What You Eat Is Your Foundation: Nutrition Tips for Aging Patients
If you've been coming to our chiropractic office for back pain or neck pain treatment, 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 supporting your long-term health is one that rarely comes up in the treatment room — what you eat every day. What you eat has a profound effect on how your spine, muscles, bones, joints, and nerves function every single day and help you get around Vancouver.
AGING AND NUTRITION
With each passing decade, our bodies quietly shift in ways that make good nutrition both harder to achieve and more critical to our overall health. Research published highlights that older adults face distinctive physiological challenges when it comes to micronutrient absorption and utilization. Decreased stomach acid production, changes in gut motility, and reduced kidney function can all worsen how effectively the body processes vitamins and minerals — even when dietary intake seems good. (1)
NUTRITION AND BACK PAIN
For anyone dealing with back pain, these nutritional gaps can make a significant and often underestimated difference. Vitamin D and calcium are critical for bone density, and deficiencies are directly linked to increased fracture risk and osteoporosis-related spinal compression. Magnesium is essential for keeping muscles relaxed and nerves functioning properly — and when levels run low, the result can be increased muscle tension and cramping that drives back pain deeper. B vitamins support nerve health, and antioxidants like vitamins C and E help fight 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 age. Nutrition is a cornerstone of that capacity.
Unlike many aspects of ageing, your nutritional status is something you can actively improve — and even modest changes to your daily diet can have a meaningful impact on how your body responds to care and heals between visits. We at Vancouver Disc Centers encourage every patient to consider nutrition as an extension of their chiropractic care. Your spine is only as strong as the body accompanying it.
CONTACT Vancouver Disc Centers
Listen to this PODCAST with Dr. James Cox on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he discusses a common spinal condition, disc degeneration, that accompanies aging and how The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management helps.
