Own Your Heart Health with Dr. Regina Druz

Unlocking Longevity: Bridging Heart Health and Brain Wellness

Longevity is not a prize you earn from perfect labs or a stack of supplements. It is the set of choices that protect heart health and brain wellness at the same time, especially in a world that keeps your nervous system on alert. In this conversation, Dr. Regina Druz and Dr. Cynthia Libert outline an approach that does not rely on fear, trend chasing, or a one size fits all protocol.
 
If you feel fine on paper but not in your body, you will hear how functional medicine can uncover drivers that standard visits miss, including sleep disruption, inflammation, blood sugar imbalance, toxin exposure, and trauma history. They address cognitive decline and what Alzheimer’s prevention looks like before symptoms take over. The focus stays on steps you can repeat without turning health into a second job.
 
They also examine stress management as a medical issue, not a slogan, and explain why integrative medicine and lifestyle medicine work best when they support habits you can sustain. Genetics is part of the discussion. Genetic risk factors can raise your odds, yet they do not decide your future on their own. If you want Longevity guidance that connects heart health, brain wellness, and daily action, this episode offers a clear place to begin. Longevity is shaped in ordinary moments, one choice at a time.
 
Episode Breakdown:
00:00 Rethinking Longevity Through Heart Health And Prevention
02:15 From Physician Burnout To Functional Medicine Leadership
08:50 The Master Gardener Model And Patient Agency In Chronic Disease
19:43 The Bredesen Risk Factor Framework For Alzheimer’s Prevention
29:37 Stress Management, Cortisol, And Nervous System Resilience
49:12 Genetic Risk Factors, APOE4, And Personalized Alzheimer’s Prevention
55:47 Ezetimibe Research And The Future Of Alzheimer’s Prevention
Links:
Schedule a Discovery Call
Access Courses and Events
Get Heartwell Toolkits
Schedule a Business Meeting
Connect with Dr. Regina Druz:
Visit the Holistic Heart Centers website
Follow Holistic Heart Centers on Facebook
Follow Holistic Heart Centers on X
Subscribe to Dr. Regina on YouTube
Follow Dr. Regina on Instagram
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Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

The Critical Window for Hormonal Therapy to Prevent Heart Disease—Are You Missing It?

Hormone replacement therapy and heart health is one of the most debated topics in women’s medicine, yet most women are still left sorting through outdated headlines and half-explained risks. If you have ever wondered whether the fear surrounding hormones still applies today, this episode of Own Your Heart Health will give you clarity based on current science and real clinical experience.
 
Dr. Regina Druz and Dr. Amy B. Killen break down what happened after the Women’s Health Initiative and why the nuance matters more than the noise. They explain how hormone therapy is not a one-size-fits-all decision. Timing, delivery method, and your baseline cardiovascular health all influence outcomes. When it comes to hormone replacement therapy and heart health, your starting point changes everything.
 
Have you ever actually checked your arteries for plaque or vascular stiffness? Do you know how inflammation, insulin sensitivity, and body composition are affecting your risk right now? The doctors explain that understanding your metabolic health is often the missing piece. Estrogen may help improve lipids or blood pressure for some women, but it cannot fix deeper metabolic issues on its own. Insulin resistance, muscle mass, and overall body composition all play a major role in protecting your long-term cardiovascular health.
 
You will hear a discussion on progesterone and testosterone, including why earlier studies created confusion and how modern prescribing approaches are more individualized. Monitoring blood pressure, hematocrit, and markers of inflammation remains essential. The real question is not whether hormones are good or bad. The real question is what is safest and most effective for you.
 
If you want to understand hormone replacement therapy and heart health without fear or hype, this episode will help you ask better questions, assess your real risk, and build a strategy that supports both metabolic health and long-term cardiovascular health. 
 
Episode Breakdown:
00:02 Hormone Replacement Therapy and Heart Health: Why This Topic Still Feels Confusing
02:00 Dr. Amy B. Killen’s Path From ER Medicine to Hormone Therapy and Longevity Care
09:18 Women’s Health Initiative: What Drove Risk and What Got Misread
12:01 Transdermal Estradiol and Progesterone: What “Safer” Can Mean Clinically
13:25 Cardiovascular Health Beyond Calculators: Imaging, Plaque, and Real Baselines
17:43 Metabolic Health and Insulin Sensitivity: The Lipid and Blood Pressure Reality
26:24 Testosterone Therapy and Heart Risk: What Monitoring Should Include
31:11 Progesterone and Tolerance: Sleep, Mood, and Blood Pressure Patterns
40:59 Vascular Screening for Women: The Wake-Up Call Too Few Hear
 
Links:
Schedule a Discovery Call
Access Courses and Events
Get Heartwell Toolkits
Schedule a Business Meeting
 
Connect with Dr. Amy B. Killen:
Follow Dr. Amy on IG, FB, and Tiktok: @dr.amybkillen
Subscribe to Dr. Amy’s Substack
Visit Dr. Amy’s website
Enroll in the HOT Provider Course
 
Connect with Dr. Regina Druz:
Visit the Holistic Heart Centers website
Follow Holistic Heart Centers on Facebook
Follow Holistic Heart Centers on X
Subscribe to Dr. Regina on YouTube
Follow Dr. Regina on Instagram
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Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

How Do You Heartwell? When Standard Risk Scores Underestimate Danger and How This AI Tool Changed Everything

If you have ever looked at your lab results and wondered what they really say about your heart risk, this episode of Own Your Heart Health is for you!  What does my LDL mean for my actual heart attack risk? How low should my LDL be based on my personal biology rather than a population average?
Dr. Druz offers a clearer way to think about prevention by introducing Heartwell AI, a personalized tool designed to move beyond surface-level cholesterol numbers. By combining genetics, imaging, inflammation, and cardiometabolic data, Heartwell AI helps patients and clinicians understand when treatment truly changes long-term heart attack risk and when lowering a number alone misses the bigger picture. If you want smarter conversations with your doctor and a better framework for understanding heart risk, this episode delivers exactly that.
 
Episode Breakdown:
00:00 Welcome to Own Your Heart Health: Personalized Heart Risk, Not Guesswork
01:05 “Fire and Forget” Cholesterol Care vs Personalized Heart Attack Risk Prevention
04:10 The Question Patients Really Ask: Will This Treatment Work for Me
12:10 12:10 The Missing Metric: How Do I Find Heart Risk Beyond Cholesterol
18:05 Why Risk Calculators Fall Short: Genetics, Imaging, and Vascular Age
21:00 Heartwell AI Explained: Personalized Risk and Treatment Modeling
41:40 Case Study Wake-Up Call: When Mild LDL Masks High Heart Attack Risk
52:05 Residual Risk: Why Lowering LDL Still Leaves Heart Attack Risk
Links:
Schedule a Discovery Call
Access Courses and Events
Get Heartwell Toolkits
Schedule a Business Meeting
Connect with Dr. Regina Druz:
Visit the Holistic Heart Centers website
Follow Holistic Heart Centers on Facebook
Follow Holistic Heart Centers on X
Subscribe to Dr. Regina on YouTube
Follow Dr. Regina on Instagram
Follow Dr. Regina on TikTok
Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

My Breast Cancer Story: How I Found Six Longevity Pillars That Connect Cancer and Heart Disease

Menopause can quietly reshape risk for both heart disease and breast cancer. 
 
Dr. Regina Druz shares how her own breast cancer diagnosis became a turning point that changed how she thinks about health and wellness, longevity, and prevention during midlife.
 
Drawing from personal experience and clinical work, Dr. Druz reframes menopause and health as a critical window for heart disease prevention and breast cancer awareness. She introduces six core drivers that connect cardiovascular disease and cancer, including chronic inflammation, oxidative stress, hormonal shifts, immune imbalance, metabolic syndrome, and toxic burden. These patterns often develop years before standard screening raises concern. Are we measuring the right things early enough? Are we paying attention to trends rather than waiting for thresholds?
 
Through an integrative medicine lens, the episode questions whether hormonal therapy alone can address midlife health changes. Dr. Druz connects metabolism, inflammation, and long-term risk in a way that feels practical and grounded. Menopause is not a pause in health. It is a moment to look closer, test smarter, and protect long-term vitality with intention.
 
Episode Breakdown:
00:00 Welcome to Own Your Heart Health and 2026 Prevention Focus  
01:30 Dr. Regina Druz Shares Her Breast Cancer Diagnosis  
05:00 Shared Root Causes of Heart Disease and Breast Cancer  
14:00 Perimenopause as a Critical Prevention Window  
19:00 The Six Core Pillars of Heart and Cancer Risk  
26:00 Chronic Inflammation and Oxidative Stress in Menopause  
36:00 Insulin Resistance and Metabolic Syndrome in Midlife  
44:30 Environmental Toxins as Hidden Health Risk Drivers  
52:00 A Practical Prevention Path for Longevity and Heart Health 
Links:
Schedule a Discovery Call
Access Courses and Events
Get Heartwell Toolkits
Schedule a Business Meeting
Connect with Dr. Regina Druz:
Visit the Holistic Heart Centers website
Follow Holistic Heart Centers on Facebook
Follow Holistic Heart Centers on X
Subscribe to Dr. Regina on YouTube
Follow Dr. Regina on Instagram
Follow Dr. Regina on TikTok
Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

AI Revolution: From Calipers to Chatbots and Beyond with Dr. Sanjeev Bhavnani

Artificial intelligence is already shaping how people think about heart health, which raises an important question for cardiology: are clinicians ready to use AI in healthcare in ways that genuinely improve care?
 
Dr. Regina Druz is joined by Dr. Sanjeev Bhavnani for a conversation about digital health, medical technology, and the future of healthcare. Together, they look at AI as a present reality in clinical practice and explore how innovation in medicine is changing the relationship between patients, data, and decision-making in preventive cardiology.
 
The discussion examines the rise of data-informed patients, the responsibilities clinicians face as AI tools become more accessible, and why so many approved technologies still struggle to reach everyday practice. What does responsible use really mean, and how do performance and access shape outcomes in heart health? The episode leaves listeners with a new perspective on how AI can support better care when it is integrated thoughtfully, with intention and clinical judgment leading the way.
 
Episode Breakdown:
00:00 AI in Cardiology and the Future of Heart Health  
02:20 Using AI in Healthcare Without Overwhelm or Waste  
04:26 Preventive Cardiology and Innovation in Medicine  
10:43 Generative AI at Scale and Why Healthcare Has a Responsibility  
14:19 Citizen Doctors, Wearables, and Digital Health Data  
16:41 Three Guardrails for AI in Healthcare: Responsible Use, Performance, Access  
26:11 Why Only 1–3% of FDA-Cleared AI Tools Are Used in Practice  
28:15 Continuous Glucose Monitoring and the Gap Between Promise and Proof  
36:37 Personalized Heart Health vs Traditional Cardiology Guidelines  
47:18 Predictions for AI in Healthcare and Medical Technology in 2026
Links:
Schedule a Discovery Call
Access Courses and Events
Get Heartwell Toolkits
Schedule a Business Meeting
Connect with Dr. Regina Druz:
Visit the Holistic Heart Centers website
Follow Holistic Heart Centers on Facebook
Follow Holistic Heart Centers on X
Subscribe to Dr. Regina on YouTube
Follow Dr. Regina on Instagram
Follow Dr. Regina on TikTok
Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

Transform Your Holidays: Destress in 15 Minutes or Less with Amy Stark

What if calming your nervous system through emotional freedom techniques and meditation is the missing link between chronic illness, anxiety reduction, and lasting health transformation?
 
Dr. Regina Druz talks with Amy Stark, PhD, about how emotional freedom techniques, EFT, and meditation support emotional well-being and real healing at the nervous system level. Amy shares her personal journey of living with chronic illness and how learning to regulate stress and anxiety changed her health, daily choices, and sense of resilience. Together, they explore the science behind EFT, anxiety reduction, and stress management, along with why emotional patterns often shape long-term health outcomes. 
 
This episode offers a reframe on health transformation and personal growth by showing how gentle, consistent nervous system care can help break cycles of illness and support lasting physical and emotional healing.
 
Episode Breakdown:
00:00 Welcome and the Mind Body Connection in Heart Health
01:49 How Emotional Stress and Negative Thoughts Affect Physical Health
03:30 Living With Chronic Illness and Discovering Meditation
07:45 Emotional Freedom Techniques and How EFT Works
11:25 Live EFT Tapping Demonstration for Anxiety Reduction
22:10 Simple Nervous System Resets for Everyday Stress Management
30:45 Healing the Nervous System for Lasting Health Transformation
36:55 Emotional Stress Inflammation and Heart Health
41:15 Tools for Emotional Well Being and Personal Growth
Amy Stark’s book:
https://www.amazon.com/Bridging-Divide-Powerful-Personal-Transformation/dp/B0F5HR1GV4
Links:
Schedule a Discovery Call
Access Courses and Events
Get Heartwell Toolkits
Schedule a Business Meeting
Connect with Dr. Regina Druz:
Visit the Holistic Heart Centers website
Follow Holistic Heart Centers on Facebook
Follow Holistic Heart Centers on X
Subscribe to Dr. Regina on YouTube
Follow Dr. Regina on Instagram
Follow Dr. Regina on TikTok
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Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

From Bias to Breakthrough: Transforming Healthcare Conversations

Heart care becomes deeply human as Dr. Regina Druz and internist Dr. Sara Tariq talk about patient-centered care for people who carry heavy histories of adverse childhood experiences and chronic stress. They connect landmark ACE data with functional medicine and integrative medicine to explain how long-term stress shapes the heart, and they show how healthcare bias, rushed visits and poor doctor-patient communication can turn complex lives into quick labels like noncompliance. 
 
Dr. Tariq shares a simple trauma-informed care question that helps patients feel seen and opens the door to empathy in healthcare and real medical advocacy, while Dr. Druz reflects on what changes when clinicians treat story and context as part of the workup. The two physicians also explore concierge medicine as one model that protects longer visits and deeper listening so doctors can address mind, body and social environment with more intention.
 
Episode Breakdown:
00:00 Why Deep Listening Beats More Supplements In Patient Centered Cardiac Care
04:45 How Adverse Childhood Experiences Drive Chronic Disease And Heart Risk
08:43 “Doc, You Have To Fight For Me” Healthcare Bias And Medical Advocacy
15:36 A Simple Trauma Informed Question Any Doctor Can Use With Patients
21:55 Functional Medicine Matrix And The Mental Emotional Spiritual Center Of Heart Health
24:03 How Concierge Medicine Creates Time For Whole Person Heart Care
35:05 Building Trust Shared Decision Making And True Patient Physician Partnership
Links
Schedule a Discovery Call
Access Courses and Events
Get Heartwell Toolkits
Schedule a Business Meeting
Connect with Dr. Regina Druz:
Visit the Holistic Heart Centers website
Follow Holistic Heart Centers on Facebook
Follow Holistic Heart Centers on X
Subscribe to Dr. Regina on YouTube
Follow Dr. Regina on Instagram
Follow Dr. Regina on TikTok
Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

Revolutionizing Alzheimer’s Diagnosis: Insights from Dr. Winnie Pak

Alzheimer’s Disease begins years before symptoms show, and this conversation with Dr. Winnie Pak brings that hidden timeline into clear view. She and Dr. Regina Druz discuss how neuroscience now reveals early biological changes, how the heart-brain connection shapes long-term risk, and why understanding these processes sooner gives patients a real chance to protect their cognitive health.
 
Dr. Pak explains why tau offers a more accurate forecast than amyloid and shares how new medical innovation like blood-based detection tools is reshaping what early detection actually looks like. Their discussion invites listeners to consider an important question: what becomes possible when you learn about risk early enough to act with intention?
 
This episode will leave listeners with preventive strategies that consistently make a difference, from metabolic balance and movement to sleep and mental engagement, offering a clearer path for anyone who wants to take a proactive role in their future brain health.
 
Episode Breakdown:
00:00 Heart Brain Connection And Why Alzheimer’s Prevention Matters
04:04 Dr. Winnie Pak’s Story And Personal Motivation To Fight Alzheimer’s
10:38 Why Alzheimer’s Diagnosis Lags Behind The Science
16:10 Amyloid Plaques Tau Tangles And Early Alzheimer’s Pathology
20:56 APOE4 Genetics Lifestyle And Reducing Dementia Risk By 50 Percent
29:55 Tau PET Research And The 3 To 5 Year Symptom Window
32:37 US POINTER Study And How Lifestyle Slows Cognitive Decline
38:36 New Alzheimer’s Drugs And The Importance Of Catching It Early
45:34 VeriBIND Tau Blood Test Explained And What It Measures
51:46 How Early Testing Empowers Patients To Take Action
56:39 Should You Get Tested If You Have APOE4? Balancing Risk And Anxiety
Links
Schedule a Discovery Call
Access Courses and Events
Get Heartwell Toolkits
Schedule a Business Meeting
 
Connect with Dr. Regina Druz:
Visit the Holistic Heart Centers website
Follow Holistic Heart Centers on Facebook
Follow Holistic Heart Centers on X
Subscribe to Dr. Regina on YouTube
Follow Dr. Regina on Instagram
Follow Dr. Regina on TikTok
Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

Midlife Metamorphosis: Embrace Your Power, Discover Your Freedom

Midlife can feel like an ending, but what if it’s actually the moment everything starts to make sense? What if the same body you’ve spent years trying to fix is the one that’s been carrying the wisdom you’ve needed all along?
 
Dr. Regina Druz sits down with Mindy Gorman-Plutzer, a certified health coach and functional nutrition practitioner, for a conversation about midlife transformation, women’s health, and the kind of freedom that comes from trusting yourself again. Mindy shares how her own path through loss and disordered eating led her to a deeper understanding of what true healing looks like - one that blends functional medicine with compassion, curiosity, and radical self-acceptance.
 
They talk about what really happens when women stop fighting their bodies and start asking better questions: Why do we eat the way we do? What beliefs are still shaping the way we treat ourselves? How much energy are we losing to perfectionism or self-doubt? Mindy’s approach helps women move away from control and fear toward a more intuitive, grounded sense of nutrition and wellness that honors both science and emotion.
 
Dr. Druz connects these insights to the heart, sharing how stress and constant striving can show up in cardiovascular health and longevity. Together, they make a powerful case for redefining midlife as a stage of empowerment, not limitation.
 
Midlife Metamorphosis invites listeners to see this season as an opening rather than a crisis. It’s a reminder that transformation doesn’t have to mean reinventing yourself. It can mean finally coming home to who you’ve been all along.
 
Episode Breakdown:
00:00 Introduction to Heart Health and Nutrition
01:58 Mindy’s Journey to Health Coaching
06:34 The Freedom Promise Framework
10:25 Recognizing the Why in Nutrition
12:01 The Impact of Diet Culture
15:28 The Role of Technology in Health
18:36 Radical Acceptance and Self-Worth
21:40 Understanding Patterns in Eating
24:57 Midlife Metamorphosis and Its Importance
30:09 The Connection Between Stress and Health
35:18 Empowerment in Midlife
40:20 Legacy and Future Generations
Connect with Mindy Gorman-Plutzer:
Get Mindy’s Book, Midlife Metamorphosis: The Journey from Diet Culture to Radical Acceptance
 
Links
Schedule a Discovery Call
Access Courses and Events
Get Heartwell Toolkits
Schedule a Business Meeting
 
Connect with Dr. Regina Druz:
Visit the Holistic Heart Centers website
Follow Holistic Heart Centers on Facebook
Follow Holistic Heart Centers on X
Subscribe to Dr. Regina on YouTube
Follow Dr. Regina on Instagram
Follow Dr. Regina on TikTok
Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

The Hormone Whisperer: Unlocking Midlife Wellness For Heart Health Optimization

Menopause changes more than hormones. It reshapes how the whole body works. In this episode, Dr. Regina Druz talks with gynecologist and certified menopause specialist Dr. Polly Watson about the deep links between hormone wellness and cardiovascular health. What really happens to the heart when estrogen levels start to shift? How early do those changes begin, and what can women do to protect themselves long before symptoms appear?
 
Dr. Druz and Dr. Watson unpack the science behind estrogen dominance and perimenopause through the lens of functional medicine, showing how hormonal fluctuations can influence everything from metabolism to muscle tone to mood. They share what the latest research tells us about hormone replacement therapy and why many long-held fears deserve to be reconsidered. 
 
You’ll hear how small lifestyle changes (better nutrition, strength training, sleep, and toxin reduction) can restore balance and build resilience through midlife and beyond. Above all, this episode celebrates women’s empowerment in medicine and self-care, encouraging every listener to take an active role in understanding their hormones, advocating for informed treatment, and supporting long-term heart health with clarity and confidence.
 
Get Dr. Watson’s Estrogen Dominance handout by commenting “hormones” on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, or TikTok.
 
Episode Breakdown:
00:00 Hormone Wellness and the Heart–Body Connection
06:58 How Menopause Impacts Cardiovascular Health
13:31 Understanding Perimenopause and Estrogen Dominance
25:44 Functional Medicine Foundations and Lifestyle Changes
39:39 The Truth About Hormone Replacement Therapy
55:15 Women’s Empowerment Through Menopause Awareness
 
Links
Schedule a Discovery Call
Access Courses and Events
Get Heartwell Toolkits
Schedule a Business Meeting
 
Connect with Dr. Regina Druz:
Visit the Holistic Heart Centers website
Follow Holistic Heart Centers on Facebook
Follow Holistic Heart Centers on X
Subscribe to Dr. Regina on YouTube
Follow Dr. Regina on Instagram
Follow Dr. Regina on TikTok
Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm