Muscle Loss is More Unhealthy Than Fat Gain, New Study Finds

A fascinating new study found muscle loss more accurately predicts a future heart attack than does fat gain over a 5 year period.

The findings of this study suggest we emphasize the preservation of muscle mass as we age, not just focus in weight loss and avoiding fat gain. This study found fat gain was indeed as risk factor for heart disease, but statistically, muscle loss more accurately predicted a future cardiovascular event (heart attack etc…) than did fat gain.

Key Takeaways:

Our findings imply that one possible reason for the negative effect of weight loss on CVD in some researches might be due to the loss of muscle mass more than the loss of fat mass

00:00 Loss of muscle tissue better predicts a future cardiovascular event than does gain in fat mass over a 5-year period.

00:45 Losing more than 8% of muscle tissue in a 5-year period is associated with a high risk of a cardiovascular event, with a hazard ratio almost double that of fat gain.

03:05 Muscle is a metabolically protective organ.

04:00 Total muscle mass peaks at the age of 24.

05:05 As you age, you should prioritize consuming protein, lifting weights, resistance training, and then aerobic training.

07:25 Excessive fat accumulation damages your heart.

08:00 Muscle tissue acts as a cardio-protective endocrine organ.

08:40 Weightlifting can help with ED and the progression of heart disease.

08:50 Excessive cardio training are a source of sympathetic nervous system stress linked with cardiovascular disease.

10:30 Osteosarcopenic obesity is the gain of fat simultaneously with loss of bone and muscle.