Please Share This With Your Doctor

Please Share This With Your Doctor
Stardate 04.21.2026

There was a time in my life when I thought I was doing everything right.

I exercised.
I tried to make healthy food choices.
I surrounded myself with positive people.

And yet, something wasn’t right.

I didn’t see it at first because the people around me looked just like me. Tired. Inflamed. Slowing down earlier than we should. It felt normal because it was common. Only later did the light bulb come on: I had been participating in a long-term health experiment without even realizing it… and I was getting a failing grade.

What startled me most was this: almost everyone I knew was failing too.

I remember being a teenager and hearing my grandfather — a primary care physician who raised ten children — say something that made me roll my eyes at the time. He would say, “Ketchup and mustard are poison.” I thought he was eccentric. Maybe a little extreme.

Years later, I realized he wasn’t being dramatic. He had simply noticed something most of us never questioned. He had watched the food landscape change during his medical training. He saw what was being introduced into the American diet, and he understood where it would lead.

I didn’t.

Not until I had two clear health strikes against me and couldn’t explain why. That’s when I started looking closer at what’s commonly called the Standard American Diet. I began to see how easy it is to slowly drift into patterns that don’t serve our bodies well — not because we’re careless, but because we assume what’s normal must be safe.

My international friends once commented on how many pharmaceutical commercials run on American television. They were stunned. To them, it felt strange. To us, it feels routine. That contrast stayed with me.

It made me ask a simple question:

What if there’s another way to run the experiment?

What if we could learn from a time when obesity wasn’t common? When certain modern ailments were far less prevalent? What if we approached our health with curiosity again, instead of assumption?

That’s the spirit behind what I’m sharing today.

Not a prescription.
Not medical advice.
Just an invitation to ask better questions.

I wrote Live Long and Prosper as a story of mistakes, lessons, and small course corrections. It’s a testimony to the fact that we don’t have to stay stuck in patterns once we see them clearly. Along the way, I developed a daily health routine — a simple stack of habits and supplements that, for me, made a measurable difference.

But here’s the key: I didn’t move forward blindly.

I talked to my doctor.

And that’s what I’m encouraging you to do.

If you’re curious, take the list from my routine and bring it to your physician. Ask if it’s safe for you. Ask if it makes sense for your situation. If you receive the green light, then you can decide whether you’d like to try your own version of a health experiment — one rooted in awareness instead of autopilot.

I’m also sharing a link today from my blog sponsor, DoNotAge, who has invited me to introduce one of their newest products to readers. If you explore it, treat it the same way: print it out, share it with your doctor, and let wisdom guide the decision. Click here to explore. As a partner, I receive a small stipend if you choose to purchase through this link.

Because your health is too important for guesswork.

This isn’t about chasing trends. It’s about learning to pause, ask questions, and take ownership again.

“Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit… Therefore honor God with your bodies.”— 1 Corinthians 6:19–20

Join me here:
https://substack.com/@michaelmulliganlivelong

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Captain’s Addendum

Spock: “Captain, it appears humans often accept the environment they are given without analyzing its long-term effects.”
Bones: “Which is another way of sayin’, they don’t realize the soup’s gone bad until they’re already sick.”

I smiled when I wrote that, because that’s exactly how it felt for me. I didn’t realize the soup had changed. I just kept eating what everyone else was eating.

Now, I ask more questions. And I’m healthier for it.

Grateful for another day to learn, adjust, and move one percent better.