What if you had the chance to speak directly to America's leaders about the biggest crisis in health and longevity? I recently had exactly that opportunity when I testified before the United States Senate Special Committee on Aging.

If you want to meaningfully impact aging in America, start with obesity. Few things erode longevity and quality of life as profoundly, accelerating the biological aging process and fueling nearly every major chronic disease.

Obesity alone is linked to 13 types of cancer and cuts life expectancy by 3–10 years, depending on severity. It promotes DNA damage and accelerates our fundamental aging process—often measured by epigenetic age. It's one of the principal differences between the U.S. and many of the world's longest-lived nations.

Food is part of the problem. We're overfed but undernourished. A staggering 60% of all calories Americans consume come from ultra-processed foods that fail to induce proper satiety, remain cheaper than whole foods, and hijack our dopamine reward pathways, pushing us to overeat, incentivizing unhealthy food choices, and reinforcing addictive eating behaviors.

This trifecta — no satiety, low cost, and built-in addictiveness — keeps us in a cycle of poor health outcomes and runaway healthcare costs.

But caloric excess is only part of the issue — we are also nutrient-deficient.

• Low omega-3 levels—affecting 80 to 90% of Americans—have been shown to carry the same mortality risk as smoking.
• Vitamin D deficiency — easily corrected — compromises immune function, cognition, and longevity.
• Nearly half of Americans don't get enough magnesium — impairing DNA repair and increasing the risk of cancer.

We are not solving these problems—we are medicating them. The average American over 65 takes five or more prescription drugs daily—stacking interactions that compound in unpredictable ways.

Physical Inactivity is a Disease – And It's Killing Us

We must start treating physical inactivity as a disease. After all, it carries the same mortality risk as smoking, heart disease, and diabetes. On the other hand, going from a low to a normal cardiorespiratory fitness adds 2 or more years to one's life expectancy.

And yet, we are letting physical strength deteriorate. By age 50, many Americans have already lost 10% of their peak muscle mass and by 70, they've lost up to 40%. This isn't just about looking strong. It's about survival.

• Higher muscle mass means improved insulin sensitivity and a 30% lower mortality risk.
• Grip strength is a stronger predictor of cardiovascular mortality than high blood pressure.
• The strongest middle-aged adults have a 42% lower dementia risk.
• Hip fractures alone kill 20–60% of older adults within a year — yet resistance training can lower fracture risk by 30–40%.

We cannot medicate our way out of what we have behaved our way into.

If we truly want to lead the world, we must first lead ourselves.

Here's How We Fix It

If we truly want to be a world leader, we must first lead ourselves.

Make High-Intensity Exercise a Standard Health Recommendation

• HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training) is one of the most effective tools for preventing insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, and chronic disease.
• Even small bursts of movement—10 bodyweight squats every 45 minutes—can regulate blood sugar better than a 30-minute walk.
• Studies have shown that 150 minutes of exercise per week was nearly twice as effective as metformin in preventing type 2 diabetes.

Expand Preventive Health Screening with Wearable Technology

• Continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) should be part of standard preventive care, helping individuals track real-time responses to diet and activity.
• AI-driven health tracking can predict disease risk before symptoms arise, but regulatory red tape is limiting access to these life-saving insights.

Combat Nutrient Deficiencies with National Awareness Campaigns

• Low omega-3 and vitamin D levels kill quietly. We need the same kind of public awareness efforts that made smoking socially unacceptable.
• Vitamin D and omega-3 screening should be standard in preventive healthcare.
  
• Studies show supplementing vitamin D-deficient adults with 4,000 IU/day reversed biological age by nearly two years.

Modernize Physical Activity Guidelines

Current guidelines focus too much on minimums and not enough on intensity. We need to:

• Increase weekly exercise recommendations to 300 minutes for moderate intensity.
• Emphasize HIIT as a primary strategy for metabolic and cardiovascular health.
• Recognize the impact of short, effortful movements—even 3–4 minutes per day of unstructured vigorous movement reduces all-cause mortality by 25–30%.

Strength Training Must Become a National Priority

• Hip fractures kill 20–60% of older adults within a year—yet resistance training can lower fracture risk by 30—0%.
• Two hours of resistance training per week significantly reduces mortality risk, improves brain function, and increases bone density.

A strong, healthy nation is built on strong, healthy individuals.

If we make these changes, we can reclaim our health, can prevent chronic disease, and can ensure longevity for generations to come.

Now the question is: will we have the discipline?

— Rhonda