What You Eat Is Your Foundation: Nutrition Tips for Aging Patients
If you've been coming to Dr. Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC for back pain or neck pain treatment, you already know that chiropractic care is about more than just your spine — it's about your whole body working well together. One piece of the puzzle that often gets overlooked, especially as we get older, is nutrition. 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 La Grande.
AGING AND NUTRITION
Getting older doesn't just change how we move — it changes how our bodies absorb and use the very nutrients we depend on to stay strong and pain-free. Research published highlights that older adults face distinctive 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 effectively the body processes vitamins and minerals — even when dietary intake seems adequate. (1)
NUTRITION AND BACK PAIN
This matters enormously for back pain. Vitamin D and calcium are critical for bone density, and deficiencies are directly associated with 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 contend with the chronic inflammation that drives many musculoskeletal conditions.
Importantly, the midlife years are a great time to take action — not after symptoms worsen. A study by Yu and colleagues (2) found that educational interventions aimed at midlife women significantly improved both knowledge and self-efficacy around healthy ageing, including the preservation of what researchers call "intrinsic capacity" — the physical and mental reserves that keep us functional and independent as we age. Nutrition is a basis 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 Dr. Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC encourage every patient to think of nutrition as an extension of their chiropractic care. Your spine is only as strong as the body supporting it.
CONTACT Dr. Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC
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 comes with aging and how The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management helps.
