Healthy Ageing

Rising global life expectancy is refocusing efforts from extending life to enhancing its quality, setting the foundations for healthy ageing. The increased focus on understanding how we age is drawing renewed attention to the maintenance of physical, mental, and social well-being. 

Studies show that nutrition, delivered through a well-balanced diet that maximises the right macronutrients, is essential to good health and longevity. Cellular nutrients like protein and vitamin D are central to the prevention of muscle loss and physical fatigue, as well as an improvement in cognitive function and immune resilience. The development of nutritional solutions, including emerging bioactive nutrients such as trigonelline and Urolithin A, is advancing efforts to improve vitality and enhance longevity.

Science-based nutritional solutions tackle muscle loss and physical fatigue

Sarcopenia, or age-related muscle decline, directly impacts the quality of life of older populations. It is responsible for lowered physical performance and worsening frailty. Physical fatigue is both a symptom of the ageing process and a contributor to ageing by accelerating frailty and hampering activities and social interactions that otherwise promote healthy longevity.

Preventing these conditions is key to healthier ageing and vitality. Recent studies conducted by scientists from the Nestlé Science Institute have discovered specific mechanisms that have an impact on muscle decline, as well as the bioactive nutrients that promote healthy ageing.

Slowing muscle loss with Pyridoxine, Nicotinamide and Trigonelline

The first study (published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation in collaboration with the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - Institut NeuroMyoGène in Lyon and other external partners) explores the relationship between skeletal muscles and stem cells. Typically, skeletal muscles rely on local stem cells for growth and repair. As these cells become less effective over time, the repair and regeneration of skeletal muscle are negatively impacted.

The researchers screened over 50 000 natural molecules and identified that two specific vitamin B-related nutrients, Nicotinamide and Pyridoxine, in combination, can synergistically activate these cells, improving muscle strength and regeneration.

Another breakthrough discovery,  published in the journal Nature Metabolism, identified new benefits of the naturally occurring molecule, trigonelline, on muscle and cellular health during ageing.

The research found that trigonelline boosts the level of NAD+ - a molecule that helps mitochondria cells in the muscles to produce energy. This protects against age-related muscle weakness. 

Olive polyphenol Oleuropein boosts cellular health

The second study, published in Cell Metabolism in collaboration with the University of Padova and other external partners, investigated how cellular energy and muscle performance might be improved through supplementation with olive polyphenol Oleuropein.

As the cell powerhouse, mitochondria produce most of the energy required by our bodies for normal function. The study found that the mitochondrial uptake of calcium declines with age and as a result of sarcopenia. Screening of natural molecules present in our foods identified that Oleuropein stimulates this mitochondrial mechanism, reversing age-related decline. In addition, preclinical models have demonstrated that oleuropein improves cellular energy during ageing, thereby limiting fatigue and enhancing muscle performance.

"These discoveries highlight the power of nutrition to target cellular pathways that decline during ageing and muscle wasting disorders," said Dr Jérôme Feige, Senior Expert in musculoskeletal health at Nestlé Research. "We can translate these insights into nutritional solutions made with a combination of macronutrients along with cellular nutrients for the innovation of novel products supporting healthy longevity."