. Had increased likelihood of diabetes.
3. Had a higher adjusted mortality than other participants.
In this study “low muscle mass” is defined using sex specific thresholds of the appendicular skeletal muscle mass index [ASMI].
When looking at all-cause mortality in individuals with preserved muscle mass there was a significantly increased risk of death among those who were obese compared with overweight BUT not among those with BMI in the normal range.
Muscle mass mediates associations of BMI with obesity MEANING that when muscle mass wasn’t considered, having a higher BMI is usually seen as bad news BUT If your BMI has increased because you have built some muscle this is very good news!
OUR TAKE ON THE FULL RESEARCH PAPER
Muscle mass plays a crucial role in how BMI affects mortality risk.
Excluding people with low muscle mass or adjusting for muscle mass changed the risk associated with low and high BMI.
If we circle back to the question of longevity, this research shows that building muscle will lower your risk of mortality.
Buying creams to make your skin look younger, going on fad diets because some magazine article says that it’s a good idea.. These things will give you something to do and will certainly have an impact on your wallet but hitting the gym and lifting weights alongside a good diet to grow muscle is a much better alternative if living as long as possible is what you want to do.
SOME QUICK FACTS ABOUT THE RESEARCH
Study population
11,687 non institutionalised civilians from the USA
Body composition
Muscle mass was quantified using the appendicular skeletal muscle mass index [ASMI].
Whole body DEXA scans were performed using a Hologic QDR-4500A fanbeam densitometer.
Other
The research article has 47 references, 1 appendix, 2 tables , 12 pictures and is circa 5,000 words in length
Original article name: Muscle mass, BMI, and mortality among adults in the United States: A population-based cohort study
Link to original article: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0194697#pone.0194697.ref039
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