Raising the American Weakling
- Longish interesting article in which vitamin D is not mentioned once
- They speculate that the 20% decrease in a generation was due to less exercise.
- However, they mentioned handgrip testing of infants less than 1 month old in 1892
Most newborns were able to hang from a horizontal pole for more than 10 seconds
It seems unlikely that newborns can hang that long now, more than 120 years later - Grip strength was not only “inversely associated with all-cause mortality”—every 5 kilogram (kg) decrement in grip strength was associated with a 17 percent risk increase — but as the team, led by McMaster University professor of medicine Darryl Leong, noted: “Grip strength was a stronger predictor of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality than systolic blood pressure.”
- Another article Millennials May Be Losing Their Grip NPR June 2016
“In 1985, men ages 20-24 had an average right-handed grip of 121 pounds and left-handed grip of 105 pounds. Today, men that age had grips of only 101 and 99 pounds, the study found.
Summary: In a generation - handgrip strength 121 lbs ==> 101 lbs
VitaminDWiki speculates that the reduced strength is in part due to decreased Vitamin D in a generation
20% increase in muscle strength found with vitamin D supplementation
See VitaminDWiki:
- Osteoporosis and low grip strength both associated with low vitamin D – Feb 2018
- Poor handgrip strength in 5-year-old girls 3X more likely if low vitamin D – May 2018
- Weaker hand grip if poor Vitamin D Receptor (15 percent) – Nov 2016
- Muscle strength of senior women increased 25 percent with vitamin D, decreased 6 percent with placebo – Oct 2016
- Muscle increased 17 percent in vitamin D insufficient elderly getting 4,000 IU for 4 months – RCT Oct 2013
- Kids less fit than their parent were (perhaps low vitamin D) – Nov 2013
- Vitamin D supplementation improves muscle strength in healthy adults – meta-analysis of 6 RCT Aug 2014
- Vitamin D supplementation help muscles of seniors who are vitamin D deficient – meta-analysis July 2014
- Slow walking speed of youths 14 times more likely if low vitamin D - Dec 2016
- Frailty 9X more likely if low vitamin D – Nov 2015
See also web
- Vitamin D status is associated with grip strength in centenarians 2014, PDF is behind $42 paywall
- Vitamin D status predicts hand-grip strength in young adult women living in Auckland, New Zealand
2012, full free PDF can be requested - Long-term adherence and effects on grip strength and upper leg performance of prescribed supplemental vitamin D in pregnant and recently pregnant women of Somali and Swedish birth with 25-hydroxyvitamin D deficiency: a before-and-after treatment study Nov 2016
Just 1600 IU vitamin D + Calcium was 16X more likely to increase grip strength in 10 months
The women paid for the Vitamin D and Calcium