Eating to 100 - balance your protein throughout the day

Koretaka Ueda was waiting for us in the distance as we drove through the rice paddies to his modest home. As he welcomed us into his home his enthusiasm and energy for life was contagious.

Koretaka, who grew up in Hiroshima, is approaching his 100 birthday. Clearly there were no signs of muscle loss in this gentleman. Every day he goes to the library, tends his rice fields and walks 3000 steps, rain or shine. "Health is like a battle against yourself - the tendency is to become more dependent and weaker as you age, but in fact it is just the opposite. If you are able to walk up stairs, then do it. Appreciate your health, arigato u goz.ai mash ta," he states.

This summer was spent interviewing centenarians from Italy, Japan, Singapore and the U.S. What we found, unique to all of these countries was the fact that protein intake was spread out throughout the day. That does not mean that they were on Paleo Diets, but rather their diets were high in plant based protein, fish, beans and vegetables... plenty of fresh vegetables.

There is much to be said about spreading protein intake throughout the day to prevent muscle loss. Normal aging combined with inactivity can cause higher than average loss of muscle mass, as much as 3-5 percent of the bodies muscle per decade. This is called sarcopenia. Sarcopenia typically accelerates around age 75 and is a huge contributor to early death.

Dr. David R. Thomas, a geriatric nutrition researcher at Saint Louis University School of Medicine, notes that sarcopenia results in increased frailty, an increased prevalence of disability, decreased metabolic rate (the rate you burn calories), decreased bone mineral density and an overall decreased functional capacity. Sarcopenia may be influenced and even prevented by the way we consume protein, in small amounts throughout the day.

Koretaka eats three meals a day on a regular schedule. His meals are primarily based on grains, vegetables and fish. He consumes around 25 grams of protein at each meal. A dietary plan that includes 25-30 grams of high quality protein per meal is suggested to stimulate muscle protein synthesis, yet most Americans don't eat this way.

For example a typical breakfast of milk and cereal or pancakes and juice contains only 5-10 grams of protein, and traditional breakfast meats like ham and bacon only have 3-4 grams of protein per 1 oz. serving. While it is relatively easy to eat enough protein at lunch and dinner, consuming 25-30 grams of protein at breakfast is extremely challenging, unless we eat fish or beans or a larger quantity of food, which poses the risk of overconsumption.

Here is a list of high protein foods to add to your breakfast:

Egg Whites: 8 grams per 2 ounces.

Cottage Cheese: 12 grams per 1/2 cup

Beans: 11 grams per cup

Greek Yogurt: 12 grams per 6 ounces.

Fish: 22 grams per 3 ounces.

Cheese: 9 grams per ounces.

Nuts: 9 grams per ounces.

Koretaka explained that growing older and maintaining your health is not easy, because we are generally lazy. But he stated that it is an insult to think that someone has to die at age 100.

"That is a good goal for someone who is 60, but I plan to live to at least 107," he boasted.

If you would like more information on living to 100, please join us at 5:30 p.m. on Oct. 20 as we present "The Road to 100 - Are you in the Right Lane? Eating for Longevity," at the University of Idaho's Science on Tap program at Gizmo CDA.

Sayounara!

SeAnne Safaii, Ph.D., RDN, LD, is an associate professor at the University of Idaho.