Have you ever heard that once you hit 40 years of age, it is downhill from there? This is especially true of how many of our patients feel about themselves. They have more episodes of back pain, high blood pressure, knee problems, etc., and the ability to touch your toes and other flexibility measures change as well. Your chiropractor understands this differently than you do, as our bodies go through changes. By 40 years of age, the discs in our backs have dried out, and those things we ignored while younger have come back to haunt us physically. Most of us get away with doing many things to our bodies until around 40 years of age, when we feel it more and more. For most of us, it does not have to be this way. Sure, you cannot skip out on the aging process as we know it, but we can choose to age and play the game better. Like it or not, the game begins with our young self. We not only look like our parents but also walk like them, too. So many patients who come in with back and knee complaints, when asked, tell us their mom or their dad or both had these problems. Genetics is a cruel hoax played on an unsuspecting public. The good news is that you can play the game differently from a young age and continue to play it well into your 80s if you choose to. We just have to understand the game as it applies to us. How to age better in the game of life: a chiropractor’s perspective. Do not ignore pain with medications. There is usually a reason your knees hurt when you were playing soccer in your younger years, and growing pains were probably just the tip of the iceberg. Your family chiropractor should be part of your family health team. Avoid juice boxes full of sugar when you are young, and limit sugar consumption from a young age. Doing this helps develop healthier gut flora and reduces the likelihood of diabetes as you get older. Don’t be a couch potato. Activity from a young age and physical fitness help us have more energy, even at the cellular level. While you can get fit later in life, making this a lifelong pursuit helps us stay healthier and keeps our bodies working more efficiently. Exercise regularly. Eat the right foods. This would include green leafy vegetables, meats in moderation, and the right carbohydrates, including fruits and berries that are packaged by Mother Nature to make sure those sugars do not get into our systems too fast, and the fiber is essential for proper gut function. Doing this right from a young age leads to naturally healthy eating habits when we are older. Teach your children what healthy eating is, so they eat well too. This also reduces inflammation in the gut, which is partly why so many of us are unhealthy. Health is not what you realize when your doctor tells you how bad your blood panel was. Health is a lifestyle, and food is medicine. Eat better with better nutrition, and you are likely to have fewer health problems. A medication lifestyle is not healthy, and neither are the side effects of attempting to manage health this way. GlP-1 medications may sound like a panacea to help us lose weight, but we have so little understanding of why it causes weight loss. Sure, it is a shortcut, and using them improves other systems and changes bad hormonal urges. We just do not know the long-term effects of these GLP-1 hormones that are naturally produced in the body, and how they affect the brain and how it controls other body systems including appetite and addictive behaviors. Better eating habits early on affect hormone levels and can help us keep the weight off and function better naturally. See a chiropractor from when you are young age to make sure you function better when you get older. Just because you do not feel it, it does not mean you do not have problems that will become painful later on. Just because you do not have tooth pain, it does not mean you do not have a cavity. Our bodies require maintenance. In the chiropractic world, moving better helps us feel and function better. Chiropractic care helps you move better naturally, which reduces injuries and painful episodes, while protecting your joints. If you are active or training for your first marathon, your chiropractor can help you perform better. Raising children and keeping up with them is challenging and requires energy. Chiropractors can help you function better, especially during pregnancy and before delivery. They are the primary care providers for the musculoskeletal system. If you had a knee or hip replacement, you can still save the other joints by moving and functioning better with chiropractic care..