Green Tomatoes and Apple Peels Might be the Answer to Reversing the Muscle Loss Process

Green tomatoes and apple peels might be the answer to reversing the muscle loss process, according to new research.

As we get older our muscles become weaker and we lose muscle mass.  Elders may become unsteady on their feet, may experience trouble lifting themselves out of chairs, and may suffer from extended discomfort due to aching muscles and joints.

An article in the journal Biological Chemistry highlighted the fact that, according to researchers from the University of Iowa, a protein in ageing adults is responsible for starting the process of muscle loss, therefore they looked for ways to counteract the protein. Thus, they hope the ageing process would be reversed or alleviated. The protein was identified as ATF4, triggering a gene response that initiates the whole process.

Moreover, green tomatoes and apple peels contain compounds known as tomatidine and ursolid acid, respectively, which work as inhibitors to the ATF4. Ursolic acid and tomatidine work as factors which could prevent muscle loss due to inactivity or starvation.

A professor of internal medicine and senior study author, Christopher Adams, explained that

“ursolic acid and tomatidine appear to have a lot of potential as tools for dealing with muscle weakness and atrophy during ageing.”

Therefore, he reported that tomatidine and ursolic acid could be the key to ameliorating symptoms of atrophy in ageing adults. And thus, the scientific findings could lead to new therapies for these health-related problems.

Furthermore, the ATF4 protein influences skeletal muscles, therefore the muscle protein synthesis is affected, whereas strength and muscle mass are reduced.

Prof. Adams also said that

“by reducing the protein’s activity, ursolic acid and tomatidine allow skeletal muscle to recover from effects of ageing.”

The above-mentioned compounds were administered to ageing mice, and their muscle mass returned to levels that had been observed in younger mice.  Adams discovered that muscle mass in mice would increase by 10 percent, thanks to tomatidine and ursolic acid, whereas strength and muscle quality was improved by 30 percent.

Researchers hope that, through clinical trials, the results would be applicable to humans as well. Therefore, scientists think that green tomatoes and apple peels and, implicitly, the compounds found in them, might help elders partially regain their strength.

Therefore, if you don’t want your muscles and strength decreasing, you should eat apples and green tomatoes, for starters.

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