What is swiss coffee research saying about muscle aging?

A study from institutions in Switzerland, Singapore, the UK and elsewhere found that trigonelline, a natural alkaloid in coffee, can raise NAD+ levels and improve mitochondrial function, which may help maintain muscle strength and slow age-related muscle decline. The research was published in Nature Metabolism earlier last month and covered adults with sarcopenia.

The international team included researchers from Swiss and other universities who examined the causes of sarcopenia and found lower trigonelline levels in older adults with the condition. Coffee remains an auxiliary measure only; the researchers stress that balanced nutrition and regular exercise are the foundation for keeping muscle vital, and keep Switzerland coffee research separate from claims of instant strength gains.

Besides boosting alertness, coffee may also bring unexpected benefits for muscle health. A latest study jointly conducted by research institutions in Switzerland, Singapore, the UK and other countries shows that a natural plant alkaloid in coffee—trigonelline—can raise NAD+ levels in the body and improve mitochondrial function, thereby helping maintain muscle strength and delay age-related muscle degeneration. Published in a Nature sub-journal, this study offers coffee lovers a new health perspective. However, the researchers also remind that coffee is only an auxiliary means, and balanced nutrition and regular exercise are the foundation for maintaining muscle vitality.

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Most people drink coffee to perk themselves up, but besides boosting alertness, moderate coffee enjoyment also has many positive effects on health, such as protective effects on organs like the heart and brain. Recently, a study jointly participated in by eight countries further confirmed that regular coffee drinking can also keep muscles in a youthful state!

Some friends may wonder: to have firm muscles and a youthful state, shouldn't you go to the gym more often? What connection could there be between muscles and coffee? Could coffee, like Popeye's spinach in cartoons, instantly make muscle strength explode after drinking it?

Of course, such an exaggerated effect is unrealistic; coffee cannot make people instantly immensely strong like a special-effect drug. But a research result published last month in the Nature sub-journal Nature Metabolism points out that moderate coffee intake can improve mitochondrial function in human cells and promote muscle health, thereby delaying the muscle degeneration that is hard to avoid during aging.

This international collaborative study was completed jointly by researchers from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne, the National University of Singapore, the University of Southampton in the UK, the University of Melbourne in Australia, the University of Tehran in Iran, the University of South Alabama in the US, the University of Toyama in Japan, and the University of Copenhagen in Denmark.

During the study, the team conducted an extensive investigation into the pathogenesis of sarcopenia, and found that in older adults with sarcopenia, trigonelline levels were significantly lower.

From a pathological perspective, one cause of sarcopenia is a decline in the level of the cellular cofactor NAD+, resulting in insufficient mitochondrial energy production and gradual muscle degeneration. Therefore, to alleviate this condition and maintain muscle health, NAD+ levels need to be raised, and coffee can precisely play a role in this regard.

The study reveals that coffee beans contain a natural plant alkaloid—trigonelline—which can act as a precursor molecule of NAD+, helping increase NAD+ levels and enhance cellular mitochondrial activity, thereby maintaining muscle function, improving muscle strength, and preventing muscle decline with age.

Combining clinical analysis and animal experiments, the researchers also found that trigonelline's effects go beyond this; it can even help maintain the function of nerve cells, thereby improving animals' memory and learning ability. It can be said that trigonelline is a "magical substance" that can resist aging on multiple levels.

Therefore, if you want to slow muscle loss during aging, or prevent sarcopenia, consuming a certain amount of trigonelline by drinking coffee is a good approach. However, the researchers emphasize that reasonable nutritional intake and physical exercise are the core lifestyle factors for maintaining muscle health, and coffee can only play an auxiliary role.

So it is not recommended that everyone drink large amounts of coffee for this purpose. After all, excessive coffee drinking has many side effects. Do not "pick up a sesame seed but lose a watermelon" for the sake of anti-aging.

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