Slayer's Den

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The Compound for Youthful Muscles​

Age healthier with this natural substance, and maybe even reverse the course of muscle fiber aging. Here's the science.​

Would you like to live to 90? Yeah? But what if those last 25 years sucked? What if you were weak, fell down a lot, and had trouble walking? What if you were wrecked with heart problems and neurological disorders?

All those issues seem to come along with aging, but researchers are always looking for natural ways to stave them off. The compound with the most promise is resveratrol. Yep, the same polyphenol that lifters take to mildly boost testosterone and control excess estrogen.

We already know that resveratrol (if you get enough of the right kind) has cardiovascular benefits, helps regulate blood sugar levels, and has potential anti-cancer properties. Now researchers are excited about a newer discovery: resveratrol preserves muscle fibers as we age.


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The Function of the Junction​

Neuromuscular junctions are specialized synapses between motor neurons and muscle fibers. In simpler terms, they're the power cords between nerves and muscles.

These junctions transmit signals from the nervous system to the muscular system, enabling movement and muscle contraction. At these junctions, the axon terminal of a motor neuron releases neurotransmitters like acetylcholine, which bind to receptors on the muscle fiber's membrane, leading to muscle activation.

As we age, these neuronal circuits degenerate: the nerve loses contact with the muscle, like a power cord not plugged in right. We start to develop gait problems, have balance issues, and experience poor motor coordination.

Exercise helps slow down this synapse uncoupling. And weirdly, so does a very low-calorie diet, but that's no fun. Luckily, taking resveratrol does the trick too.

In mouse studies, old rodents fed resveratrol had significantly fewer fragmented and denervated junctions. These geriatric mice had more youthful muscle fibers after resveratrol supplementation. The researchers think that resveratrol had a direct effect on the formation of acetylcholine receptor clusters, described as the "docking stations" for the nerve's signals on the muscle side of the neuromuscular junction.


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How to Use This Info​

Add "healthy neuromuscular junctions" to resveratrol's long list of benefits. If you plan on having a lot more birthdays, take resveratrol daily.

Now, your mom probably thinks that red wine is a good source of resveratrol, but she just heard that once on Good Morning America and likes wine. As one of the researchers notes, you couldn't drink enough wine in a lifetime to get all of resveratrol's benefits. (Last time I did the math, you'd need around 21 bottles a day.) So, supplementation to the rescue.

While the study above didn't offer any mice-to-human conversions, taking 600 mg daily is more than enough to reap the benefits of resveratrol in general.