“The Difference Is Exercise”: 37 Doctors Share Their Biggest Advice They Have From Experience

Ok not a doctor but if something looks off even if minor don’t wait!

one that I ignored for months because I believed it was normal was my bent spine. The clear divot in my side.

Family medicine doctor here! Please see your primary care doctor! Early detection of hypertension, diabetes, kidney disease, high cholesterol, among others are crucial! The damage these conditions can do to your body are very serious! I have many patients in heart failure, kidney failure or with serious diabetic complications due to these conditions being uncontrolled!

Not a dr, but told to me by a dr: Do not fly without wearing compression socks.

Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) is no joke - if you throw a saddle embolism/clot you'll be dead in minutes.

In fact, if you're going to be sitting anywhere for 3+ hours with limited ability to get up & move around wear compression socks.

Avoid stress! So many conditions/diseases are flared up by it, and the long term effects of constant elevated cortisol levels really takes a toll on the body. Meditation is a great way to do, just sit in a comfortable position, close your eyes, take some deep breaths, and really pay attention to your body. Also doing some light to moderate exercise is the cherry on top. Sincerely, a friendly family med doc.

Sit back and use the backrest in your chair. Your lower back will thank you for it.

MD here. Maintain a (somewhat) healthy weight. Don’t smoke cigarettes or drink a lot of alcohol. My parents never did this and it is always amazing to me how I will see patients who look older than my parents and then realize they are 15 years younger.

If you snore get tested for sleep apnea, if you have sleep apnea then treat it.

Nurse, but close enough.


If you lose a bunch of weight in a short period of time without trying get your a*s to the a*s doctor.


I've had to cry over terrible cancer tissue samples from young men. Like damn, he's 37 with young kids on stage 4. That one got optimistic 6 months. We sent flowers and doc called his wife and gave some grief options. He knows all the people.

Stop eating fast food. It isn't real food and can alter your microbiome permanently if you eat that type of food for too long. It's why 40 year olds are now getting colon cancer at an alarming rate.

Yearly checkups with bloodwork along with regular diagnostics at various ages and risk profiles including colonoscopy, ekg, chest x-ray, prostate check, mammogram, etc. There isn't much that can [end] you that pops up out of nowhere. There are usually signs that things are going south years in advance and these risks can be mitigated with early intervention.

Not a doctor: but drink enough water. Skip softdrinks and alcohol whenever you can.

Have a schedule. Go to bed and wake up at the same times or a close as possible each night. Eat a balanced diet. Low carb if possible. Less is more with food. And try to exercise 45 minutes a day. Even if it is walking a few miles.

Those three things will generally fix most issues.

Cut down on caffeine. Seriously there is a sleep depravation/dysfunction epidemic and the burden on physical and mental health is massive. Caffeine has a 6 hour half life. Yes you may be “sleeping” but normal sleep cycle is still disturbed. Of course exercise, diet, blah blah blah, but for low hanging fruit benefit to effort ratio cutting down on caffeine is probably the easiest thing that would have beneficial impact. Source I’m a pulmonologist, which is the specialty most sleep doctors come from.

In healthcare as an RN,

So many chronic illnesses we encounter are wholly preventable. Also, most issues are further complicated if the patient is already in poor physical shape. Exercise and eating a balanced diet will stave off so many chronic issues as you age.

One thing that stuck with me was once I had a patient, J.D., who was barely 50. J.D. suffered from hypertension and some diabetes. Was also getting treated for ulcers for legs. J.D. was sedentary and overweight among his many many issues. J.D. lived a life of "just doing whatever"

Compare this to my 55+ y/o Brazilian black belt in my BJJ gym. Of course he's nowhere near how he was in his prime, but good God, he rips us apart when he decides to spar with us somewhat seriously. From a young age he basically lived his life like an athlete and he's reaping the benefits as he aged.

Maintain a healthy weight. So many health problems caused by obesity. Plus it makes it harder for us to examine you or do surgery on you.

Eat food as your medicine now, so you don't have to eat medicine as your food in the future.

Regularly brush your teeth and floss cut sugar get a night guard/teeth aligned.