INTRODUCTION:

Sarcopenia is a geriatric syndrome that compromises the quality of life and functionality of the elderly. The literature has recently supported that leucine-enriched whey protein and vitamin D, together with personalized physical activity programs can have positive effects in the prevention and treatment of sarcopenia in the elderly.

OBJECTIVES:

Systematize the scientific evidence on the effect of leucine-enriched whey protein nutritional supplement and vitamin D in the elderly with sarcopenia.

METHODOLOGY:

Analyze scientific articles in different electronic bases, namely “Pubmed”, “Scopus” and “Web of Science” with publications in the last 5 years, using the keywords: “elderly” or “aged”, sarcopenia”, “dietary supplements”, “leucine” and “vitamin D”. After applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 6 articles were obtained.

RESULTS:

Most studies have shown that supplementation had significant effects on increasing muscle mass and some on muscle strength and function in the elderly with sarcopenia. In addition, it was reported that this supplementation also induced favorable effects in attenuating the inflammatory state of these patients.

CONCLUSIONS:

Supplementation with approximately 20 g of whey protein with 4 g of leucine and 800IU of vitamin D, together with physical activity programs have shown beneficial effects in stimulating protein synthesis and also in muscle preservation in sarcopenic elderly.

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