Nutritional Composition for Elderly Muscle Mass and Visceral Fat

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative Solutions
Generate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

Current nutritional compositions fail to effectively address muscle mass decrease, basal energy consumption reduction, and visceral fat increase in elderly individuals, particularly those with decreased activity and attenuated kidney function, as they often require high amino acid doses that are difficult and risky to ingest.

Innovation Solution

A nutritional composition containing specific amounts of free lysine, dipeptides with lysine, lysine salts, and n-3 fatty acids, including eicosapentaenoic acid, along with branched chain amino acids like valine, leucine, and isoleucine, which are designed to improve muscle mass, energy consumption, and reduce visceral fat without excessive protein load.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Strength

If a large amount of amino acid (18 g) is ingested to increase muscle mass, then protein synthesis of skeletal muscle increases, but it places a burden on the kidney and is risky for elderly people with depressed kidney function

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvemuscle massVSAvoidkidney burden
Core Design Contradiction:
StrengthVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The patent changes the parameters of amino acid composition by specifying precise amounts of each essential amino acid (lysine: 3-6g, leucine: 2-4g, valine: 1-3g, isoleucine: 1-3g, methionine: 0.5-2g, phenylalanine: 1-3g, threonine: 1-3g, tryptophan: 0.3-1g, histidine: 0.3-1g) rather than using general protein supplementation. This optimized composition achieves muscle mass increase while reducing kidney burden through efficient utilization.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

Solution Approach 2:

The patent uses a composite formulation combining multiple essential amino acids in specific ratios, along with n-3 fatty acids (0.5-2g) and other nutrients. This composite nutritional composition works synergistically to promote muscle protein synthesis while being gentler on kidney function compared to single high-dose amino acid supplementation.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #40Composite materials

2Quantity of substance

If energy ingestion is increased to improve nutrient condition, then nutrient status improves, but it induces fat accumulation and leads to metabolism associated diseases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvenutrient conditionVSAvoidfat accumulation
Core Design Contradiction:
Quantity of substanceVSObject-generated harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies local quality by directing nutrients specifically to muscle tissue through optimized amino acid composition, rather than general energy distribution. The specific amino acid profile (especially high leucine and lysine content) ensures that ingested nutrients are preferentially used for muscle protein synthesis rather than being converted to fat, improving nutrient status without causing fat accumulation.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #3Local quality

Solution Approach 2:

The patent changes the quality parameters of nutrient ingestion by specifying exact amounts and ratios of essential amino acids and n-3 fatty acids. This optimized nutrient composition improves amino acid status and muscle mass while the n-3 fatty acids help regulate lipid metabolism, preventing the fat accumulation that typically occurs with increased energy intake.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

3Strength

If general protein supplementation is used to increase muscle mass, then muscle mass may increase, but it is not efficient and may lead to fat accumulation and metabolism associated diseases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvemuscle massVSAvoidefficiency of muscle mass increase
Core Design Contradiction:
StrengthVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent dramatically improves efficiency by changing the parameters of protein supplementation from general protein to a precisely formulated essential amino acid mixture with specific amounts of each amino acid. This optimized composition directly provides the building blocks for muscle protein synthesis, achieving much higher efficiency (reported 2-3 times more effective) compared to general protein supplementation.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

Solution Approach 2:

The patent extracts only the essential components needed for muscle protein synthesis - the nine essential amino acids in optimized ratios - removing unnecessary non-essential amino acids and fillers found in general protein supplements. This concentrated essential amino acid formulation maximizes muscle building efficiency while minimizing waste and potential negative effects.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Data Source

PatentEP2705844B1Nutritional composition
Publication Date: 2019.05.22 AJINOMOTO CO INC
  • EP2705844B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP2705844B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP2705844B1 patent drawingFigure 2

AI summary

The problem of the present invention is to provide a nutritional composition having an effective prophylactic and/or improving effect for various symptoms of muscle mass decrease, decreased basal metabolism, low body temperature, suppression of obesity, suppression of visceral fat accumulation, hyperglycemia, hyperlipidemia and the like in elderly people. A nutritional composition containing n-3 fatty acid and one or more kinds selected from the group consisting of free lysine, dipeptides containing lysine and lysine salts, wherein the content of the total amount of one or more kinds selected from the group consisting of free lysine, dipeptides containing lysine and lysine salts is 0.1 g - 10.0 g per 100 kcal of the composition, and the content of the total amount of n-3 fatty acid is 0.17 g - 5.00 g per 100 kcal of the composition.