184. Doug Collins: US Government Finally Embraces Alternative Medicine

The US government just admitted what biohackers have known for decades and it’s about to save millions of lives. US Veteran Affairs Secretary Doug Collins said, “the box is no longer square at the VA” and they’re questioning everything and rebuilding healthcare from zero. The VA is now actively integrating peptides, nutritional interventions, and lifestyle medicine into care protocols — we’re talking real, evidence-based approaches that address root causes, not just symptoms. Join the Ultimate Human VIP community and gain exclusive access to Gary Brecka's proven wellness protocols today!: https://bit.ly/4ai0Xwg Connect with Doug Collins: Listen to "The Doug Collins Podcast" on all your favorite platforms! YouTube: https://bit.ly/4eVXAxp Spotify: http://bit.ly/4kDXETX Apple Podcasts: http://bit.ly/4eSJtJ9 Connect with Doug Collins: Website: https://bit.ly/44QOcql Instagram: http://bit.ly/3GuTZtD Facebook: http://bit.ly/4kEGhSQ X.com: http://bit.ly/40Z3eJl Thank you to our partners: H2TABS - USE CODE “ULTIMATE10” FOR 10% OFF: https://bit.ly/4hMNdgg BODYHEALTH - USE CODE “ULTIMATE20” FOR 20% OFF: http://bit.ly/4e5IjsV BAJA GOLD - USE CODE "ULTIMATE10" FOR 10% OFF: https://bit.ly/3WSBqUa EIGHT SLEEP - SAVE $350 ON THE POD 4 ULTRA WITH CODE “GARY”: https://bit.ly/3WkLd6E COLD LIFE - THE ULTIMATE HUMAN PLUNGE: https://bit.ly/4eULUKp WHOOP - GET 1 FREE MONTH WHEN YOU JOIN!: https://bit.ly/3VQ0nzW MASA CHIPS - GET 20% OFF YOUR FIRST ORDER: https://bit.ly/40LVY4y VANDY - USE CODE “ULTIMATE20” FOR 20% OFF: https://bit.ly/49Qr7WE AION - USE CODE “ULTIMATE10” FOR 10% OFF: https://bit.ly/4h6KHAD A GAME - USE CODE “ULTIMATE15” FOR 15% OFF: http://bit.ly/4kek1ij HAPBEE - FEEL BETTER & PERFORM AT YOUR BEST: https://bit.ly/4a6glfo CARAWAY - USE CODE “ULTIMATE” FOR 10% OFF: https://bit.ly/3Q1VmkC HEALF - GET 10% OFF YOUR ORDER: https://bit.ly/41HJg6S BIOPTIMIZERS - USE CODE “ULTIMATE” FOR 10% OFF: https://bit.ly/4inFfd7 RHO NUTRITION - USE CODE “ULTIMATE15” FOR 15% OFF: https://bit.ly/44fFza0 GENETIC TEST: ⁠https://bit.ly/3Yg1Uk9 Watch the “Ultimate Human Podcast” every Tuesday & Thursday at 9AM EST: YouTube: https://bit.ly/3RPQYX8 Podcasts: https://bit.ly/3RQftU0 Connect with Gary Brecka: Instagram: https://bit.ly/3RPpnFs TikTok: https://bit.ly/4coJ8fo X.com: https://bit.ly/3Opc8tf Facebook: https://bit.ly/464VA1H LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/4hH7Ri2 Website: https://bit.ly/4eLDbdU Merch: https://bit.ly/4aBpOM1 Newsletter: https://bit.ly/47ejrws Ask Gary: https://bit.ly/3PEAJuG Timestamps: 00:00 Intro 03:25 Gen Z’s Growing Faith 05:53 Sense of Community and Purpose 08:58 Doubling Teen Depression Rates 12:55 Rise of Alternative Therapies 16:30 Vision for US Veteran Affairs Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational purposes only and does not provide medical advice. It is not intended for diagnosing or treating any health condition. Always consult a licensed healthcare professional before making health or wellness decisions. Gary Brecka is the owner of Ultimate Human, LLC which operates The Ultimate Human podcast and promotes certain third-party products used by Gary Brecka in his personal health and wellness protocols and daily life and for which Ultimate Human LLC and / or Gary Brecka directly or indirectly holds an economic interest or receives compensation. Accordingly, statements made by Gary Brecka and others (including on The Ultimate Human podcast) may be considered promotional in nature. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Speaker 00

  As someone who's actually spoken to someone who's told me I'm at the end of my rope, when you deal in that real moment, when all the light ceases to exist, they see one light, they see one answer, and nothing else matters.

• 0:09Gary Brecka?

  And it represents a crisis that permeates our society. And we've known for a long time that we've had suicidal crisis in our veteran community. And we've increased the awareness of suicide, but suicide rates keep going up.

• 0:21Speaker 00

  For some, it was brought about by crisis. Some was brought about by trauma, moral injury. We've got to look for alternative ways to help that. So I'm going to do everything I can from the VA's perspective to say, let's think outside of the box. The box is no longer square at the VA. The box is open. Let's figure it out.

• 0:36Gary Brecka?

  So do you see lanes starting to open up for, let's call, alternative therapies like peptides and dietary changes, especially if we're expending more money and what we're trying to limit is continuing to get worse?

• 0:46Speaker 00

  The spiritual, the mental, and the health is now coming together. And I think we are going to see change because we see how they all intertwine with each other.

• 0:53Gary Brecka?

  What is your long-term vision for Veteran Affairs?

• 0:56Speaker 00

  A place where a veteran can walk in and say, I have got what the country promised me. Quote, "Alternative methods are not the cure-all for everyone, but if it fixes one..."

• 1:17Gary Brecka?

  Hey, guys. Welcome back to the Ultimate Human Podcast. I'm your host, human biologist Gary Brecka, where we go down the road of everything anti-aging, biohacking, longevity, and everything in between. And today, we're welcoming Secretary Doug Collins, Department of Veterans Affairs, to the podcast. Welcome to the podcast. Thank you for taking the time to come.

• 1:36Speaker 00

  Glad to be here. Thank you for coming and being a part of this.

• 1:38Gary Brecka?

  No, this is amazing, man. I mean, to potentially be a part of affecting public policy for the next generation and the generations beyond that, to me, is a great honor.

• 1:48Speaker 00

  You know, I'm still one of those old, you know, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington kinds. I grew up in a time in which I still believe I thought this city could make great change. I've been in this city when I saw it as most dysfunctional. I've been in Congress. I've been in the military. But I still wake up every morning and believe that this is the greatest, best hope of the world.

• 2:06Gary Brecka?

  And do you believe, I mean, is something's different, though, now?

• 2:09Speaker 00

  Oh, yeah.

• 2:10Gary Brecka?

  I believe about this movement, not just this administration, but about this in terms of, you know, from my perspective, the Make America Healthy Again movement, the intentionality, the passion, the purposefulness of a lot of what I feel are government officials now, at least for the first time in my adult lifetime, I really sincerely believe we're going to see material change.

• 2:33Speaker 00

  I do. I know we are. And I think that's the, it's led by the president who has agreed and said, you know, this looks to change. And, and again, you have to think about this. This is from a president who has lived a long life, who has done a lot of things, who is now looking back and saying, how does he want to see his kids, his grandkids and great grandkids grow up? And for some of us, and I'll be honest, this has not been a, it was never talked about. It was not a priority. This, the healthy lifestyle was always something, oh, well, go run a couple of miles, maybe in the military, you know, you put it out. But putting it all together, and for me, from my background of the chaplain as well, that the spiritual, the mental and the health is now coming together. And I think we are going to see change because we see how they all intertwine with each other.

• 3:13Gary Brecka?

  And I'm so happy that you brought that up because I believe that this is a spiritual awakening in America. And I believe that this is as much a spiritual revolution as it is a health revolution. And so I'm so glad to hear you say that.

• 3:26Speaker 00

  My 26 year old son sent me the, out of the blue, and of course, he was raised in, you know, background of faith with my being a pastor and everything, but it was amazing. He just sent me a thing out of the blue. And he was very happy that the newest generation, Gen Z and all, with the highest growth percentage, you know, getting back into faith. And he just sent this to me.

• 3:41Gary Brecka?

  Really?

• 3:41Speaker 00

  Yeah, he just sent this to me.

• 3:42Gary Brecka?

  Gen Z?

• 3:43Speaker 00

  Yeah. It's like, wow.

• 3:44Gary Brecka?

  Okay.

• 3:45Speaker 00

  And I think what they're looking at.

• 3:46Gary Brecka?

  I'm really happy to hear that too.

• 3:47Speaker 00

  They are, I think it's the, a lot of authenticity, a lot of their warning, something, they, think about this generation. And think about the generations up to mine as well, how much we've been told that were lies? How much we've been told that depend on other people and depend on the government, depend on this? And then they look around and say, wait, this isn't what it's supposed to be. And you go to a simple faith, you know, from my Christian belief, you go to a simple faith that says, here's what was done for you. And no fluff, no that, this is, you know, here's a path that's, that's much better.

• 4:19Gary Brecka?

  Yeah. You know, it's amazing. And this was not the objective of sitting down on the podcast, but we're going to go there for a minute. You know, I, I was saved years ago at a Promise Keepers convention. I don't know if you remember. Are they still around?

• 4:30Speaker 00

  I think they do it in a different way now.

• 4:31Gary Brecka?

  Okay.

• 4:32Speaker 00

  It's a similar concept.

• 4:33Gary Brecka?

  But I had a lawyer at the time who tricked me into going to, I was, I was in grad school at, in, in, in Chicago. And he tricked me into going to Soldier Field. He told me it was going to be this big motivational event. He bought me, he bought me a ticket and I was, I thought I was going to go there like Tony Robbins.

• 4:47Speaker 00

  Oh, yeah, yeah.

• 4:48Gary Brecka?

  And John Maxwell and.

• 4:50Speaker 00

  Oh, Maxwell's great.

• 4:51Gary Brecka?

  And he's, he's amazing. I've seen him speak so many times, but there was a point at this Christian men's movement that where 70,000 men joined hands and said the Lord's Prayer.

• 5:02Speaker 00

  Amen.

• 5:03Gary Brecka?

  That was a moment for me.

• 5:04Speaker 00

  It is, you know, again, you can run it, you can deny it, you can whatever, but there's this sincerity, there's a belief that I believe that virtually there's, there's that, there's that place in your, in your soul, so to speak. It can be fit by only one thing.

• 5:16Gary Brecka?

  Yeah.

• 5:17Speaker 00

  And I believe God feels that. And if you either let him or you don't, or you deny it, he's there. The question is, is will we listen?

• 5:22Gary Brecka?

  Yeah.

• 5:23Speaker 00

  So many times and, and our, our pace society doesn't want to do this. Everything in the world, this is, I think, maybe the younger folks from a health. Cause this is also my same son who's also gets on to, to my wife and I for, you know, having Diet Cokes in the house for having stuff because they.

• 5:35Gary Brecka?

  I like this guy, dude. He probably follows me, dude.

• 5:38Speaker 00

  Yeah, he probably does. My, my future daughter-in-law probably does. But, but, but, but this is something because they're looking for authenticity. They're looking for something that is, is not selling them something.

• 5:49Gary Brecka?

  Yeah.

• 5:50Speaker 00

  And so I think this is just what you're seeing in a bigger sense of everything we've got going on.

• 5:54Gary Brecka?

  You know, what's really interesting is science is starting to prove this too. You know, when we looked at the Blue Zone research, right? There was, you know, these hyper centenarianism pockets around the world. There was no continuity between diet, right? So it wasn't like this specific diet, people live the longest. Um, there was, there was a lot of differentiation between diet, but two things. That were non exchangeable. One was sense of community and purpose, which I believe is interchangeable with faith. And in most of these blue zones where they had hypercentenarianism, they did. They had a very strong faith because they they they were OK with delayed gratification. And and the other was mobility into later in life.

• 6:34Gary Brecka?

  And I believe that, you know, with what we see going on right now, especially under this Maha movement, this is a spiritual awakening. This is a this is an awakening of, you know, the pendulum has swung so far to one to in one direction that it's just got to come back to common sense and to the middle.

• 6:51Speaker 00

  It comes back to contentment. It's scriptural. He said, you know, Paul speaks of, he said, I've been rich, I've been poor. He said, if I had to, you know, I would take, of course, be rich. But he said, I've been there. He said, but it's not about that. It's about being content. Think about what you just said. I'm in a community that loves me. I'm in a community I'm comfortable with. I'm in a society that I have participated in as a purposeful part. It's contentment.

• 7:14Gary Brecka?

  Yeah.

• 7:15Speaker 00

  Just a different definition.

• 7:16Gary Brecka?

  Yeah, so true. I want to bring this back to your role in the Department of Government Affairs for a minute because, you know, you've been an advocate for the integration of alternative therapies, which I am a huge proponent of. And to see so many agencies within the government openly embracing lifestyle, dietary, and and what we would call alternative, which I don't. I hate the word alternative. It's like, because when you say, oh, they have an alternative lifestyle, it sounds a little sketchy. But psychedelics, nutritional supplements, you know, dietary interventions, you know, this report that's coming out today, even though I haven't seen the whole report, I got, you know, a summary of of some of the statistics that are coming out.

• 8:01Gary Brecka?

  Some are very scary. One in particular that I was unaware of. I mean, it's we've known for a long time. We are one of the sickest, fattest, most diseased in the nations in the world. And we're sadly the highest spender on healthcare worldwide. But I I've raised four children and this mental health crisis among our youth and then also particularly in our veterans is a concern. But teen depression rates nearly doubled from 2009 to 2019. In 2022, one in four teenage girls reported experiencing a major depressive disorder. And three million high school students, high school students considered suicide 2023. That to me is astounding.

• 8:41Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 8:41Gary Brecka?

  And it represents a crisis that permeates our society. And we've known for a long time that we've had a suicidal crisis in our, in our veteran community. And we've increased the awareness of suicide, but suicide rates keep going up.

• 8:58Speaker 00

  Yep. We've identified the problem. We've not identified how we help it. And I think we're good at naming stuff in this country. And I think that's contributed.

• 9:06Gary Brecka?

  Makes us feel good.

• 9:07Speaker 00

  Well, it makes us feel good. Oh, we named this and here's your pill. You know, and I think we're coming away from that. We've named suicide, death by suicide is an issue for veterans. We've named homelessness is an issue for, but the question is, what are we doing to actually reach those who are in that position? And I was, short of sharing a sort of part of my job, I, we were, I'm in the process of redoing and relooking at how we do a rather large budget for suicide prevention, death by suicide. And I got back a report and it's a preliminary, but I looked at it and I said, this is what we'd produced 10 years ago. I don't, I appreciate it. I appreciate the effort, but this isn't what I'm looking for.

• 9:45Gary Brecka?

  Right.

• 9:45Speaker 00

  I'm looking for something that, that gives us out of a committee, out of this, say, how do we actually reach people in the need? As someone who's actually spoken to someone who's, who's told me, oh, hey chap, I'm, I'm at the end of my rope. I'm, I'm not going to live any longer. Who sat in my office and said, you know, I've come to the end. My wife just left me. I got nothing to live for. I'm gonna, and you, when you deal in that real moment, it's, it's beyond bumper stickers. It's not looking at it, saying what got them to this place? What, why have they come to a place when all the light ceases to exist? They see one light. They see one answer and nothing else matters. We've got to look for alternative ways to help that. For some, it was brought about by crisis. Some was brought about by trauma, moral injury. There's all these out here. But especially in our veteran population, we've got to figure out a way to get to them. So for me.

• 10:30Speaker 00

  Quote, "alternative methods are not the cure-all for everyone. It's not gonna fix everyone, but if it fixes one or 20,

• 10:37Gary Brecka?

  Yeah.

• 10:38Speaker 00

  Why, what is the value a place on life? I believe it's all inspired by God. Every life is valued in me, whether you agree with me or disagree with me, where you're from, no matter what your background, all life is precious. So I'm gonna do everything I can from the VA's perspective to say, let's think outside of the box. The box is no longer square at the VA.

• 10:54Gary Brecka?

  Yes.

• 10:54Speaker 00

  The box is open. Let's figure it out.

• 10:56Gary Brecka?

  Wow. You know, I have, I have a good friend, uh, his name is Tony Capuano. He's, he's the CEO of Marriott Worldwide. He's only like the fourth CEO and massive organization, 9,000 hotels, millions of hotel rooms. I remember he told me, um, he said, "The one way to get fired, uh, from, from my board at Marriott, hopefully I'm not disclosing this, Tony, you don't want it out there. This is about to hit the world."

• 11:16Speaker 00

  You're on the board, what's up?

• 11:17Gary Brecka?

  What he said, um, is by saying, "'Cause that's the way we've always done it."

• 11:20Speaker 00

  Oh.

• 11:21Gary Brecka?

  You know, and, and, and I think nothing, you know, speaks more true to, to, you know, the government and government agencies than though, "That's just the way it's always been."

• 11:30Speaker 00

  Oh, I, I get this all the time. I, I, I've become almost like, I, I, I sort of joke about this and some of my detractors will, you know, make fun of me. I've become like a toddler again. I ask, "Why? Why? Why don't we do this? Why, why, why are we doing this?" And, and a lot of times they look at me and it's not because they're bad people.

• 11:45Gary Brecka?

  Cause they might not even have the answer and they go with, "You know, that's a great question. Well, because we've always done it this way."

• 11:49Speaker 00

  And it, and, and as an old Baptist preacher who's heard this before, "We've always done it this way preacher." No, we haven't. You know, "Why are we doing it this way?" So this is where we've got to start in the movement started by President Trump and Bobby Kennedy's is, is led this effort. All of us in the, in the cabinet who bought into this idea and saying, "How do we get this better?" We're asking from the point of zero again. We're saying, "Okay, if we can reshape it, how would we shape it?"

• 12:12Gary Brecka?

  Mm-hmm.

• 12:13Speaker 00

  Because we've seen where we're at. I've seen the, the issues in our rising healthcare costs. I've seen it in our, our mental health issues. I see it in our suicide rates. By the way, 17 to 22 has not changed since 2008.

• 12:25Gary Brecka?

  Wow.

• 12:25Speaker 00

  And we spent billions of dollars.

• 12:27Gary Brecka?

  Wow.

• 12:27Speaker 00

  Billions of dollars in this.

• 12:29Gary Brecka?

  Wow.

• 12:29Speaker 00

  Okay. So, uh, again, we use the tools that we give them, but my question is, are we giving them the right tools?

• 12:36Gary Brecka?

  Right.

• 12:36Speaker 00

  And so for us, it's, I think it's just a rebuilding. We're tactical secretaries in this cabinet. Many of us, we can think strategically, we all look at it from a big picture, but we're tactical saying, no, we've had a limited amount of time to make a difference. And I'm asked all the time, what do you want to happen after you leave? I said, I want to just be said, I made a difference. I left it better and I found it.

• 12:55Gary Brecka?

  So do you see lanes starting to open up for what let's call alternative therapies? Things like peptides and lifestyle dietary changes, things, things like that for our, for our veteran community. Because I, I agree with you, you know, what we've been doing doesn't work. It doesn't mean we don't care. It just means that we've been applying an old principle to, to the same problem. And you know, what's the definition of insanity? Doing the same thing over and over again, expecting different results. And especially if we're expending more money and, and what we're trying to limit is continuing to get worse.

• 13:27Speaker 00

  Well, it's like having, and it's going to be a very simplistic look at it, but it's like having, uh, you know, three acres of flatland grass and you have a pushmore. But yet the combine, combine says, well, hey,

• 13:37Gary Brecka?

  Sounds like me in eighth grade by the way, I used to have a pushmore and three acres of grass.

• 13:40Speaker 00

  I ain't care. But it was me coming behind saying, I come to that same person saying, but hey, there's a zero turnover that you can get. Instead of six hours, you can get this done in 45 minutes. Oh, I don't know if it'll work.

• 13:51Gary Brecka?

  Yeah.

• 13:51Speaker 00

  Okay. Well, it's because you've never tried it. And, and so again, I don't fault the people. I fault the system that has allowed us to become so cookie cutter in our answers that we don't actually think. One of the things we're doing at the VA right now is going to help in our community care aspect. It's where we partner with our community. The mission act a few years ago allowed this to happen because we were,

• 14:11Gary Brecka?

  Like a public private partnership?

• 14:12Speaker 00

  Well, it's considering our community doctors. So we can do this and if we, uh, if they have a need that we can't fill at the VA or the time. And if we can look at ways we can expand those options for us. We use, we now just have put into effect from the Dole Act, which was passed out here called best medical interest. So in other words, we don't have to keep going back to get a couple. We don't have to, the doctor can say, you know, this is right, but let me get a second opinion over here or another opinion. We're saying, no, the best medical interest is going to apply here so they don't get bogged in the system. The person who's ready to make a change is ready to make a change. You cannot let them come in and say, I'm now here, ready to talk to you. You get a guy, 35, 40 year old guy who's lost their family, they're on drugs. They've, they've run around with everybody. They've lost their family. They've lost their fortune. They don't know who their kids are anymore and they finally make it into a place and they say,

• 14:57Speaker 00

  I'm ready to talk. And you say, well, let's hold on about this. I'll get back with you. Or here's some air medicine. This Olaf will help you. No, they're there. Let's make sure that we take that moment. And, and that's, that's just gotta be a, a real way of thinking. It's a, I got 470,000 employees.

• 15:14Speaker 00

  Which is huge.

• 15:15Gary Brecka?

  I have 18 and it's a pain in the ass.

• 15:18Speaker 00

  I get that in my senior staff meeting. So yeah, believe me, and they're, you know, they tell me the same thing. But I mean, and I say that not to say anything else, except we put money and people at a problem. But our, our wait times and our, our backlogs and stuff are still where they're at. And we have veterans out there who've turned away from the care that they've earned. This is earned care.

• 15:36Gary Brecka?

  Yeah.

• 15:37Speaker 00

  For what they did when they raised that right hand, put that flag on their shoulder and whenever we told them.

• 15:41Gary Brecka?

  I can't.

• 15:42Speaker 00

  And they chose not to.

• 15:43Gary Brecka?

  Yeah, I can't think of a more selfless human being that's somebody that raises their hand and says, I'm going to go into a career where I'm, I may be called to give my life for a perfect stranger.

• 15:56Gary Brecka?

  And that's, that's why I'm so empathetic and supportive of our men and women in blue and our firefighters, our first responders and our, and our, and our veterans. It's a community that we need to, we need to cater to the most. Because those are the most selfless people on the planet. My father was a Navy captain, gave, gave his life to the military too. And, and those are the people that deserve us. One, one last question. Just in, in, in general, and this isn't a political question. Just what is your long-term vision for Veteran Affairs? I mean, in a, in a perfect world, when you leave office, what, what kind of organization are you leaving behind?

• 16:30Speaker 00

  A place where a veteran can walk in and say, this is, and they get the efficient care, cost-effective and effective care for what they need. And they do so at a level that values them for not only the care they get, but what they've earned. And I want them to be able to say, I, I have got what the country promised me. And that's what, that's what we're going to strive for.

• 16:52Gary Brecka?

  Wouldn't that be something unique? Doug, thank you so much for taking your time on the Ultimate Human Podcast.

• 16:57Speaker 00

  Yeah, I appreciate it so much.

• 16:58Gary Brecka?

  Karen for this Maha movement.

• 16:59Speaker 00

  We're gonna keep it on it.

• 17:00Gary Brecka?

  Amen. Until next time, guys. That's just science.