What You Eat Is Your Foundation: Nutrition Tips for Aging Patients
If you've been coming to Medical Spine and Sports Injury and Rehab Centers for back pain or neck pain care, you already know that chiropractic care is rooted in the idea that your body functions as one connected system — and what supports that system goes beyond adjustments alone. Yet one of the most powerful tools for keeping your long-term health is one that rarely comes up in the treatment room — what you eat every day. What you eat has a big effect on how your spine, muscles, bones, joints, and nerves function every single day and help you get around Baton Rouge.
AGING AND NUTRITION
As we age, our bodies change in ways that make getting the right nutrients both more important and more difficult. Research published highlights that older adults face unique physiological challenges when it comes to micronutrient absorption and utilization. Reduced stomach acid production, changes in gut motility, and decreased kidney function can all impair how efficiently the body processes vitamins and minerals — even when dietary intake seems adequate. (1)
NUTRITION AND BACK PAIN
This matters greatly for back pain. Vitamin D and calcium are critical for bone density, and deficiencies are directly linked to increased fracture risk and osteoporosis-related spinal compression. Without adequate magnesium, muscles struggle to fully relax and nerves become more reactive, creating the kind of chronic tension and cramping that makes back pain more difficult to resolve. B vitamins support nerve health, and antioxidants like vitamins C and E help combat the chronic inflammation that drives many musculoskeletal conditions.
Importantly, the midlife years are the ideal time to take action — not after symptoms worsen. A study by Yu and colleagues (2) found that educational interventions aimed at midlife women significantly boosted both knowledge and self-efficacy around healthy ageing, including the safe-guarding of what researchers call "intrinsic capacity" — the physical and mental reserves that keep us functional and independent as we grow older. Nutrition is a basis of that capacity.
These are modifiable risk factors. Small, consistent changes to your diet — more leafy greens, fatty fish, nuts, seeds, and colorful vegetables — can meaningfully support the work we're doing together in the treatment room. We at Medical Spine and Sports Injury and Rehab Centers encourage every patient to consider nutrition as an extension of their chiropractic care. A healthy spine is built from the inside out — and that starts with what you put on your plate.
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Listen to this PODCAST with Dr. James Cox on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he talks about a common spinal condition, disc degeneration, that tags along with aging and how The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management helps.
