Many elderly experience weight loss and weakness with normal aging. Although there is extensive literature regarding nutritional advice for the elderly, there are few well- designed studies evaluating the effect of oral nutrition supplements in patients with weight loss and aging. The aim of this study is to examine the effect of dietary prescription with or without nutrition supplementation that includes soy protein, whey protein and fish oil in elderly patients who have suffered unintentional weight loss.
This is an 8-week, randomized, pilot study with elderly subjects (age 65 and older) with recent unintentional weight loss who will receive either two servings of supplement powder and fish oil or no dietary supplementation (N=10 for each group).
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
OTHER
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
4
2 shakes of protein as well as 1 fish oil daily.
UCLA Center for Human Nutrition, 1000 Veteran Ave.
Los Angeles, California, United States
Body Composition
To assess if body composition is altered with increased protein supplementation using bioelectrical impedance body composition analysis to provide weight in pounds.
Time frame: 8 weeks
Nutritional Status
To assess if increased protein supplementation and fish oil has impact on nutrition status using Mini Nutritional Assessment questionnaire (minimum value 0, maximum value 14), where higher scores correlate to better nutritional status and lower scores indicate malnutrition.
Time frame: 8 weeks
Functional Improvements
To determine if protein supplementation improves functional movement using hand grip strength test as well as 6-minute walk test.
Time frame: 8 weeks
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