Amazentis tackles muscle loss during pandemic

10-Sep-2020 - Last updated on 10-Sep-2020 at 16:29 GMT

The pandemic has wreaked havoc on just about everything — the economy, our mental health and even our muscles.

Recent research suggested that physical activity has declined since quarantine measures were implemented back in March, resulting in muscle loss.

Maintaining muscle mass is important, especially in aging adults. Age-related muscle loss, or sarcopenia, begins at the age of 30 when muscle mass starts to decrease about 3-8% per decade and 10-15% after the age of 60. Between 5-13% of people age 60-70 and between 11-50% of those age 80 and older suffer from sarcopenia.

Studies show short-term inactivity can result in loss of muscle mass in adults of all ages. While many were hoping the pandemic would be short-lived, it is clear that it is far from over.

“Long term inactivity has a profound impact on skeletal muscle mass and strength,” said Edwina Clark, RD, nutrition advisor for Timeline Nutrition. “US adults who walk 8000 steps/day on average have reduced all-cause mortality by three times compared to people who walk less than 4000 steps per day. In addition, inactivity in older adults has been shown to increase the risk of falls, fractures and disability - all of which can have a dramatic impact on quality of life and functional capacity.”

The role of mitochondria in aging

To combat muscle loss, Amazentis recently introduced Timeline Cellular Nutrition, which clinically proven to revitalize mitochondria and strengthen muscles in four months. Timeline contains Mitopure, a pure form of Urolithin A. Mitopure has been shown to improve mitochondrial function by stimulating mitophagy, a process by which aging and damaged mitochondria are cleared from the cell, making way for healthy mitochondria to grow.

“Loss of muscle mass and strength appears to be underpinned - at least in part - by poor mitochondrial health. An Amazentis study showed that adults who were sedentary for long periods of time had poor mitochondrial health compared to those who were active and exercised regularly.”

The study, “A Randomized, Double-blind, Placebo-controlled Study to Investigate the Efficacy of AMAZ-02 on Muscle Function in Otherwise Healthy Middle-aged, Overweight and Inactive Individuals,” was conducted in North America and sponsored by Amazentis.

The participants were middle-aged, overweight subjects deemed healthy, but had average to low physical endurance.

The study’s findings suggest that Mitopure had a significant impact on leg muscle strength, reporting a 21% improvement with Mitopure when compared to placebo.

Gut matters

Urolithin A is a metabolite compound resulting from the transformation of ellagitannins by the gut bacteria and found in foods such as pomegranates.

According to Clark, only 30-40% of people have the right microbiome to produce urolithin A naturally and even fewer consume enough of the right foods to enjoy the cellular benefits. Clark pointed out that regardless of diet or microbiome state, Mitopure delivers a precise dose of urolithin A.

Clark told NutraIngredients-USA that Timeline is a truly new paradigm and very different from the average workout supplements on the market. “Up until this point, the market has been focused on improving muscle mass, whereas Mitopure works on muscle quality. Mitopure contains a proprietary bioactive (Urolithin A) that acts on pathways that clean-up dysfunctional mitochondria and generate new, healthy mitochondria.”