Apple Peels And Green Tomatoes Bulk Up Aging Muscles

We all know that an apple a day may keep the doctor away, but now we know that apple peels may prevent older people from losing muscle mass. Researchers at the University of Iowa, mindful a protein that causes muscle loss as we age, have found two natural compounds that reduce the activity of that troublesome protein. A U of Iowa news release reports that ursolic acid, found in apple peels, and tomatidine, which comes from green tomatoes, both do the trick. Ursolic acid is also found in cranberries, basil, oregano, and peppermint. When elderly mice with age-related muscle weakness and atrophy were fed diets lacking or containing either 0.27 percent ursolic acid, or 0.05 percent tomatidine for two months, both compounds increased muscle mass by 10 percent, and more importantly, increased muscle quality, or strength, by 30 percent, essentially restoring muscle mass and strength to young adult levels. Next up: studies with humans, not mice. The UI study was done in collaboration with Emmyon, Inc., a UI-based biotechnology company that is now working to translate ursolic acid and tomatidine into foods, supplements, and pharmaceuticals that can help preserve or recover strength and muscle mass as people grow older.