Heart Disease Starts Decades Earlier Than You Think

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Today’s Health Upgrade

On Our Radar
Heart Disease Starts Way Earlier Than You Think

Heart disease is the leading cause of death worldwide. But you might assume it hits later in life, with plenty of warning.

However, a new study suggests it starts long before any of that, and the signs can be missed.

Researchers scanned nearly 17,000 healthy adults with no known heart disease, and more than half already had plaque building in their arteries.

And the scientists didn't just check the heart. They ran ultrasound on the neck and leg arteries plus a CT scan of the heart's vessels, which is how they caught disease a heart-only test would miss.

When we looked at the data, it showed just how early signs of potential heart disease can begin. About 1 in 13 people in their late teens and 20s already had plaque. By their 30s, more than a third of men did. And by 60 to 70, it was roughly 9 in 10.

The risk isn't even, either.

Men reach higher risk about 5 to 10 years earlier than women. Women catch up later, right around the age when menopause usually starts.

Your first instinct might be getting scanned. But depending on your age, that’s not necessarily the answer. This study measured how common early plaque is. It did not test whether finding it, or treating it, changes who actually has a heart attack later. 

The real message is that it’s never too early to address the little things that prevent plaque in the first place. 

Don't smoke. Try to move every day. Eat fruits and vegetables, add more options that lower cholesterol, such as more soluble fiber (oats, beans, lentils), and swap saturated fat (butter, fatty and processed meats, full-fat dairy) for unsaturated fat (olive oil, nuts, avocado, fish).

For big-picture goals, maintain a healthy weight, and keep an eye on your blood pressure and cholesterol (instead of guessing). If your cholesterol is high, lowering it early does far more than addressing it later. 

Together With Momentous
You Can't Buy a Better Microbiome. But You Can Feed One.

If there's a probiotic bottle in your cabinet, you've got company. 

A new analysis of national survey data tracked how Americans cared for their gut for the last 14 years, and the answer is lots of pills.

Probiotic use jumped 287% in adults and 786% in kids and teens. On the surface, it looks like more people are taking care of their microbiome. But it’s deceiving.

A 2026 review of randomized trials found that probiotics produced no meaningful change in gut diversity in healthy adults, and most strains are transient, passing through without colonizing in your gut. 

It’s one of the bigger misunderstandings about probiotics. Taking them doesn’t guarantee a healthier gut. Think of your gut as a crowded garden. It’s already home to countless bacteria. Many help digest food and support your health. Others can cause problems when the balance shifts.

Probiotics add live bacteria to that existing ecosystem. The hope is that these newcomers can support the helpful microbes, colonize more of the good, and push out the bad. But the key question is whether that happens, which it doesn't always. 

During those same 14 years, fiber intake barely moved, and microbe-friendly food crept up only slightly. 

Fiber has far more evidence of supporting gut health, healthier blood sugar, and weight loss.

That’s not to say probiotics have no benefits (they do). But those benefits are limited to very specific problems and depend on your gut being able to colonize.

The gastroenterology guidelines suggest probiotics are most likely to help in three primary ways: preventing a specific infection during antibiotics, pouchitis, and a serious gut conditions (particularly in premature infants). 

If you want to improve your microbiome, fiber is the foundation. An estimated 95% of Americans don’t get enough fiber, and most people consume only half the recommended amount.

Higher fiber intake is linked to 15% to 30% lower rates of heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and early death. 

Fiber is found in many foods, including fruits and vegetables, beans, oatmeal, berries, or even popcorn or avocado. 

If you still need help hitting the recommended 25 to 40 grams, that’s why we helped formulate Fiber+ with Momentous. 

Most fiber supplements are one ingredient doing one job. Fiber+ is a comprehensive formula that mixes soluble and insoluble fiber, as well as resistant starch. The resistant starch is what your gut bacteria ferment into butyrate, the compound that feeds the good microbes you already have. Which is the whole point of the research above. 

You can't buy a better microbiome, but you can feed one. Fiber+ mixes easily into smoothies, oatmeal, or water (or your beverage of choice), and helps you reach 25 to 40 grams a day.

Pump Club readers get up to 35% OFF when using the code “PUMPCLUB.” 

Health Fact Or Fiction
Does Walking With A Weighted Vest Build Bone Density?

You might have noticed more people walking with rucks and weighted vests in your neighborhood. We love seeing people work harder, but the surge in popularity might not be as science-based as it seems.

Many people add resistance to their walks, hoping it will build bone density while torching extra calories. 

While we like weighted vests and enjoy rucking — and it does burn more calories — the evidence suggests it isn’t benefitting your bones the way you’ve been told. 

Your bones don’t appear to respond to wearing added weight.

Heavy resistance work or jumping — forces several times your body weight, applied quickly — are the stimulus your body needs to tell your bones to get denser. 

A walk generates roughly one to one and a half times your body weight in force. A vest at 10% to 15% of your weight increases that force a bit, but it doesn't get you anywhere near what’s needed.

A 2026 meta-analysis analyzed nine trials and found that weighted vests and exercise improved bone density at the hip and spine compared to doing nothing. That’s a good sign, but the exercise in those studies included jumping, stepping, and strength training. 

When researchers added a vest on top of exercise, they saw extra fat loss but no added bone benefit. In other words, the impact and the loading (not the vest) were doing the work.

When podcasts and influencers talk about vests for bone density, they usually point to a study where postmenopausal women jumped and wore weighted vests three times a week for 32 weeks a year, for five years. But when you look at all the evidence, it was more likely because it was a five-year jumping program.

A 2025 trial had 150 older adults wear a weighted vest about 7 hours a day for a year. Unfortunately, hip bone density still dropped. 

Again, that’s not a reason to avoid working out with a weighted vest or ruck. There are benefits, and if you enjoy it, the added resistance is a great cardiovascular workout that can help increase calorie burning.

But if you’re wearing it for the bone benefits, it’s unlikely to do much. 

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Publisher: Arnold Schwarzenegger​

Editors-in-chief: Adam Bornstein and Daniel Ketchell