The effects of an off-the-shelf supplement on gut and muscle health.

Summary

The aim of this research is to explore the role of gut health in muscle building in older age and to identify new, cheap, and easy-to-implement interventions to prevent muscle loss in older age.

Our main goal is to understand how changes in gut health through diet affect muscle health as people age, aiming to improve their quality of life. We will study the connection between gut health and the body's ability to build muscle. To do this, we will collect stool sample, muscle samples and blood samples. This research could highlight the important role of the gut in muscle loss during ageing and potentially lead to new, affordable ways to maintain muscle health in older adults.

Muscle wasting is linked with several adverse health outcomes including weakness, and even early death, at a great cost to the NHS. Therefore, lifestyle changes aimed at improving muscle health across the life-course have the potential to greatly improve quality of life and reduce healthcare costs.

The research proposed herein represents a fundamental step in building knowledge about the interaction between gut and muscle health (referred to as the ‘gut-muscle axis’), with the ultimate goal of implementing cost-effective nutritional interventions at a population-level to transform management of muscle wasting.

This study will recruit 12 older overweight adults and ask them to consume an off-the-shelf nutritional supplement, aimed at improving gut health, for 2 weeks. We will assess gut health (via stool sample and blood samples), nutrient content within the blood and examine the processes involved in muscle building (via muscle biopsy) following the consumption of a protein-rich food source. In total, we will ask participants to come to the lab on three occasions: 1 for eligibility confirmation and 2 identical visits pre- and post- the 2-week supplementation period.

Principal eligibility criteria include the following and will be confirmed during screening:

• 55-80 years old (male and female)
• Body mass index >25 and/or high body fat percentrage
• No known allergy to dairy

During screening, we will also assess the quality of participants’ diets and general health status. Recruited participants will also not take any medications known to affect protein digestion/ absorption. This will be confirmed during screening.

The supplement provided will be 20g per day of green banana flour. Green banana flour is ground down from dried green bananas, is rich in fibre and known to support gut health by acting as a prebiotic.