They say that an apple a day keeps the doctor away, but did you know that apples have plenty of benefits specific to personal training for muscle gain? As we get older, our muscles get weaker and smaller. But there’s a natural compound in apple peels that could be the key to prevent muscle loss. Aside from preventing muscular atrophy, it may also reduce body fat and lower cholesterol levels.
According to University of Iowa (UI) endocrinologist and senior author of the new study recently published in the journal Cell Metabolism, Christopher Adams, M.D., Ph. D., “Muscle atrophy causes big problems. It’s also very common, it affects most people at some point in their lives, during illness or aging. But, there’s no medicine for it.” Dr. Adams adds, “ We studied muscle gene activity in people with atrophy and used that information to find chemicals that might block atrophy. One of those chemicals was especially interesting. It’s called ursolic acid and it’s particularly concentrated in apple peels.”
Dr. Adams and his colleagues tested ursolic acid in mice and found that it increase both the size and strength of their muscles. "It did this by helping two hormones that build muscle: insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF1) and insulin. Because ursolic acid increased muscle, it reduced muscle atrophy," he explained. "Surprisingly, it had some other beneficial effects in mice: for example, it reduced body fat, and lowered blood glucose and cholesterol."
