Should I be concerned about losing weight and muscle? Weight loss of as little as 5 percent of body weight can interfere with your body’s response to your cancer treatment.1,2 Preventing weight and muscle loss may make you feel stronger, which may help you be more active and improve your quality of life.
How much is 5 percent weight loss? Not as much as you might think. If you have dropped just a small amount of weight, you may have already lost 5 percent of your usual body weight. As an example, if you normally weigh 150 pounds and you lose only 7-1/2 pounds, you have lost 5 percent of your usual body weight.
What is muscle wasting? Muscle wasting is what happens when the body breaks down the proteins in muscle for energy. Even if your weight stays the same, your body may still be breaking down muscle for energy.
Loss of muscle can make it harder for you to get better after an illness and stay mobile and active. The effects of muscle wasting are serious and can affect both quality of life and survival. Maintaining muscle is vital for people living with cancer.
Why do people living with cancer lose weight and muscle? Weight loss due to cancer is different from weight loss due to dieting. Certain types of cancer cause changes in the body that result in decreased appetite, burning more calories than normal and increased breakdown of lean body mass.
When your body fights cancer, this response can continue indefinitely. The cancer produces substances that alter the metabolism of protein, carbohydrates and fat, and cause your body to burn calories faster than you can ordinarily replace them.
If you do not address these metabolic changes, eating more food or using conventional nutritional drinks may not be enough to prevent or reverse your weight and muscle loss.
What is Juven and how can it help? Juven is a therapeutic nutrition drink designed to help build and maintain lean body mass in people with cancer. Juven contains a unique blend of three key ingredients — HMB, arginine and glutamine. These three components are naturally found in a healthy body.
- HMB (β-hydroxy-β-methylbutyrate) helps build lean body mass and protects cell strength and structure.
- Arginine is an amino acid (building block of protein) that is key for building lean body mass, immune cell development and healing.
- Glutamine is an amino acid (building block of protein) that is key for building lean body mass and fueling immune cells and gastrointestinal (GI) cells.
By working together, these three ingredients help counteract some of the changes caused by cancer that lead to weight and muscle loss. The blend of all these important nutrients allows Juven to be helpful in adding muscle to your fight against cancer.
A clinical study among people with cancer showed that drinking Juven daily as part of overall care for a four-week period helped build muscle. Muscle is important to help you feel strong and remain active and independent.
Drinking Juven — twice a day — also supplies these additional benefits for those living with cancer:
- Helps build muscle without fat gain1,3
- Provides 1g sugar per serving (orange flavor)
- Supports healing4
- Offers an excellent source of calcium
The earlier you start Juven, the easier it may be to manage, or even hold off, your weight and muscle loss. A loss of as little as 5 percent of your body weight may reduce your ability to stay with your cancer treatment. Slowing your weight loss and rebuilding lean body mass can give you more energy for the independence and activities you treasure.
You may see results in as little as four weeks by adding just two servings a day to your regular diet.
Talk with your health care professional to see if Juven is right for you.
Can Juven help me gain weight and lean body mass? Juven has been clinically shown to help build lean body mass in people with cancer.5 Just two packets of Juven a day as part of a complete, balanced diet may help you gain weight and build lean body mass.
What is lean body mass? Lean body mass is functional tissue that is vital for life.6 Specifically, it consists of all components of the body (muscle, bones, organs, skin) except fat. Maintaining LBM is essential for strength, organ function, skin integrity, wound healing and immunity. You may be losing LBM if you have weakness, fatigue, lack of strength or energy, loss of appetite, early satiety (feeling full sooner than normal or after eating less than usual), or weight loss.
Has Juven been studied? Yes, Juven was tested with people who had experienced cancer-associated weight loss. The study showed that Juven helped build lean body mass and increase weight without fat gain.5
Is Juven suitable for children with cancer? Juven is not designed for children younger than 10 years of age. The decision to use Juven for any child with cancer should be left to the child’s health care professional.
Can people with cancer who are overweight use Juven? Yes. Loss of lean body mass results in poor outcomes for people of all body sizes. Though it is sometimes difficult to see a loss in an overweight patient, anyone who has cancer and has lost weight may benefit from Juven. | 
