Nutrition and Nutraceuticals for Muscle Maintenance and Recovery: Hero or Hokum?

Muscle loss during hospitalization, especially during intensive care unit admissions, contributes to muscle weakness, functional limitations and the need for extended rehabilitation services. The elderly are particularly affected by muscle loss due to age-related sarcopenia at baseline and because they have delayed recovery due to anabolic resistance. Inadequate nutrition contributes to muscle loss during hospitalizations, but the provision of full nutrition alone is unable to completely prevent muscle loss due to illness and inactivity. Nutrition strategies and supplements offer a way to minimize muscle loss and potentially accelerate recovery from periods of catabolism and muscle loss during hospitalizations. Several amino acids or amino acid derivatives increase nitrogen retention in animal models and appear to have a favorable action on human muscle metabolism. This review will evaluate the data investigating the potential of nutraceuticals and nutrition strategies to minimize muscle loss and accelerate rehabilitation of muscle mass and strength.