11 Body Systems: What Nutritional Ingredients Support Your Muscular System

The 11 Body Systems are a collection of organ systems made up of parts that are able to work together to serve a common purpose – growth, reproduction and survival.

Each part of a system depends on the other parts to perform tasks that can’t be achieved by single parts acting alone and help to improve our chances of survival by maintaining a stable internal body environment.

This stable environment is known as homeostasis. Our series, 11 Body Systems goes into depth about each body system and how it relates to the rest of the body.

Read more about the 11 Body Systems with these two blogs...

What you can do to support your endocrine system...

What is the immune system and how can you help it...

Why is the muscular system important?

The muscular system allows the body to move. It works by providing for the contractions that move bone ends closer to one another (the ‘closing’ of joints) which enables picking things up, moving things, and all forms of mobility.

The contractions of the muscular system also aid the movement of food through the gut, provides a muscular ‘pump’ for the movement of lymph (waste and by-products of metabolism) back to circulation, and micro-contractions also aid the vascular system to properly distribute blood and help to control body temperature.

What is it made up of?

The muscular system is made up of the over 600 muscles of the human body.

How can I support the health of the muscular system?

Muscular supporting ingredients in Good Green Vitality

Protein

Protein is the king of nutrients for supporting the muscular system and few people get enough protein to support muscle loss as they age, (3) or to support optimal body composition (the fat-to-muscle ratio).

Although ‘food comes first’ many people do not get sufficient protein from diet alone (and, there is only a small amount in Good Green Vitality).

The benefits of additional protein includes greater lean mass and less fat mass, (4-8) increased strength and power, (4) and improved lipid profiles, increased immunity and reduce infections. (11-13)

Get some protein in your diet with this Chocolate Protein Pudding recipe...

Note: To boost protein intake, take Nuzest Clean Lean Protein.

Vitamin B1 – Thiamin

Thiamin is critical to the body’s ability to liberate energy from carbohydrate and to utilize protein for muscle building. Around 20% of people do not meet their B1 requirements from diet alone. (9)

Vitamin D

Reviews of the available research have suggested that vitamin D (at dosages > 600iu per day) improves muscular strength. (68, 69)

Magnesium

More than 300 enzymes require magnesium ions for their actions, including all enzymes using or synthesizing adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the most basic fuel for all functions of the body, including muscle contraction and ATP is found in muscle as magnesium-ATP.

Research suggests that almost half of the population do not consume the required daily amount of magnesium from food. (122)

Magnesium supplementation is likely to improve strength in those with low dietary intakes and poor magnesium status. (130)

Potassium

Potassium is an electrolyte and the major cation in the intracellular fluid that is essential for normal cell, nerve, and muscular function.

Zinc

Zinc is an essential mineral that is required for the function of hundreds of enzymes and thousands of transcription factors in the body.

Zinc supplementation might improve body composition (the ratio of muscle-mass vs fat mass). (157)

Lecithin

Lecithin contains phospholipids such as phosphatidylserine, phosphatidylcholine, and phosphatidylinositol (PI), substances that help form the cell-membrane and provide choline, a precursor of acetylcholine, the major neurotransmitter used for communication between the brain and central nervous system and muscle cells.

Shiitake

Shiitake is a medicinal mushroom with a long history of use in Asia for a range of conditions.

Recent research has suggested that shiitake might aid muscle function by improving glycogen (stored carbohydrate) reserves. (280)

References

1. University of Otago and Ministry of Health. A Focus on Nutrition: Key findings of the 2008/09 New Zealand Adult Nutrition Survey. Wellington; 2011.
2. Moshfegh A, Goldman J, Cleveland L. What we eat in America, NHANES 2001-2002: usual nutrient intakes from food compared to dietary reference intakes. US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. 2005;9.
3. Fulgoni VL. Current protein intake in America: analysis of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2003–2004. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2008;87(5):1554S-7S.
4. Pasiakos SM, McLellan TM, Lieberman HR. The Effects of Protein Supplements on Muscle Mass, Strength, and Aerobic and Anaerobic Power in Healthy Adults: A Systematic Review. Sports Medicine. 2015;45(1):111-31.
5. Genaro PdS, Martini LA. Effect of protein intake on bone and muscle mass in the elderly. Nutrition reviews. 2010;68(10):616-23.
6. Kim JE, O’Connor LE, Sands LP, Slebodnik MB, Campbell WW. Effects of dietary protein intake on body composition changes after weight loss in older adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Nutrition reviews. 2016;74(3):210-24.
7. Kim JE, Sands L, Slebodnik M, O’Connor L, Campbell W. Effects of high-protein weight loss diets on fat-free mass changes in older adults: a systematic review (371.5). The FASEB Journal. 2014;28(1 Supplement).
8. Helms ER, Zinn C, Rowlands DS, Brown SR. A Systematic Review of Dietary Protein during Caloric Restriction in Resistance Trained Lean Athletes: A Case for Higher Intakes. International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism. 2014;24(2):127-38.
9. Hannan MT, Tucker KL, Dawson-Hughes B, Cupples LA, Felson DT, Kiel DP. Effect of dietary protein on bone loss in elderly men and women: the Framingham Osteoporosis Study. Journal Of Bone And Mineral Research: The Official Journal Of The American Society For Bone And Mineral Research. 2000;15(12):2504-12.
10. Bell J, Whiting SJ. Elderly women need dietary protein to maintain bone mass. Nutrition reviews. 2002;60(10 Pt 1):337-41.
11. Altorf – van der Kuil W, Engberink MF, Brink EJ, van Baak MA, Bakker SJL, Navis G, et al. Dietary Protein and Blood Pressure: A Systematic Review. PloS one. 2010;5(8):e12102.
12. Santesso N, Akl EA, Bianchi M, Mente A, Mustafa R, Heels-Ansdell D, et al. Effects of higher- versus lower-protein diets on health outcomes: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2012;66(7):780-8.
13. Lesourd BM, Mazari L. Immune responses during recovery from protein-energy malnutrition. Clinical Nutrition. 1997;16, Supplement 1:37-46.

The information provided in this article is intended for educational purposes only and is general advice. It should not, nor is it intended to be, relied on as a substitute for individual medical advice or care. If the contents of this, or any other of the blogs in this series raises any concerns or questions regarding your health, please consult a qualified healthcare practitioner.