Many of us are obsessed with the number we read on our bathroom scale in the morning. But number of pounds is not nearly as important as fat-to-muscle ratios. Muscle weighs about 4 times as much as fat, so a well-toned athlete can easily outweigh a blubbery lay-about.

A new review article from UCLA analyzed data from more than 3,500 older men and women and found that those with the most muscle mass lived longer than their flabbier counterparts. Earlier, these same researchers found lower muscle mass associated with an increased risk for diabetes.

We all lose muscle as we age. Even wild animals lose muscle mass and strength with age. According to Roger Fielding, PhD, director of the Nutrition, Exercise, Physiology and Sarcopenia Lab at Tufts University, muscle loss starts in our 30s and 40s, and by age 50, the average person loses muscle mass at the rate of 1-2% per year. But too much loss (called sarcopenia) leads to frailty and disability, not to mention falls. According to experts at Tufts, sarcopenia affects 15% of those over 65, and 50% of those over 80 years of age.

How to build and keep more muscle? Here are 10 ways:

1)    Exercise, especially resistance (strength) training. Use those muscles or lose them! Jumping on a rebounder is a great way to maintain muscle.

2)    Maintain blood levels of vitamin D over 50 mg/dL. Vitamin D helps to maintain muscle mass and strengthen muscle and is often deficient in older people. Much of the frailty seen in nursing homes may be due to vitamin D deficiency.

3)    Stay alkaline. Fielding points out that the body becomes more acidic as kidneys age, triggering protein breakdown in muscles.

4)    Maintain cardiovascular health. Reduced blood vessel function fails to deliver sufficient blood and nutrients to muscles.

5)    Maintain brain function. Muscle mass diminishes due to a loss of nerve cells that tell the brain to move the muscles.

6)    Get adequate protein. Older people need more. Fielding recommends 1-1.2grams per kilogram of body weight per day to maintain and build muscle mass.

7)    Get enough antioxidants (eat your fruits and vegetables!) and maintain an anti-inflammatory diet and lifestyle. Both inflammation and oxidation are linked with diminished muscle health.

8)    Keep blood sugar levels low. A recent review of studies on sarcopenia found that glycation of proteins (“sugar-coating” of proteins) and insulin resistance may play important roles in muscle loss.

9)    Keep homocysteine levels low with vitamin B12 and folate. The same review found high homocysteine associated with decreased physical function and muscle strength.

10) Treat hypothyroidism. Human growth hormone (HGH) is needed to build muscle. According to thyroid expert, Dr. Datis Kharrazian, hypothyroidism hinders the production of HGH, making building muscle through exercise difficult to impossible.