This September is celebrated as the Day of the Physician specialized in Clinical Nutrition. This area of medicine studies the relationship between food and the human body and is responsible for the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of diseases related to the lack or excess of nutrients.
The physician Dr. Andrea Pereira, from Hospital Albert Einstein, points out that a good quality of life comes from the combination of healthy habits both in food and in the practice of physical exercise. They are essential for the formation of muscle mass, a key part of the proper functioning of the body.
Muscle mass is responsible for 60% of the protein reserves in the human body and is used a lot by the cells of the immune system, therefore, when reduced, it is associated with a greater susceptibility to infections. Due to the aging of the world population, the importance of muscle mass in health and in sports has been increasingly discussed in recent years.
"For the practice of sports and carrying out our daily activities, a good musculature guarantees us a better performance. Its maintenance or increase is due to a combination of good nutrition and regular physical activity. Therefore, it is no use doing regular exercise and not eating properly, and vice versa", explains Dr. Andrea Pereira.
Women, diabetics, obese people and the elderly are part of the risk group for a greater tendency to lose muscle mass, especially when they are sick. From the age of 30 onwards, the loss of muscle fibers occurs during the aging process. And this loss increases with each decade of life, being much greater after 60 years of age.
"When this loss is greater than expected for aging and is associated with loss of functionality, we call it sarcopenia. Sarcopenia worsens the prognosis and treatment outcome of various diseases, such as cancer, diabetes, kidney problems and orthopedic, among others. In addition, it worsens the results of surgeries, being related to more infections, fistulas, hospitalization days and deaths", completes the physician.
Therefore, the great importance of caring for the muscles, as they provide better immunity, response to treatments, prognosis and longevity with quality of life and independence.
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