Researchers at the University of East Anglia are looking for women over 65, who don’t manage to eat their five-a-day or exercise much, to take part in a new trial.
They are investigating whether increasing their vitamin C could help them maintain healthy muscles.
It is hoped that a vitamin C supplement could improve muscle health, keeping older people mobile and independent for longer.
Lead researcher Prof Ailsa Welch, from UEA’s Norwich Medical School, said: “As people get older, they lose muscle tissue and they become weaker. Over time, this can make it more difficult to remain mobile and independent, which can affect people’s ability to carry out basic activities of daily living.
“Vitamin C helps our body absorb iron and is great for the immune system, among other things.
“There is also growing evidence that it may protect the cells in our bodies from damage due to injury, inflammation, and the ageing process.
“We want to find out whether vitamin C could help protect our muscles as we age.”
The team are looking for women aged 65 or over, who eat less than four portions of fruit and veg per day, don’t exercise regularly, and don’t smoke, to take part.
Prof Welch said: “We are looking for people who don’t consume much vitamin C-rich foods or exercise regularly so we can test whether increasing your vitamin C intake has a beneficial effect on muscles.
“We are focusing on women as our previous research has suggested that vitamin C may be more important for muscle health in women than men.”
Participants should be otherwise healthy, and not currently taking vitamin C supplements.
They will be given either a daily vitamin C tablet, or a placebo, for a total of 12 weeks. They will also take part in strength and grip tests, an MRI scan, and blood tests – during three visits to the Clinical Research Facility at the Quadram Institute and the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital (NNUH) – both on the Norwich Research Park.
One of the reasons that our muscles get weaker as we get older is that the mitochondria within muscles also age and work less efficiently.
Mitochondria are like engines inside our muscles, providing energy to fuel movement.
As mitochondria age, they produce less energy and can also produce compounds called oxidants. Oxidants can cause inflammation and can damage our muscles and the mitochondria themselves.
“What we are hoping to see is that taking a vitamin C supplement, which is an anti-oxidant, will help our muscles, and the mitochondria within them, work more efficiently,” said Prof Welch.
