On the move with milk – how milk and dairy products support mobility
Freedom of movement gives us the ability to lead a higher quality of life – it’s estimated that mobility explains one third of a person’s quality of life.
It lets you painlessly undertake the everyday tasks that make you independent: lifting, walking, gardening, and home maintenance, for instance.
Mobility enhances your life by allowing you to run around with the kids, go dancing, or swim at the beach on a hot summer’s day.
What makes us mobile?
We tend to take our mobility for granted, until we’re injured or unwell and can’t move around easily. Mobility involves several factors including muscle strength, bone strength, joint range, neuromuscular (brain-muscle) synchronisation, and cognition. When all these systems function correctly, we can move through our daily lives easily and comfortably. To optimise our mobility, we need the right nutrition and physical activity at every stage of life.
As children we need appropriate diet and exercise to develop healthy bones, muscles, and joints. Then as teenagers and young adults, strengthening our musculoskeletal system is linked to healthy body composition and improved quality of life. Maintaining that strength throughout our adult life helps to boost overall health and lower risk of illness. Finally, preventing decline in musculoskeletal health to maintain mobility as we age supports a longer, more independent, and healthier lifespan.
The higher our peak bone mass in youth, the better starting point for bone mass loss during ageing.
Dairy products help grow healthy bones
Everyone wants their children to grow up strong and robust, and to have the right building blocks for lifelong health. Active, well-nourished children can get the most out of their life – both in their youth and for the decades ahead.
Healthy bones are a cornerstone of mobility. Bones provide structure and shape to our bodies, they protect some of our organs, they store minerals, and they enable us to produce blood cells. Bone is a living tissue, constructed of a hard outer cortex and a strong inner honeycomb-like mesh.
Bone primarily develops during childhood and adolescence years. Dairy products are a natural source of many essential nutrients that support bone health, particularly protein, calcium, and phosphorus. Consuming milk and dairy products, helps maximise bone development during childhood and adolescence. Bone density peaks in early adulthood, so adolescence is just as integral as childhood when it comes to the importance of a nutritious diet and healthy patterns of activity.
“We know from our own research that children who drink milk regularly have improved bone health,” says Jasmine Thomson, Fonterra Senior Research Scientist. “The higher our peak bone mass in youth, the better starting point for bone mass loss during ageing."
Dairy products can help grow muscles in adulthood
As an adult, maintaining a strong, well-functioning body is a key component of overall health – and improves our quality of life. Mobility allows us to lead rich and varied lives, participating in a wider range of activities and pastimes.
Muscular strength is essential for mobility and protein is vital for muscle growth and maintenance. Stronger muscles increase our flexibility and range of motion. They help us move without tiring easily and reduce our risk of injury.
Dairy products are an excellent source of high-quality protein, with whey protein from milk being a well-established and popular supplement for supporting muscle growth. Dairy protein works especially well alongside resistance exercise, stimulating post-exercise muscle protein synthesis and modulating inflammation.
For overall musculoskeletal maintenance, the ‘dairy matrix’ has beneficial effects, according to a review of the scientific evidence. The dairy matrix has a positive impact on muscle health that is more than the sum of its parts. The benefits come from the various nutrients in dairy, its physical properties, and how these all interact.
“Maintaining your muscle mass in adulthood sets you up for a longer, healthier lifespan,” Dr Thomson says. “Dairy products can be an easy, tasty way to get some of the protein and other nutrients that help you stay strong and mobile as you approach your senior years."
Milk and dairy products support mobility in later life
Mobility is of paramount importance, but in older adults it becomes a more pressing issue. Extensive research has shown that mobility problems are a predictor of mortality in older populations. Poor mobility is significantly associated with higher all-cause mortality. In one study, high levels of physical activity were associated with a 51% lower risk of dying among those aged 60-plus.
Being active and mobile beyond the age of 60 is a sign of good overall health, and there is plenty that can be done to support mobility as we age. Regular exercise has meaningful benefits, and diet also makes a crucial contribution.
Once again, dairy products have a role to play in supporting mobility. Sarcopenia is the age-related loss of skeletal muscle mass, and it is well known to be a critical factor in the loss of strength and mobility as we age. Between the ages of 20 and 80 years, our muscle mass typically decreases by around 30%.
Because of their positive impact on muscle maintenance, dairy products are associated with lower risks of sarcopenia, better muscle mass in older adults and faster recovery from hospitalisation.
Osteoporosis can also affect older adults. It is a bone disease that occurs when the total amount of bone declines and the bones become more fragile – leaving them prone to fracture. Because dairy product consumption helps increase peak bone mass when we are young, it helps support a lower risk of osteoporosis and stronger bones as we age. Strong bones and muscles help us retain our agility into our senior years.
“I think most of us would like to enjoy a long, active life well into our seventies and eighties,” Dr Thomson says. “To give ourselves the best chance of achieving this ideal outcome, we really need to take care of ourselves throughout all our life stages. That means having an active lifestyle and eating foods that keep us strong and healthy. Milk and dairy products can play a big part in providing high-quality protein, calcium and other nutrients that support us to be active and mobile.”