Everyone has heard about the importance of a balanced diet for maintaining good health. Similarly, everyone knows that they should be getting exercise - or at the very least adding more activity into their days. Getting a good night's sleep is essential - without it, you'll find that your immune system starts to slack off a bit and you put yourself at a greater risk for catching a cold or coming down with the flu.

We all know what we should be doing, but let's be honest: very few of us eat a balanced diet all of the time. Many of us make the choice to take the elevator rather than the stairs and we try to find a parking place that's as close as possible to our destination rather than taking the opportunity to walk a little further. We also tend to let stress, work, social gatherings and more interfere with the amount of sleep that we're able to get each night.

When we don't go the extra mile to take care of ourselves, and when our immune systems start to falter because of it, we may not feel it right away. Soon, sluggishness starts creeping in. This sluggishness not only slows us down, it also ages us prematurely.

Fortunately, there's something that we can do to counteract some of these effects. We can maintain our vigor and reduce the risk of disease simply by adding antioxidants to our diet.

What are antioxidants? The simplest answer is that antioxidants are plant-derived compounds that help prevent and repair cellular damage. Vitamin C, Vitamin E, selenium, lycopene and resveratrol are all examples of antioxidants that are found in fruits and vegetables. By making an effort to add antioxidants to our diet, we can slow the cellular damage that leads to disease.

Antioxidants are, in effect, sponges that soak up the free radicals in our systems. Excess free radicals are generated by the less healthy foods that we eat, alcohol that we drink, smoke that we're exposed, and stress that we endure.

Free radicals damage our DNA and other cellular structures at the molecular level. Antioxidants roam around the body inactivating the free radicals and also assisting in damage repair. Damage that isn’t repaired can cause a cell to die, malfunction or replicate uncontrollably (such as in a tumor).

You can fight back against free radicals by adding more fruits and vegetables to your diet.

Note that free radicals are a natural by-product of metabolism and cannot be eliminated completely. The key is to keep them in check with an adequate supply of dietary antioxidants. Look for brightly colored fruits and vegetables. Without getting too scientific about it, the different colors (blue, purple, red, orange) in fruits are vegetables often come from the different antioxidants they contain. To get a broad range of antioxidants, eat a rainbow of different plants.

Chiropractic care is standard for many pro golfers and increasingly for many Senior Golfers as well. Professional golfer Lori West attributes the reason she’s playing today to chiropractic. Nearly two decades ago, she began visiting a chiropractor for pain in her shoulders and neck. According to West, the care has infinitely improved her golf game.

The problem is that the golf swing, in and of itself, isn’t conducive to having a healthy back. To have a good swing you create tension in your spine. (This enables you to get good distance). The tension comes from the hips stopping and the shoulders continuing to rotate. Basically, you make a coil. You’re uncoiling when you start your downswing. Since that’s an awkward movement for your back, many golfers end up with lower back problems.

Here’s some chiropractic advice.

• Before your game, do some basic stretches. Stretch out hamstrings and groin area.

• Put a club across your shoulders and lean left and right.

• Get in a position of where you would be in a swing and bend left and right.

• Grab a club behind your back and raise it up, stretching your shoulder muscles.

• Grab the club backwards – so if you normally swing right-handed, you’d grab it like you’d be swinging left-handed- and take 10 practice swings that way. You’re stretching different muscles and it will help you loosen up considerably.

• Do neck stretches. Stiff neck muscles inhibit the rest of the body from turning freely.

Anything that helps your flexibility eventually helps with your game. As you get older, your swing naturally shortens since the muscles aren’t as supple. During the winter, work on stretching the muscles of the arms, shoulders and back. Flexibility is very important for older golfers.

Also, you have to have good balance if you want to hit the golf ball consistently. A healthy spine is paramount to proper balance and posture. Improve your balance and you’ll improve your consistency. In needed, orthotic stabilizers for your shoes can help improve balance so your swing is better.

Chiropractors care for your body as a whole, not just the back. So if your golf game is feeling out of sync, chiropractic may be just the very adjustment that your body and game needs!