Apple peels are the next best thing to fight aging as it can do wonders in preventing muscle decay and aging, as a chemical found in the peel of apples can turn elderly people's muscles into those of a young adult just after two months of treatment, claim scientists from the University of Iowa.
According to Fresh Produce Journal, a new research published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, says that eating one apple a day, with its peel on could help prevent muscles from deteriorating.
The scientists behind the study found out two natural compounds that can lessen ATF4 proteins' activity on the muscle. A professor of internal medicine and the lead author of the study, Christopher Adams said: "Initial tests on older mice show ursolic acid and tomatidine 'dramatically reduce age-related muscle weakness and atrophy', increasing muscle mass by 10% and 'muscle quality' by 30% after just two months." He continues on by saying, "based on these results, ursolic acid and tomatidine appear to have a lot of potential as tools for dealing with muscle weakness and atrophy during ageing."
Muscle wastage found in elderly people is caused by ATF4, a protein which changes the formation of genes, starving muscles the proteins they need to continue being strong - that eventually leads to a loss of mass and strength. An apple peel and green tomatoes have natural chemical properties which could regenerate worn-out muscles. If taken regularly, the elderly people can see results in improvement in two months.
"Many of us know from our own experiences that muscle weakness and atrophy are big problems as we become older. These problems have a major impact on our quality of life and health," Adams said. He further pointed out that by reducing ATF4's activity - the ursolic acid found in apple peels and tomatidine found in tomatoes, will allow the skeletal muscle to recover from the effects of ageing.
The said findings will guide the researchers into furthering the study to find out exact causes of aging in humans and how these natural chemicals found in apples and tomatoes could be used in order forms to delay aging.
