Could one person’s cardiovascular routines transform public health? – If you look at the preventative measures and therapies for heart disease approved by the FDA over the years, you’ll see that virtually none of them focus on types of hidden stress that the American Heart Association has identified as major risks. That may change due to the habits of one person.
Readers of my column will know that the impacts of some cardiovascular disease risk factors on general health are vastly underestimated. The American Heart Association (AHA) has long complained that programs addressing those risk factors are underfunded compared to the costs of cardiovascular disease for the American economy. To be clear, this is about the risk factors themselves. These have impacts far beyond heart disease.
Heavy metals have two types of effects: First, they damage arteries that feed the body with nutrients and oxygen. If those are compromised, they degrade the body’s capacity to fight off cancer and infections. The metals themselves also cause cancers and neurological conditions, so it’s double jeopardy.
In view of this, it’s fascinating to see how the personal habits of one person might change how the government approaches these threats to cardiovascular health. Because Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy is in charge of the world’s largest healthcare funding agencies, it’s worth exploring how his personal routines emphasize vascular health and how those might affect government policies.
Like the AHA, Kennedy has long argued that more attention has to be paid to preventative measures for chronic diseases. His personal routines reflect this and offer valuable insights into cardiovascular disease prevention.
The 71-year-old Kennedy maintains an impressive fitness regimen that surpasses many recommended guidelines:
- Daily 3-mile hike with his dogs, combining uphill and downhill terrain
- Four weekly 35-minute high-intensity gym sessions
- Focus on strength training for back, chest, legs, and other muscle groups
- Emphasis on bodyweight exercises (calisthenics)
The routine provides cardiovascular and strength benefits. Regular cardio exercise, like Kennedy’s daily hikes, helps improve heart health by strengthening the heart muscle, lowering blood pressure, and improving circulation.
Strength training, which Kennedy performs through weightlifting and calisthenics, can help reduce body fat, increase muscle mass, and improve overall metabolic health.
Kennedy follows an 18/6 intermittent fasting schedule, eating only within a 6-hour window each day. While research on intermittent fasting’s effects on heart health is ongoing, some studies suggest potential benefits:
- Improved insulin sensitivity
- Reduced inflammation
- Lower blood pressure
- Decreased LDL cholesterol and triglycerides
Kennedy’s regime extended beyond diet and exercise. He reportedly takes numerous vitamins and nutrients and undergoes physician-guided bioidentical testosterone replacement therapy. While the specifics and efficacy of these practices may vary, they underscore a commitment to overall health and well-being.
Kennedy’s personal regime offers a case study in cardiovascular disease prevention. By prioritizing regular exercise, mindful eating, and overall wellness, Kennedy exemplifies many of the lifestyle factors that can contribute to heart health. His commitment to chronic disease prevention through lifestyle and nutrition choices aligns with many established recommendations for maintaining cardiovascular health. As part of this rounded approach, he also advocates for:
- Increased access to organic, healthy foods
- Scrutiny of food additives and environmental toxins
- Emphasis on preventive and holistic health approaches
Kennedy’s personal practices also shine a bright light on exposure to toxins such as heavy metals. Kennedy has been a strong supporter of the practice of chelation therapy and has used it himself for removing mercury, a known neurotoxin that contaminates many people.
To understand how Kennedy’s approach to this might affect health agency policies and, indeed, your health, it’s worth looking at methods of testing for heavy metals, as well as improving the effectiveness and safety of chelation.
- Standard blood tests do not show the heavy metals that reside in your tissue, where levels can be much higher than in blood. For this, something known as a Challenge test is required, but it still needs standardization. So far, health agencies haven’t done much about this, but under Kennedy, that might change.
- Oral chelation has been available for years and includes DMSA and nutraceutical-chelator combinations like NanobacTX (see my earlier columns). Oral chelation is more patient-friendly and affordable than IV chelation, which requires frequent clinic visits. Despite published studies showing impacts on cardiovascular risk factors, no large-scale trials have tested oral chelators. Because Kennedy has used chelation himself, he might direct agencies to support such trials.
- Advanced technologies such as Elastrin Therapeutics’ nanoparticle/antibody delivery platform show promise in chelating calcification from arteries by targeting something new – damaged elastic fiber in the arteries. Support to move these and other methods from the lab bench to the bedside is required and might be accelerated under Kennedy.
Kennedy’s stated goal of getting toxins out of our food and water supply also makes sense, but removing those takes years, and meanwhile, all of us have these contaminants inside us. Will he mandate support for innovative ways of safely removing these metals from the body? The big question is how the new priorities of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the FDA might support therapies and prevention that get these metals out of our bodies or reverse the damage that they do.
While we’re waiting to see if and when these policy changes might occur, what can we each do today? There is nothing to stop us from educating ourselves about new ways of heavy metals testing, oral chelation, and technologies that are entering clinical trials. All of those are covered in the bestselling book Discovering the Nature of Longevity.
Get Douglas Mulhall’s Book
- About the author: Douglas Mulhall’s latest book, Discovering the Nature of Longevity: Restoring the Heart and Body by Targeting Hidden Stress, explores prevention and therapies for heavy metal contamination. The American Institute of Stress recommends it and carries a Foreword by the Chief author of the American Heart Association statement on toxic heavy metals. He co-develops award-winning certifications and standards for products globally and is a registered ISO expert on a global standard for declaring the contents of products.
- Read more from VIP Executive Contributor Douglas Mulhall